Grinding Past 5.3k rpm, Bent Pressure Plate?
 

Hey guys. I need your expertise. I'll try to make this as short yet informative as possible.

I replaced my clutch over a year ago with a used OEM clutch (don't give me shit, it was $35, only have 19k miles, and still works perfectly). Did the job perfectly by the book, very organized, all steps exactly as the the manual and DIY posts detail (aside from the dreaded super soft hex driveshaft bolts. I had to dremel those a$$holes out and replace them). When I was tightening the transmission bolts to finish the job, I bent the pressure plate. Link at the bottom of this post from when I did this job. 30 second clip. This is extra stupid because I even double checked the fork to make sure it was in the right place, but of course it slide out while I tightened the tranny more. Anyways, 1 of the P/P "fingers" was bent as well as the outer casing of the P/P.

Since then, over a year now, I have had light clutch chatter/grinding noise at idle and barely any in gear, not noticeable with the top and windows up. This hasn't affected performance at all, at least as far as I know since it felt better than the other 3 S2000's I've driven.

Here's the issue: About 3 weeks ago I driving casually, not romping it, and I got some real gnarly grinding at 5.3k+ rpms. It went away for a couple days and came back. Did that twice and now it won't go away. I have barely driven over 5.3k since because I don't have the money to repair whatever it might demolish in there. My question is, does anyone have any idea what this grinding might be exactly? If I continue to drive over 5.3k, will I destroy my clutch set or anything else? Could this one uneven "finger" cause my throw out bearing to wear prematurely and could the TOB be the root of the grinding?

When I did the clutch job I:
Replaced the clutch with a used OEM clutch in great shape.
Resurfaced the Flywheel
Bent the Pressure Plate finger towards the engine and the outer casing.
Used the proper clutch tool to align everything. Torqued everything exactly to spec and double checked all values.
Used the proper OEM grease/lube.
Replaced the TOB. (IIRC there was another bearing I replaced. I don't remember the name)

There is a Beeline Highway (87) drive I want to attend with some buddies in 2 days, but I'll have to pass if there is any real concern of this damaging some internals. :(

Please let me know what you guys think! And yes, I will get this fixed as soon as I can. I'll be driving like a grandma until then.

Just trying to get a better idea of what's currently happening...

Car is not moving and whenever engine is revved past 5k it grinds? Does it change if your foot is pressing down on the clutch pedal? Or is the noise only present if the car is actually moving?

Noise is present whether moving or not, engaged in any gear or not. I haven't tested specifically with pressing the clutch pedal down, but I'm very sure it is still present. I'll test today and come back tonight with a sure answer.

The grinding is still present when I'm pushing down the clutch pedal.

You either need a new clutch or a new transmission. Normally grinding gears when shifting espiceally at higher rpm means the syncros in the transmission is bad and you need a transmission rebuilt or a new/different transmission. But since you knowingly installed a bad clutch there a good chance you just need a new clutch. I would just throw the car on jack stands and pull the transmission and inspect everything and change out your damage clutch. Since you have done this before it wont be that hard this time and you you can get away with out resurfacing the flywheel or changing the throw out bearing. You can get oem style after market clutches for like $300 so it's not too expensive.

The issue is not during shifting; it's any rotation of the engine, whether engaged in a gear or not. With that being said, do you still believe it's the clutch? I don't see how the clutch can make that gnarly of a grinding noise above 5.3k by itself.

You haven't mentioned anything about the P/P. Do you not think the bent finger and casing is causing any issue at all?

Idk why you say it won't be that hard this time lol it wasn't an issue of figuring out what to do, I spent hours researching every step and what issues I would have before actually making the decision to do it myself. All of my issues rooted in removing bolts.

And yes, $300 isn't bad at all for fixing that problem. I just don't have the money to do that right now if I don't need to; hence the creation of this post, to figure out if that's absolutely necessary or not.

Thanks!

Wow if it's grinding and making crazy sounds when you free rev the car past 5k rpm it definagely. It the synros in the transmission. Maybe it's once of the bent fingers in the pressure plate that is falling apart and contacting the inside of the bell housing when you rev it past 5k rpm. But who knows. But if I were you and since you know the clutch is damaged. I would buy a clutch and pull the transmission ane change the clutch.

What would cause the syncros to make a grinding noise? I don't know anything about those, so you might have to detail it pretty well for me to understand, but I'd really appreciate any solid information.

If it was the case of bell housing contact, wouldn't that have to be a pretty gnarly bent finger? The video I posted shows it was only bent a few millimeters. Of course I'm sure it has gotten worse, but I can't imagine it to be bad enough to reach the housing. Also, if that were the case, why only at 5.3k+? If it was bent that badly, wouldn't it always contact, and if it were being pushed out farther by centrifugal force, don't you think the back and forth bending would have ripped that finger off by now?

I don't know the clutch is damaged; I only know the P/P is damaged.

Maybe, drain and change the transmission fluid. Check for metal, in the old fluid.

I'll switch out the fluid.

Does anyone know what the bent P/P finger could cause? Anyone know why this intense grinding would only be present after 5.3k rpm? That's mostly what I'm concerned with. It seems to perform as well as it always would after 5.3k.