chilicoke

Interesting, so the noise is coming from the pressure plate and not the throw out bearing? or is it the heavier pressing force from the pressure plate to cause TO bearing to be louder? If so that makes me a million times more relieved. I can understand things to sound different when changed but the last thing I want would be a new but bad throw out bearing was installed, especially considering the amount of work it would take to swap it out again.

chilicoke

Wrapped up the install today, first the clutch bite was very low near the floor, after driving the car for ~20 miles now the engagement point is much higher, within 1/4th of pedal travel basically same as before, All is good!

The plastic ring that holds the shifter boot was a PITA during removal and wouldn't budge, had to break it off, so I just 3D printed a replacement.





Really loving this new clutch combo. Thanks everyone!

B serious

pretty dope with that printer.

If I wasn't living like a transient day laborer, I'd buy one myself!

bgioan

Glad you got it figured out, when I had my ACT PP it was definitely louder than the now stock one. Some of the noise could be from the the TOB, that's normal for the most part. See if you can upload a video with the noise now to see how it differs from the first one. The other thing to watch out for is making 100% you have an OEM TOB, the aftermarket ones are a no go.

I am curious, how did you manage to bolt down the four bolts of the metal bracket that goes on top of the shifter tunnel, the part before you put on the plastic ring and boot. For the life of me, I can't tighten one of my bolts, top left one specifically, is loose. The metal of the transmission cover doesn't allow me to get a good access to the top left bolt. I've reinstalled this tranny before and never had an issue but I can't get to that bolt with a socket in any way nor can I with my small wrenches...

chilicoke

Thanks! Yeah I've used an OEM TO bearing.

Those bolts are indeed a bit of tight fit, I had to use a short socket that barely clears the shifter bracket and a wobble extensions to got a little bit of angle to clear the surroundings, my universal joint didn't fit in there.

und3r

Mine S has same sound, after the same job with same parts (ACT PP, OEM everything else)
It hasn't changed in 10k km

Car Analogy

You didn't mention the flywheel pilot bearing. Is that new oem also?

It does seem like you are just experiencing New Part Paranoia. That hyper sensitivity to sounds, vibrations, etc, that accompany any significant work done recently on your vehicle. Trying to make sure all is well, and any issues found before they turn ugly.

The more invasive the procedure, and the more your own hands were involved, the more prone to New Part Paranoia induced hyper sensitivity you are.

chilicoke

That's reassuring, thanks!

Yes new pilot bearing as well, New Part Paranoia is no joke.

imstimpy

I just did this exact swap a month ago. I think what you are suffering from is the paranoia of "I just spent my entire weekend on this job and I'm pretty sure I need to look inside again"

#1 I agree, it does sound louder than normal. That said, when the clutch is in you will get some sound from the pilot bearing and the release bearing; with the clutch out you will get some sound from the pilot bearing and the transmission. Either will give you a whirring, almost grinding sound as you can hear. I'd probably leave it and keep a close eye on clean engagement/disengagement.

#3 The ACT pressure plates have always felt heavier than stock with a lower pedal engagement, it doesn't matter the application. The ACT in my S2000 engaged right off the floor before it was broken in. After 600 track miles of break in, it is now better albeit still lower than stock. I looked at adjusting the clutch pedal but didn't think it would affect it much.

chilicoke

Thanks everyone for the help, I've finished up the install and put around 400 miles on the car so far, and the car is driving excellent.

It was exactly this, clutch job is time consuming and last thing I wanted was to have installed new but defective bearings and having to do everything over again.

Right after I lowered the car from stands the engagement point was about 2" from the floor, I tried to bring it up higher by adjusting nut on clutch master cylinder linkage and the up-travel stop on clutch pedal but was running out of any further adjustment. After 20-40 miles of stop-and-go driving the engagement starting from stand still was around 1/2 pedal travel, gear shift around 2/5 pedal, after 200 miles of driving and a little bit of linkage readjust it is now exactly where it was before; full dis-engage slightly past 1/4 pedal travel. VERY happy with this heavier clutch set up.

Regarding the bearing noise that was freaking me out, turns out that sound was much more noticeable from outside of the car when it was sitting on jack stands vs standing on the floor, found this out later when I had to jack front of the car on stands again for some other adjustments, doh! Just leaving this info here for anyone doing the install in the garage themselves in the future.

Thanks again everyone!