Very Unhappy with my Clutchmasters fiber tough stage 3 clutch kit.

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Sep 8, 2014 | 01:31 PM
  #1  
I bought this clutch kit because I was told it would feel close to stock but hold more power. The clutch pedal feel is great (not too hard to press down the clutch) but the chatter is just unbearable, especially when it heats up a bit after being in some stop and go traffic. This clutch is also like an on off switch similar to 6 puck type clutch. I have driven manual transmissions all my life but if I have to stop on even a slight incline with this thing my heart starts racing because it is so hard to take off without stalling it.

I changed the clutch last summer and was told at first that it just had to be broken in. So I left it in there. Now one complete summer latter it still does the exact same thing.

The chatter is not only unbearable and feels like it cant be good for the drive-train but it is also embarrassing when other people are in the car. I contacted Clutchmaster to ask them if this was normal. They said no. I asked them if anything could be done and they basically started to blame everything except their clutch for the chatter.

Anyway, after spending $1600 on this clutch kit (plus other items like flywheel) and the labour to install it I don’t want to have to go out and buy another complete kit. Would there be just a clutch disk I could buy that would fix my problem? Still would have to pay a lot for the labour but at least I will save the cost of the pressure plate. Also has 3k miles of chatter runied my flywheel? Would I need another new one?

Thank for any help!
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Sep 8, 2014 | 01:39 PM
  #2  
chatter will always be there due to the LWFW. thats what you installed right?

maybe its not bled enough... they require alot of that...
$1600 is cheap.. thats a price I cant even touch wholesale...
Ive driven many of them and installed them.. the only time things go bad is when you dont upgrade the flywheel...
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Sep 8, 2014 | 01:48 PM
  #3  
Chatter is normal on these, is it really that BAD....

Try this, drive the car for 20 mins, warm it up... stop and put your foot thru the clutch and hold it down hard for 1 minute... drive again for 10 mins, stop put your foot thru the clutch and hold it for 2 mins

Drive again....

My clutch chatters a little but noise does not bother me per se..... the break in trick helped a little
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Sep 8, 2014 | 01:49 PM
  #4  
Just for reference I have the CM set up with LWFW and it is perfect with no shutter at all. I have had it for three years now. No problems.
From idle I can let the clutch out slowly and get underway with out touching the gas.

I dont know where you got one for $1,600.00. If I remember correctly mine was more than double that with the flywheel.
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Sep 8, 2014 | 01:51 PM
  #5  
Try this and report back.

-V
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Sep 8, 2014 | 01:59 PM
  #6  
I put in a new stock flywheel not a LWFW.

The chatter is very bad includding when trying to reverse. It is actually not bad when the clutch is cold but when hot after driving the car for a while is when it gets bad. It's not a noise, its a vibration. And yes it chatters VERY bad.

As for the price, it was a special that Vividracing had and does not include the cost of the flywheel. This is what replaced their stage 3 kit and as you can see it is under $2k.

http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/#...9-p-47149.html
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Sep 8, 2014 | 02:02 PM
  #7  
Quote: Try this, drive the car for 20 mins, warm it up... stop and put your foot thru the clutch and hold it down hard for 1 minute... drive again for 10 mins, stop put your foot thru the clutch and hold it for 2 mins

Drive again....

My clutch chatters a little but noise does not bother me per se..... the break in trick helped a little
Quote: Try this and report back.

-V
OK thansk guys. I will try this.

PS, if this works I am going to kiss you guys. Well not really. lol
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Sep 8, 2014 | 02:04 PM
  #8  
I remembered incorrectly

I looked it up in my records and I paid $1,700.00 for the clutch and $1,000.00 for the flywheel for a total of $2,700.00 for the set up. That was in 2010
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Sep 8, 2014 | 02:17 PM
  #9  
Quote: OK thansk guys. I will try this.

PS, if this works I am going to kiss you guys. Well not really. lol
Doing a few mid-rev pulls in second will only address the engagement feel of the clutch, the on/off-ness of it, nothing else.

Regarding chatter, it's a term that's often misused when discussing clutches. It's got nothing to do with "noise," per se, but instead the jerkiness with which a clutch will engage. It's sometimes caused by warped, damaged, or otherwise uneven plates which will make and then lose contact when just beginning to engage.

"Rattle" is the noisiness of flywheel, or more accurately the slack being let out and taken in during idle, usually due to the inertia of a lighter flywheel being to low to overcome the pulsing of the engine's revs at idle.

Which are you experiencing?

-V
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Sep 8, 2014 | 02:18 PM
  #10  
Is it possible you have bad engine or transmission mounts?

I had a 944 that shook like crazy and I thought it was was the clutch.
In the end it was the engine mounts.
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Sep 8, 2014 | 04:36 PM
  #11  
Quote: Doing a few mid-rev pulls in second will only address the engagement feel of the clutch, the on/off-ness of it, nothing else.

Regarding chatter, it's a term that's often misused when discussing clutches. It's got nothing to do with "noise," per se, but instead the jerkiness with which a clutch will engage. It's sometimes caused by warped, damaged, or otherwise uneven plates which will make and then lose contact when just beginning to engage.

"Rattle" is the noisiness of flywheel, or more accurately the slack being let out and taken in during idle, usually due to the inertia of a lighter flywheel being to low to overcome the pulsing of the engine's revs at idle.

Which are you experiencing?

-V
It's chatter for sure. The clutch disk kind of jumping as it touches the FW rather than slipping a bit.
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Sep 8, 2014 | 04:37 PM
  #12  
I don't think so mainly because as I mentioned it happens more as the clutch disk gets hotter. It doesn't do it when I drive the car for the first 10min in the morning. I would think if it were a mount it would always do it.

Quote: Is it possible you have bad engine or transmission mounts?

I had a 944 that shook like crazy and I thought it was was the clutch.
In the end it was the engine mounts.
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Sep 8, 2014 | 06:35 PM
  #13  
I know misery loves company sometimes, I hated that clutch also. To make it worse I had a LWFW with it. Best thing I ever did was replace it. You can recoup some money if you sell it, I think I got like 1000 for my setup used. Picks up super high also. Whoever said it resembles stock and I was told the same thing on here, is on crack, haha. Best of luck, hope it gets better......
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Sep 8, 2014 | 06:47 PM
  #14  
I have the CM stage 3. Worst clutch ever. I'll likely do a protomotive kit.
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Sep 8, 2014 | 07:15 PM
  #15  
I'm having a South Bend daily Stage 2 put in now.
http://www.ecstuning.com/Porsche-200...Kit/ES2725216/
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