*edit* the clutch ended up being heat welded to the pressure plate, scroll down for pics and details. *edit*

I'll spare the story and cut to the details. I can't shift into any gear while the car is running. When shut off, the shifter moves as if the clutch pedal is down regardless of the pedal's state. The clutch pedal has a slightly softer feel, but hardly noticable. It does not get stuck at the floor. That morning the car seemed to run fine.

Right now, the car is at my mechanics, he says the problem is not hydrolic, they checked over the master and slave cylinders. He suspects it might be a problem with the pressure plate, like a broken finger spring. This was put in new last year about 8,000 miles ago with a new Spec stage 2 clutch and throwout bearing. They are going to drop the trans and see what is wrong with the clutch assembly. I think the work will go faster this time, seeing as how he has done it once already on my car.

Just thought I'd ask, has anyone else had trouble with a Spec pressure plate before? This has to be a manufacturing defect. I mean, the stock stuff took more "abuse" than this did. Not that I abuse my car, I've become more careful and gentle on it since my highschool days.

 

No one has ever had a problem with a Spec plate? The mechanic started the tear down today, by early next week, he should be at it. He has other cars to work on too.

 

littlehandegan did....different description than yours though..clutch wouldn't release...

 

Spec stage two, no problems. It lasted about 70k miles or so. Now stage two+ still fine after 20k, but I think i liked stage 2 better. I have been going through a quite a few slave cylinders. this is last one I buy. Now to retrofit or build from scratch.

Let us know what you find out. good luck.

 

The Spec stage 2(+?) clutch has welded itself to the pressure plate. All the mechanics in the shop, with more than a few hundred years of combined experience, had never seen this happen before. Does anyone think that Spec will do something about this? The clutch only had about 8,000 miles on it, I have never done a burnout or let the wheels spin in the snow. I feel that a clutch from such an upstanding company in the after market drivetrain business should last a little longer.

 

A knockoff clutch from Ebay should last longer! Sorry to hear about the troubles - do they have an understanding as to WHY the clutch fused itself to the pressure plate??

 

He said heat, but I don't do burnouts and completely declutch before giving gas. I even mastered heel-toe downshifting to minimize wear on the clutch. I have the unit here in my garage. There is no heat damage on the flywheel side or on the flywheel itself. I'll get a picture up later.

 

stage 2 is segmented kevlar, 2+ is puck style with mixed materials.

So what happened to the friction surface?

 

Here is the clutch/pressure plate back in my room.
It is a genuine Spec clutch.





here you can see how one side is welded to the pressure plate. The clutch wont come off. The picture doesn't fully show the seam, but there like is a welded seam. My hands arn't really that huge, it's a perspective thing.



The mechanic said that the flywheel side's friction material was ok and the clutch was broken in well and had tons of life left.


Sorry for the poor image quality, my camera is about 7 or 8 years old.

 

If anyone has been following this story and is on the edge of his or her seat about this, the work (new OEM clutch kit) was finished today and all is well. However, I am $1,272.24 lighter...

 

Did they ever come up with an explanation for this?

 

Did you ever separate the disc from the pressure plate to take a look nabeshin? I'm going to install my Clutch Masters flywheel and FX200(kevlar) kit next month. My pressure plate is a 'LUK made unit' supplied by Clutch Masters and the disc is sprung unlike your Spec stage 2+ or stage 3 disc.

Jeremy

 

Ouch! And for a 'downgrade' even.

 

The disk is welded to the pressure plate, nothing can remove it. As odd as this sounds, there is a welded line around the seam. It defies explanation.

The stock clutch is not as bad as I remember it. I think it is thanks to my full set of poly engine mounts. But I feel I will miss the quickness of shifts that the Spec provided.

 

Get in there with a chisel or grinder to split the 2 apart Nabeshin. If it were mine I'd want to see if it was a design flaw or how I caused the failure. Take lots of pics!

I'm glad your stock kit is working out for you!

Jeremy

 

+1 - it may LOOK like a weld, but it's got to be friction material (or lack thereof), right?

 

I'll make a note of it. We are gearing up for a big garage sale here, so most of the cupboards (the ones with my tools) are blocked right now.

 

Dang....you could try to drift it from the pressure plate too. I'm a fan of the BFH approach where necessary.

Good luck with your sales tomorrow!

Jeremy

 

Although I own a number of BFH's (both metric and sae) and am a big fan of their use when all else fails, I'd hold off on trying to tear the two apart until contacting Spec about the problem. Take some detailed pics of the seam and see if they have any idea of the causes. With only 8k miles, a reputable company should cover the replacement (too late, I know) or refund the cost of the clutch.

-skip-

 

Those pictures are the best my camera can do. Any closer and it's blurry, and it cannot zoom any more.

Anyway, I have been preparing a legal letter to send to spec about this. However, their legal statement page pretty much grants them immunity in this case.