SPEC Stage 1 woes, possibly imagined???

**Snikker** · 03-30-2010, 09:46 AM

Hey guys, I have recently just had alot of work done to my t-56 so I want to be sure that I am not possibly staring down the barrel of more money getting sucked into this car three months after I got it fixed.

So here' goes..

About 3 weeks ago I went to pass somebody on the highway (I looked at the speedo as soon as I heard the noise) at about 75 mph. and I started to hear almost a "clacking" or "ticking" sound coming from the clutch area.

The clutch has just been replaced about 1000 miles ago (well past the SPEC stage 1's break in point) but most all of that has been highway miles so I may still need to just be patient and do more city driving and stop babying the d*** thing when I do (people say I'm way to gentle on my clutch). The flywheel was resurfaced at that time and I used the shim that came with the clutch. I still get shudder in 1st on takeoff but only in 1st in reverse the other gears are fine.

It also did not increase in rpm's to any noticeable degree (I'm a musician

and couldn't hear any audible tonal difference from the engine either) and the mph slowly increased. This only occurs under WOT conditions at highway cruising speed and after the engine is at op. temp. The rpm's not going up rapidly makes me think that perhaps it isn't the clutch slipping to a great degree but it may simply be chattering under high torque load because it still needs to be broken in.

Another thought that crossed my mind was that possibly I did not need the shim after all and that the slave (throwout bearing moreover) is putting a minute amount of pressure on the springs of the pressure plate, thereby preventing the clutch from engaging fully when that much torque is applied to it. but it is fine when going easy on the throttle.
If you goose the throttle it'll make the "clacking" noise but again the rpm's remain pretty much steady according to the tach and my ears. but it accelerates steadily, however very very slowly.

I need not only a quick fix that is not only correct (it fixes the noise without gerry-riggin' anything) but cheap as my dad just got layed off and money is needless to say "a little tight"

The clutch kit itself should still be under SPEC's warranty and ALL the work is under the shops lifetime warranty (on work only, no parts) so if it is an installer error, that is covered for free and I'm pretty sure that'll cover a new clutch (Of equal or lesser value) the guy that runs the place has been great to me thusfar as far as honoring their work so

.

Any input or helpful suggestions, and personal experiences are welcome.

P.S. I'm hoping it'll get better with wear because I have been doing a little experiment today. When I drove to school (college commute) today I was a little rough (Far from abusive) on the clutch yesterday and may have made my problem a little better. It did not seem to "clack" as bad this morning but that could just be wishful thinking but we'll see when I drive it home today, as I'll be a little more "awake" (hey let's see how alert you are at 6:30 am if your twenty??!!)

Thanks in advance,
-Alex

**Snikker** · 03-30-2010, 10:58 AM

Hey guys, I tried to post this earlier so if a duplicate is posted sorry..

I recently have been hearing a "clacking" noise when I go to WOT at highway speed (50mph and above) coming from the clutch area. It has been around 1000 miles since I installed this clutch (spec stage 1) in my stock ls1 trans am. It is still grabby starting off in first but once I'm off the clutch it quits. the same goes for reverse. Now., mind you all those miles on it are highway and I have babied the clutch. It holds well otherwise but sounds like it is slipping at highway speed, but the rpm's do not increase they hold pretty much steady and mph increases but very slowly, if I back off the throttle enough to make it stop "clacking" it will almost accelerate faster.

I have tried to be a little more rough on it the past week (not butcher it but be firm with it) and it seems to have made it a little better but not much. the rpm's it is most common at are 1700-2200 at ~73mph and 1000-1300 at ~40mph.

Do I just continue to be more firm with the clutch to break it in the rest of the way? Or do I have a more serious problem?? As it almost sounds like the clutch is slipping.

This may seem unrelated but could later prove pertinent...

The input shaft was slightly damaged when the last pilot bearing exploded
(quite literally

)
I did have a local t-56 guru look at it and he said that it could be re-polished and still remain in tolerance without any issues. could it be my new pilot bearing making noise??
It did after all come from SPEC with the clutch kit.

**Snikker** · 04-05-2010, 04:27 AM

No Takers??? ..........
Honestly.....??

Usually people take every oportunity to rag on spec clutches. so uh,.... whats up guys??

I still havent gotten this one fixed. I'm calling the trans shop today to set up an appointment to get it looked at, but I still would like some help in figuring out whats going on here. So any suggestions are welcome (except that I should get rid of the spec clutch, I've already gotten that one enough and have a backup plan for it....

). But otherwise I am open to your knowledgeable input, but please no burns on the SPEC clutch "thing."

-Alex

**INMY01TA** · 04-08-2010, 11:13 AM

I always advise people not to buy SPEC clutches in the 1st place. Try doing a few good 6,000rpm dumps on it and see if it smooths out.

**Snikker** · 04-09-2010, 04:11 AM

Yeah I had a running email with Jeremy at SPEC, he said that as far as he can tell, it sounds like it was installed correctly. But what may have happened was that iI may have glazed the clutch a little by doing just that, too early,(it had 1000 miles on it at the time almost all of which were highway miles or babied city conditions), so I may have done this one to myself. It didn't do it at all (and boy did I try

) yesterday. This morning it does it but not at badly as it has been. I wonder if I just didn't break the clutch in enough and got a light glaze on it and it's just taking time to get worn off finally..??.. because this problem is only a recent thing (within the past month or so) and it tsarted about the time I did a peelout on a wet freshly paved parking lot

. I'm gonna go by the trans shop this afternoon and take the guy for a ride and get him to listen to the noise (more of a scraping sound than a clacking and it's not all that harsh either, mnote to swelf: DON'T JINX IT) and get his opinion. Hopefully i'll get this sorted out soon though.....

-Alex

**az gt eater** · 04-11-2010, 06:30 PM

breaking it in would require driving it correctly. sounds like you are holding back on the clutch and letting it ease in to motion. thats not good. you need to firmly and smoothly let it out. with a little gas. if you are riding it to let it out, you are glazing it. sounds like you already did some damage to it. maybe if you start driving it like you arent going to hurt it, it will be okay, but it will take a while to get rid of the glaze you already put on it.