Spec 3 In; Shifting Problems

ZZTOPO2 · 06-26-2004, 09:04 PM

Ok, did the Spec 3 weeks ago, still trying to get to 400 miles to break-in, and I'm experiencing a few things:

1st and 3rd gear are tougher to get in gear.

1) lst gear: Won't go into gear until after I put shifter in reverse first, then it pops in. But it feels mushier than with the stock clutch.

2) 3rd gear: Feels very mushy, and needs some force to be put all the way in gear. Conversely, I did some high rpm shifts from 2nd into 3rd and it didn't go into 3rd! I kept me out! It did this twice in a row. Then I tried it again later, this time making sure I had the clutch floored (and held it there a little longer,) and I grabbed 3rd successfully.

3) All other gears feel normal and clean. Why is it only lst and 3rd?!

4) I've got almost ZERO chatter. Clutch feels great other than the above problems.

5) Could this be shifter problem? I have a Ripper. Re-adjustment needed after the install?

Background: I had a tech friend at a dealership do the Spec 3 install. I told him if the flyweel looks roughed up, to resurface and balance it. He did not do it . He said it looked fine, and the stock flywheel has only 11,400 miles on it.

Also, we DID put the shim provided by Spec. Could this be the culprit since we did not resurface the flywheel, (so nothing was "taken off?") Do you think that over time, the flywheel will get ground down and my symptoms might go away?

Drill mod and new GM slave were done BTW.

Help!

**jmd** · 06-26-2004, 09:50 PM

Good to hear the drill mod. That's music to my ears. Leave your shifter alone.

The JMD method of bleeding should get your 1st & 3rd working better again. In short - bleed the hydraulics a bit whichever way you want 'til you're running clean fluid out of the bleeder. Get a 90 degree rubber boot from a spark plug wire. Fit rubber hose in it. Run it up to reservoir. Retain it in place so its end is under fluid. With the bleeder cracked, and the boot on the bleeder, you'll pump the pedal for a while. 5 minutes works for me.

This is the way I get good pedal in the cars I do.

3) 1st and 3rd are worn.

Oh yeah - your clutch is going to die very quickly because you didn't surface the flywheel. Pull it and surface the wheel. I sense that your friend works on automatics. He's not your friend if he is trying to get your new clutch to die that quickly.

-Matthew

ZZTOPO2 · 06-27-2004, 05:15 AM

Wow

This is a true wake up call, and I thank you for taking the time to be thorough with the corrective measures needed.

I will get the flywheel resurfaced, and re-bleed "jmd style"

Now you mentioned 1st and 3rd are "worn." Yikes, that's not what I wanted out of a clutch change (shit)

If youre saying that these are the tranny gears that are worned down by bad clutching, I will tell you that this shifting issue was felt the very first day of the install.

Still a valid issue? I have put 115 miles on this new clutch.

Your follow up is appreciated, thanks again.

**jmd** · 06-27-2004, 06:21 AM

In order, get the clutch 100%, then worry about 1 & 3 shift "troubles." The troubles occured with the new parts / setup, and were not present previously.

115 - don't worry. Uptightness is for other forums

**98 SNAKE EATER** · 06-28-2004, 11:49 AM

I put the Spec Stage 3 X-Pad in a couple months ago and it's been shifting perfectly eversince

I used their Billet Steel Flywheel with the supplied shim and the pedal height is nice and high

(starts to engage a little more than half way up from the floor)

I broke it in REALLY slow and didn't start putting pressure on it until 2500 high traffic miles (about a month)

My only gripe is the chatter

From day one, I thought it was gunna be a friggin nightmare

The car would shake so much that I had to look in the rear view to see if any parts fell off

After 1000 miles, it got better, but was still noticable

Now, I only get it at low RPM's, so I have to blip the throttle to 1500-1700 RPM's to get it to engage smoothly $:\$

Shifts great though

Haven't missed a a shift yet and it seems the harder I beat on it, the less chatter I get

ZZTOPO2 · 06-29-2004, 03:01 AM

Thanks all. I had one of our local F bod members check it out last night. He is like our best local tech guy.

He says everything feels fine. It is getting easier to shift into 1st and 3rd. My main thing was not damaging the T-56, I can get used to the different shifting.

I guess I'm getting used to the new feel and new set up. I ran it against some of the other F-bods and it did quite well actually.

Chatter is almost 100% gone.

**NBMWSsix** · 06-29-2004, 11:30 PM

Putting a new clutch and not resurfacing the flywheel is like getting new brake pads and not turning your rotors.

Bleeding your system real well will also help with the engagement issues.

**jmd** · 07-08-2004, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by NBMWSsix
Putting a new clutch and not resurfacing the flywheel is like getting new brake pads and not turning your rotors.

Kinda.

The reason its so important on a clutch is that when you install a new pressure plate and disk, you'll break-in the rear face of the disk & pressure plate surface properly and it will have a certain degree of friction to it. The flywheel and disk surface wont' be broken-in with each other and you'll have dissimilar friction surfaces.

What will happen is you'll end up slipping and wearing one side of the disk more than the other side and in the instances I've seen, you'll just destroy / blow up the disk. I wish I still had the pics of the Centreforce D/F out of a Saleen. Thing was COOKED.

All because someone didn't think the flywheel needed surfaced

Brakes are less critical because you're not going to overheat the pads from normal agressive driving, even with un-turned rotors. On daily driver stuff, I do new pads on olde rotors all the time, and don't notice the difference. On higher end stuff like kevlar pads & whatnot, I always turn before install

(just thoughts I meant to type out the other day.)

Quote:

Bleeding your system real well will also help with the engagement issues.

**NBMWSsix** · 07-08-2004, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jmd
Kinda.

The reason its so important on a clutch is that when you install a new pressure plate and disk, you'll break-in the rear face of the disk & pressure plate surface properly and it will have a certain degree of friction to it. The flywheel and disk surface wont' be broken-in with each other and you'll have dissimilar friction surfaces.

What will happen is you'll end up slipping and wearing one side of the disk more than the other side and in the instances I've seen, you'll just destroy / blow up the disk. I wish I still had the pics of the Centreforce D/F out of a Saleen. Thing was COOKED. All because someone didn't think the flywheel needed surfaced

Brakes are less critical because you're not going to overheat the pads from normal agressive driving, even with un-turned rotors. On daily driver stuff, I do new pads on olde rotors all the time, and don't notice the difference. On higher end stuff like kevlar pads & whatnot, I always turn before install

(just thoughts I meant to type out the other day.)

I just gave him the cliff notes.

Not resurfacing the flywheel is bad mkay?.....