Hey everyone,

I had a weird thing happen to me today and I was wondering what you guys think the problem is.

Keep the following in mind:
1. I just switched back to snow tires yesterday. Snow tires only have about 3000 miles on them.
2. I drive with DSC off.
3. I have a Clutchmasters Fx200 clutch with flywheel that is less then 10,000 miles.

I was on the highway today and going 72 MPH. I was passing someone so I gave it a bit of throttle in 6th gear. As I started to increase speed, with the throttle depressed, right at 74 MPH, the RPM kind of didn't move/dropped a bit and then started to rev. I slowed down a bit and tried to reproduce it and it happened again, right at 74 MPH. I turned DSC back on and I tried again, and couldn't reproduce the problem.

I made a list of what the problem could be:
1. Boost leak. There was a leak in the boost as I was giving it throttle causing the slight hesitation.
2. Tires slipped as I gave it gas... but that doesn't explain the drop in slight RPM drop / RPM lag.
3. Clutch was slipping as I gave it throttle.

If anyone thinks of anything else, please let me know.

 

Normally if a clutch is slipping the RPMs will go up but you wont go any faster. I would be suprised if the tires slipped giving it gas at 74MPH, were the roads dry?

 

you can count the clutch out, as said before the rpms would go up and the car wouldnt accelerate. just my 2 cents cant really help with the other 2. they dont really make sense to me either

 

you said the rpms dropped then revved so i'd say possible clutch . see it tried to grab at first and rpms dropped cause you were in 6th. then it revved cause it slipped . take it back on the highway and find a long slow hill and put it in 6th up the hill when the motor has a load on it and you feel it working (not lagging) nail the gas and see if rpms go up with no acceleration . if tach jumps up ,you know it's the clutch .

 

Can't I test for a clutch slip by doing the 3rd gear test? (Parking the car in a empty lot, with e-brake up and try to get the car moving in 3rd gear and see if it stalls?)

 

I have seen some warnings of sort about useing that clutch in city type driving. It mostly came down to the fact that the clutch material is easy to glaze, and the impossible to get grip back like on a standard clutch where they have a pretty good chance at "recovering". The big plus, which is probably why you got it, is that it may last twice as long as a regular clutch.
Hopefuy it is not the cluch...would be a crying shame.
Maybe the rpm drop was from a bit of water in the fuel or something, the when the engine caught again so to say, it was enough to chirp the tires like you said.
Having lost a clutch on a Honda, I would expect you to see a rpm increase, and a speed reduction if it was slipping.
Because of the possiblity of glazing the clutch if it is still ok, IMO, I would not do the parking lot test. A long hill in the wrong gear would be a good test IMO...if it is ok, it will not do any real dammage, just strss it. If it is defective, you will feel the slip.
Maybe it will be a one..er... Two time thing. Hopefully you will not see it again.

 

When a clutch is slipping, rpms go up a little bit under acceleration, and then come down once the clutch starts to grab. It sounds to me like the clutch.

Next time you drive, just put it in third at like 4k rpms (where you are producing the most torque) and floor it. If the clutch is bad you will notice it slipping.

 

It's not the clutch. I did the hill test today. I was on the highway and did WOT merges. I WOT 3rd gear, 4th gear, 5th gear at 3K and 4K RPM and couldn't replicate the problem with DSC off. Weird.

 

hmmm i knew it wasnt the clutch based on your description, you would know for sure if it was the clutch. good luck sorting this one...any codes thrown or anything? hopefully the computer was just confused and cut power for some reason and it will never happen again. (knocks on wood)

 

OK a new bit of information. I was late this morning to class so I rushed out. I didn't get a chance to warm up the MINI (maybe a minute?) As I was driving on the road, I noticed that if I pushed it a little harder then regular driving in 2nd gear, 3rd gear, the RPM would rev up and the car would not accelerate and then it would drop back down and catch and then move. This was with DSC off and on. It's not the supercharger slipping, because if I just drive it regularly, I can rev it up through the power band and hear the supercharger whine. It's only if I give it an extra push. After about 15 minutes of driving, and the car's temp has warmed up, that effect is gone, both DSC off and on. My guess now is that the snow tires are really stiff in the cold and haven't warmed up yet, and there's no traction. I'm going with this theory because this all started to happen AFTER I put back on snow tires. But what I'm afraid of is that it's the clutch slipping until it's warmed up... is that even possible?

 

i have never heard of a clutch slipping till its warmed up. when a clutch slips it will slip for a few seconds till it warms up and catches and it should do this no matter how long you drive it for. its not like it heats up and then stays up in temp so it works....i would think its your snow tires. it should be easy to tell if the tires are spinning or not. try it in 6th gear next time that happens. the clutch will slip in 6th but normally the tires wont but depending on conditions they may a little. have someone drive it in good conditions that have driven a car with a slipping clutch before...they will know

 

could your problem be caused by the timing? since your car hasn't been tune and have pulley? you said it happened in 6th and it wasn't the clutch... just a thought that your car was knocking

 

My car hasn't been tuned.

Not just 6th, but also 2nd and 3rd now, when the engine started from cold.

 

Ok, I just got back home and after that drive, I can tell you for sure, *something* is slipping. But when the car is FULLY warmed up, everything runs fine. I can pedal to metal, rev through all the bands with no issues. What's slipping? I've never heard of a clutch that's temp. sensitive.

 

it'll get worse . when it heats up the fly wheel and clutch expand a bit and take up clearance this will not work at some point . did you cut the fly wheel? or get remanufactured pressure plate? along with clutch disc?

 

I had the clutch masters fx200 and clutch masters flywheel put on about 6000 miles ago.

 

My mechanic says the clutch disc has gone bad... ugh... this is a nightmare.

 

Just went out for a quick run. Test my cold engine theory. Couldn't replicate the problem. No slip in 2nd or 3rd. I tried the 6th gear stress test to see if the RPMs would go up; engine would struggle to accelerate. This is irritating.

 

Sounds like it might be, at least partly, glazed. From what I have read, that type of clutch once glazed will never recover full holding power. That does suck. Any since it sound servicable....at least temporalily with a light foot, you might get a few more days from it. Keep us informed...I would like to see what the clutch looks like when it is pulled....would be intersting.

 

Have you tried beating on it a bit or hard shifting? The worst that could happen is that you have to re and re it still.

I try to exercise my FX200 a bit to prevent glazing; so far so good.

Good luck MrCooperS!

Jeremy

 

What do you mean "re and re it still"?

No, I haven't given it a good beating. Didn't get a chance to as I drive 90% city. But I can do it tonight if it helps.

 

Remove and replace.

Basically you've got nothing to loose at this point.

Jeremy

 

Money comes to mind.

 

Well all you'd need would be a new disc and new friction surface for your CM flywheel, so not too bad $$$ wise.

Jeremy

 

Disc + Pressure plate = Fx200 Clutch Kit = $400 + $750 in labor = $1000+ = money I (student) don't have.

The fact that this clutch is still practically new bothers me a lot too. Nightmare.