S2000 Under The Hood S2000 Technical and Mechanical discussions.

Stock clutches, are they normally weak?

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Old 05-16-2002, 04:26 PM
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I have about 2,000 miles on my car right now, and me and a friend of mine were messing around, and at a stop sign we both launched. Well, I wasn't hammering on the car too bad....not even close to what you would do at a dragstrip, and my clutch completely slipped/glazed over. I used to take my modded Civic Si to the rags all the time, and I know what a glazed clutch is like, and this one would not even catch when I came off the throttle like my Si would. I didn't even get a chirp out of the wheels before it slipped.

Do ours have normally weak clutches, or may mine have a problem that should be resolved at the dealer? Either way, I'll probably need to upgrade the clutch now.

That shouldn't happen with only 2,000 miles should it?
Good thing I was just with a friend, ot I would have been really embarassed!

I feel bad now, feels like I just hurt my baby big time
Old 05-16-2002, 04:33 PM
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It is pretty weak. I'm waiting for an aftermarket clutch to replace during the TSB54 (I think thats the number). I would assume you have a 2002, so it wouldn't apply to you. Look in the turbo threads for info on new clutches. The turbo guys supposedly have a serious clutch problem.
Old 05-16-2002, 04:52 PM
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I wonder if it's possible to work it so that I can get mine replaced under the same TSB, even though mine is a 2002. I doubt it, but it's worth a try, because it "shouldn't" have slipped like that under those conditions.
Old 05-16-2002, 05:27 PM
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I have tried the ACT clutch and Pressure Plate and it felt very good. However, the clutch was starting to make the decel noise and I replaced it with the latest OEM disc. I could definitely feel a difference. The OEM is not as grippy as the ACT. Even though the ACT is just a reworked OEM disc.
Old 05-16-2002, 10:50 PM
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by SilverSurfer
[B]I have tried the ACT clutch and Pressure Plate and it felt very good.
Old 05-17-2002, 05:27 AM
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Hi guys,

Looking for a dud or replced clutch disk and pressure plate to use as a template for an aftermarket clutch.

Donor gets 50% off the price of the final product.
Old 05-17-2002, 07:39 AM
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I had the same experience with my '02. I have already tried to get the dealer to take care of it, but they "can't reproduce the problem". I guess I can't expect them to try "launching" it during the test drive. After this, I went home and looked through the Helm's manual for clutch adjustments. I analysed my clutch pedal, and found that there was an excessive amount of play, and the engagement point was almost all the way down to the floor. I readjusted the pedal, so that the engagement point was up at the top of the pedal stroke. I did this primarily to reduce the number of grinds I was getting between first and second, but for some reason, the clutch started hooking up better too. I was able to get my first second gear scratch!
Old 05-17-2002, 07:49 AM
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JeffsS2K,

I appreciate that you feel the clutch should have been able to handle the situation you described. There are numerous threads about the weak clutch, and how it is not up to helping to get the advertised sub-six second 0-60 times, etc.

However, please do not try to co-opt a legitimate service issue (TSB 54, or is it 55?) in order to cover a different, unrelated problem. Many owners with legitimate problems (and by this I mean either defects or serious design flaws much worse than the weak clutch) have a hard time getting Honda dealers to accept that these are problems and fix them under warranty.

This is due in part to the fact that some of these problems' symptoms are intermittent and therefore very difficult to reproduce on demand. Another issue however are owners trotting-out TSB #'s that they read on forums like this and demand that things be fixed, even when no symptoms have been experienced.
Old 05-17-2002, 08:01 AM
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From what I've gathered on the board, the only way to get the clutch to spin the rear wheels is to slip your foot off sideways. Pulling you foot back isn't quick enough, the clutch will slip too much before your foot is completely off the pedal.
Old 05-17-2002, 08:22 AM
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by JeffsS2k
[B] I used to take my modded Civic Si to the rags all the time, and I know what a glazed clutch is like, and this one would not even catch when I came off the throttle like my Si would.


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