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View Full Version : Well, my clutch blew out.....



Twisted 87lxi
08-11-2002, 05:40 AM
Alright, heres a little story for ya. Last summer I was out at the races (street races) w/ my friends and my friend Keith wanted to race me in his CRX but I really wasn't in the mood, so my other friend begged if he could so I let him. Well he had this smooth idea to partially hold in the clutch while racing to help the engine rev up faster, thus giving him faster exceleration, but in turn he literally destroyed my clutch (stock 14 yr old clutch).
About a month later I had my car towed to a clutch shop and had the clutch replaced, it came to around $650 (that includes labor), about 80% of which I had to pay for even though it was my friend's fault, although that doesn't matter now.

Well, when the guys at the clutch shop installed it, they must have messed up on it or something because I could tell from the first night that I got it back that something was still messed up with it. Like the car would just be sitting there reving and I wouldn't be going anywhere (this happened off and on), obviously the same symptoms as a blown clutch. I babied that clutch for the first 10,000 miles which I was instructed to do to ensure that the clutch would settle in right, etc. But it still had that problem after 10,000 miles, so I brought it down to em and told them the problem, they kept the car for about an hour (doesn't seem like long enough to inspect a clutch throughly) and said it was all good. Make an already long story short, the problem persisted and I took it back to them 2 more times and both times they told me it was working but it obviously wasn't. Well skip to last night and poof! my new "working" clutch blew out, and my car is literally unmovable, it was so bad that my friend had to push me home in his car for 8 blocks on a flat surface. Now I don't know whether or not to tow my car down to the clutch shop and even trust them a second time to fix what they messed up from the start, just to mess it up again, or if i should finally charge my friend the extra money for fucking my car up in the first place.

Anyway, to make my point clear is that im completely pissed at the whole situation and fed up with that clutch shop so i'm deciding that with the help of my experienced friend i'm going to replace my clutch myself to 1. Make sure that it's done RIGHT, and 2. Save me from having to pay $75 an hour for labor. So i've been looking around for some decent clutches and I ran across clutchmasters.com and they offer up to a Stage 5 clutch for our cars Here (http://www.clutchmasters.com/shop/?page=shop/browse&MakeModelID=30336&MakeID=57&Engine=2.0L&FromYear=1986&ToYear=1989). I'm not to experienced w/ this side of cars and obviously a 400% efficient stage 5 clutch is over doing it but a stage 0 is the equivalent to a stock clutch, so in your opinions, which do you think would be probably the most dependable (long lasting but still race efficient) clutch?

Sorry this was so long.......

doug
08-11-2002, 06:04 AM
looking at the clutchmasters page I would say get the stage 1 if you get any of it. I don't know anything about the quality of the kits they sell. But since you are going to do it yourself and want to do it right I'd suggest removing the flywheel and taking it to a machine shop to have it surface trued and measured to see if it still is to spec.

dXsquared
08-11-2002, 08:06 AM
dont get a stage 5... they dont last and u will have to rev the shit out of ur car to get it goin. when you shift from first to second and all the other gears, you will be vioelently shaked like u were racin. my friend put a stage 4 in his Prelude and it blew for the street. it really hooked the 200+ hp he has up tho.
so dont buy a stage 5 get a 2 or a 1
Travis

CoAsTeR
08-11-2002, 10:12 AM
ohhhh man I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL!!!!!!!!! I just did my factory clutch at 400000kms and I had it replaced with a canadian tire clutch... WHAT A PEICE OF CRAP, only replace it with a factory clutch. my clutch dont grab worth a crap and it slips from time to time... does anyone know if there is an adjustment on the clutch itself or just the cable throw? They probably put the crap clutch in, instead of a factory one. my clutch at 400000kms grabbed better than this brand new one..... and I just put 12000kms on my car since february when it was installed......

anyone know of any adjustments or something I can do?

by the way, I did my clutch myself too, its not an easy job.... gotta have a hoist and lotsa time.....

CoAsTeR
08-11-2002, 10:18 AM
by the way for 650US you coulda done it at the dealership cuz they only quoted me 800 canadian at my dealership..... :rolleyes:

ACCORD EX
08-11-2002, 01:14 PM
you know the exact thing happened to me ! when i changed my clutch to a non genuine one ! my car drives like shit ! i intend to replace it to genuine and do it my self to make sure everything is right ! :)

MIKE

Twisted 87lxi
08-11-2002, 04:22 PM
Thanks for the help, i'll probably go w/ a Stage 2 kit.

shepherd79
08-11-2002, 05:21 PM
man, i think you should take it to someother shop. it looks like the shop you take your car into is ripping you off.
take to someone else or do it yourself.

Twisted 87lxi
08-12-2002, 12:50 AM
Yea, the only reason I kept taking it back was because they wern't charging me. But i'm sick of them telling me its fine and having it break, and I really dont want to take my chances at ANOTHER shop, so i'll probably just do it myself.

GDGuy11B
08-12-2002, 01:26 AM
I've had to replaced my clutch too. I opted to do it myself....it was a bitch, air tools help alot! I dont have any knowledge about clutchmaster's clutches, but I have an ACT stage 3. It feels just a little better than the stock one. everyone that gets in my car says the clutch is way too easy to press.

Micah

smufguy
08-12-2002, 06:52 PM
i pay 200 bucks for my clutch change, i dont buy the clutch, the one i replaced was a factory honda clutch and the mechanic is a family friend and he used to work of honda and now he works for land rover. i love the factory clutch. its strong and holds nice. i dont wanna spend an extra 100 bucks on a clutch on my car when i have not a shit of performance added on.

Jareds 89 LX-i
08-12-2002, 08:37 PM
When mine decides to die and I have to replace it, I'm gonna just stick with a genuine Honda clutch too. After 298k miles I'm still rollin with the original Honda clutch and it grabs just fine (right in the middle). I don't know of any aftermarket clutch that can last that long. And yes, if my car will keep running for another 300k miles or more, I will still be driving it :)

jigga225
08-13-2002, 05:10 PM
yeah man get a honda clutch... Dont do like I did and get an Autozone that didnt last 6000 miles. Then I got an O'Reilley auto parts one and it works but feels weak. it doesnt sli but it does shake a litle more

Twisted 87lxi
08-15-2002, 01:20 AM
How is it that ppl get upgraded clutches in their rides if they never seem to last for very long, theres no way that anyone would ever want to throw down on an aftermarket clutch if they knew it was going to bust up in under 10k miles. Really tho, i'm not sure if I want to stick w/ the stock clutch, I know it's a great long term commuter clutch, but I'm fixing my car up to be more than just stock (performance and all). What do you think that the odds are that these clutches are really not going to hold up to their price tag?

I think I'll go check to see if they offer some sort of warranty on these things before I actually go and buy one. Otherwise I may just stick w/ the stock one.