FatfreeS2k

I have searched alot and am having trouble coming up with an answer on my own so I am looking for some help.

I have a 2001 with 62k miles now. When I purchased the car I believe it had some type of ACT clutch in it which was really hard/sticky actually caused pain to the arch of my foot. Well that clutch threw a spring so I had to replace it. That was at 52k miles. I went to King Motorsports to have the work done Scott recomended a new throwout bearing, stock disk, and mugen pressure plate. I said ok and I added the Toda flywheel. When I got the car back the clutch was so easy to push down it was a dream. Literaly no effort required. I really babied the car for about 500 miles then slowly began to drive the car harder as time went on. Well the first time I tried to do a hard launch this was 1200 miles after replacement, the clutch slipped really bad and the car didnt even hardly move. Called up King and they told me to put more miles on it, I said ok did that ended up trying to launch a few more times and the tires spin no problem so I am happy and I stop launching the car because I don't want to pay for another clutch. Altough the car is hard to launch, very easy to bog it down but that isnt my problem.

So here are my problems:

Well I now have about 10k miles on this clutch and pedal feel has been getting stiffer and stiffer the whole time. Now I am back to where the arch of my foot hurts after driving. In addition my trans tunnel seems to get super warm, so much so that it is uncomfortable to rest my right leg against it if I do alot of driving (more than 1 hour) Sometimes my shifter feels notchy and I get some 2nd gear grinds every so often pretty rare though, and other times the shifter is relatively smooth but not silky smooth like the car was described as being in magazine reviews when they first came out. I also seem to be noticing a buzz. There is a whine if I drive around at 4k rpms or so, accel or decel tone changes but always there, in addition I seem to get the "clutch buzz" while decelerating. I also notice a difference in sound while parked in neutral between clutch in or out. Sounds like something is spinning when the clutch is out and car is in neutral.

I love the car but the transmission is ruining it for me. Almost makes it a chore to drive. I hate to think I spent what I did when I replaced everything at King only to be in this spot now. My thoughts are I need to change the trans fluid its been 10k miles, I am hoping this will solve the notchy feeling of the shifter. If so what fluid? Seems to be some debate about this. I live in Wisconsin and it does get cold here. I shouldnt have a clutch buzz because I dont have the factory parts anymore unless a replacement OEM disk will still give you that. And the heat problem baffles me. Unless it is common due to the placement of the transmission.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated I truly tried to be as thorough as possible because I am looking for any help I can get. Thankyou all in advance.

BJ

SpitfireS

You could flush end bleed the clutch fluid for starters.
Try the new Honda MTF III for improved shifting, never a bad thing to change trans oil.
It's only 1.6 liters or so.

If they didn't clean and lightly grease-up the primairy shaft's splines (where the disk goes) and didn't put enough EP grease in the throwout's groove you may get what you describe, hard & harder to press clutch.
At the same time your throwout guide is wearing too, making things worse.
You have easy acces to the slave and its ball ended piston (and the clutch fork) that could do with some fresh grease.
Run a search for "sticky clutch", you'll find good posts with pictures

Clutch buzz was caused by the OEM disk, new disk don't buzz or only very little.

Let us know how things work out

FatfreeS2k

Thanks for the tips I didnt think about flushing and bleeding the clutch fluid. But I will try all of your suggestions for starters.

While I was searching I came across that people swap AP2 transmissions into the AP1 if I were to pursue this route would I be able to keep my Toda flywheel and clutch kit that I have if it were determined after removal that the clutch wasn't the problem? Or do these parts not work with the newer trannys?