Uh oh! We have a Tranny delima!

[akatherazor4]

As some of you may know I managed to demolish my stock clutch quadrant and cable on Saturday. I had all of that replaced yesterday at my shop with upgraded Steeda goodies and it works great now. I got the Steeda double hook quadrant, firewall adjuster and a new cable. It works 100 times better then the stock junk ever did.

When I got to the shop they were telling me the clutch felt like it was trashed. I took the car up the street and sure enough I managed to demolish a very badass McLeod clutch.:nonono: The throwout bearing is louder then a train whistle, the clutch chatters big time when engaing the gears, and the feel of the clutch pedal is ver jumpy. The clutch is not slipping whatsoever but it is badly damaged. I think the culprit is the stock quadrant. I'm pretty sure that clutch was never fully engaging. So in the end a $1000 worth of clutch is now wasted in 6 months.

I'm in the process of deciding whether to put another clutch in my 3650 trans or just do a Tremec TKO swap now. My money is really tight right now but I'm kinda screwed either way. If I stick a clutch in the 3650 then when I go to the track on my ET Streets chances are I will break the tranny. I'll let you guys know what I am going to do hopefully by the end of today. I've been up since 6:30am because I am disgusted about trashing that clutch in my car. I should have known better.

P.S. These are the times you hate having over 500hp at the wheels.

Razor.:smmon:

 

[akatherazor4]

Whew I feel better now!

I just got of the phone with the one and only Don Walsh from D&D Performance. I was shocked that he actually answered! First let me say this guy is a class act and was willing to answer every question I had, and some I didn't.:thumbsup: I have and will continue to do all of tranny business with them.

Now onto the problem at hand..........................................

Don has told me that I am the only one who has broke that McLeod clutch setup in the history of them being produced.:lol: He was shocked when I told him what had happend. Anyway we discussed popping in the TKO and Don said not to. He feels the 3650 is just as strong as a TKO regardless of advertised ratings. He has also not heard of anyone who has broken one.:dw: Not saying that it can't be done, but he is confident in it's holding power. I will say if anyone can break the 3650 then I'm the man for that job. So be rest assured I am going to put it to the test.

Now that I am going to be keeping my 3650, Don reccomended going with a McLeod Street Twin setup after hearing the power my car makes. This was also reccomended by my shop yesterday. Now I'm not going with the street twin at this time for 1 main reason. The setup cost's $850 for the steel flywheel option and $1000 if I go aluminum. This clutch has to be mated with it's own special flywheel so that is a big part of the cost. I feel allot better about the strength of my 3650 after talking to Don, but I still think it can break. I don't want to invest a $1000 clutch in the car only to have it break on me. So right now I am deciding whether to go with the same McLeod I had or something different. I'll let you know my clutch choice later today.

Razor.:beer:

 

[viperr1]

That was one of my worries....the tranny. After the big bore install, will the trans hold up. That info puts my mine at ease. Now I'm wondering about my clutch setup, king cobra w/ alum. flywheel. Will that hold up?
We'll see.

 

[Ken01-Cobra]

Thanks for the info Razor! With everyone having problems with the 3650 and getting them replaced under warranty, it is strange to hear they are that strong...but I guess it is a relative thing. I haven't had a lick of trouble from mine (knock, knock) but I am not running near the power you are.

As of now, I am just going to go back to the track with my wounded (?) clutch and either kill it all the way or make sure it is okay. It isn't slipping at all but makes a funny noise when it is cold...kind of like wood rubbing on a grinding wheel. It stops as soon as it warms up. It doesn't chatter and the pedal feels smooth. Who knows? If I have to replace it, I think I will go with the stock 03 clutch since it will be at least another year before I get serious about adding the turbo.

 

[Mach0ne351]

just get a spec stage 2 clutch. only $350 or so.

-marek

 

[Ken01-Cobra]

Originally posted by mtp166
just get a spec stage 2 clutch. only $350 or so.

-marek

Yeah, I looked at them. I want to upgrade to an aluminum flywheel when I change it out, and the Spec stuff was a bit pricier than the stock 03 stuff. I haven't heard a lot of bad things about the stock clutch in the 03, so figured I would save myself $80-100 or so.

 

[dark_cobra_01]

I saw this thread and it reminds me again of my 3650 which refuses to play nice to me..:gt:

Since you're all 01 owners let me ask you this:


Do you guys have the notchy 2nd gear shifts until it warms up ??

Anyone ever get a jumpin/buckin motion and sound when putting the clutch in, sometimes while slowly rollin across a parking lot.. (noticable when I'm turning and push the clutch in at 5 mph..)

And even the dealer told me to change my stock clutch setup to get rid of my annoying throw out bearing sounds..

:shrug:

That notchyness really scares me if you got some serious HP coming into that tranny.. I think it would blow .. IMHO


DC01

 

[Ken01-Cobra]

Thankfully, none of the above! 2nd gear is straightforward, warm or cold. No bucking or jumping out of gear. Maybe I have a good one. ;-)

 

[peterjmc]

Do you guys have the notchy 2nd gear shifts until it warms up ??

Anyone ever get a jumpin/buckin motion and sound when putting the clutch in, sometimes while slowly rollin across a parking lot.. (noticable when I'm turning and push the clutch in at 5 mph..)

I get a notchy 2nd gear until warm up. I find it helps if you push the stick to the left while pulling it into 2nd.

I also get the bucking. It feels a bit embaracing, because you look like you don't know how to drive a stick. Especially when you have a girl in the car.

 

[akatherazor4]

My 3650 doesn't have any problems at all.:shrug:

Razor.