What did I do to my clutch?

[daedalus]

Okay, I *NEVER* drag race. Last night, my buddy pulled up next to me in his mom's lumina and wanted to hear how my car was running with the new boost level (11psi). So I engaged in first gear and spun through first and into second which also spun (possibly slipped?) and then I shifted into third which I garuntee slipped... Scared teh s*** out of me because my car was coasting and I thought "there goes the LSD and tranny, i'm ******* going to sell this piece of s***..." but i put it into 2nd gear and all was well. Though it smelled like burnt clutch. I felt like an idiot and I still do. I am not going to be the "burning clutch guy". The kid in the passenger seat said that because we had been getting on it a little before the "launch" that it was pretty heated up and therefore would lose its holding capacity somewhat. He said his DSM is like that and that he gets about 2 launches before it gets to hot and he has to wait a half hour for it to cool off before he can get some holding power. I took it really easy on the clutch the rest of the night and its still driving fine, but i'm curious what I did, and how I can avoid it again, also if I ****** anything up?

Clutch is a Spec Stage 3 Hybrid with about 1,000 miles of easy spirited driving on it.

 

[Rich24km]

problably hot . I've seen many performance clutches do this in other cars besides the MSP.

 

[BlkZoomZoom]

Wow. You would think a stage 3 would hold it no matter what. What turbo are you using?

I know with my stock clutch disk and ACT pressure plate with the fidanza flywheel I had to actally heat the clutch up before it would hold up. Almost every Wednesday night this year the first run it would slip but the rest of the night it would be perfect.

 

[CustomMSP]

My spec was doing basically the same thing. I'm going to have to say that they're good guys, but the product is not.

 

[BlkZoomZoom]

I can't really say much for the ACT either, I actually shredded the material off of the disk... and that was before the good motor.

 

[daedalus]

stock turbo... and yea I have heard mixed reviews for the spec clutch, but since ACT got bought out and its getting made differently now, I have heard not so good things about them as well... Exedy or someone else needs to step up to the plate.

 

[BlkZoomZoom]

stock turbo? You should buy mine.

 

[daedalus]

i should save what little money I have left for a new transmission.

 

[BlkZoomZoom]

With the stock turbo your transmission will be fine. I haven't had a problem with mine and I have beat the ever living piss out of it. My car has been over 250whp since 3k-4kmiles and it now has 15k, with the last 2k miles being over 300whp.

 

[warrier04]

*wink* get zoom's turbo *wink*

that this is so damn nice. and shiny, too.

 

[wicked]

from what I gather it's because the full face side of the hybrid clutch is to soft,and is far more prone to slipping with heat then even your factory clutch.

either don't heat it,then clutch drop,or don't use a hybrid clutch.

 

[BOOSTR]

Just stick with the 2 stage and you will be fine. Leave the hybrids to race only cars. I drive the crap out my stage 2 Spec in my Probe GT. It has no problems holding or handling hard dumps. I am definitely putting a Spec Stage 2 in my MSP when its time. But yes there have been several MSP threads about stage 2 clutches. Not sure if its because of people using the one for the NA Protege or just a bad product run. Either way, Spec gets my vote of confidence.

 

[CustomMSP]

nothing is better than the OEM MSP clutch in terms of reliability/daily driving I think. Right now I'm using the stock pressure plate and a stage 3 disk. The disk is OK. It chatters like crazy and still doesn't grab as well as stock from normal take offs. It does grab well between shifts though.

 

[wicked]

nothing is better than the OEM MSP clutch in terms of reliability/daily driving I think. Right now I'm using the stock pressure plate and a stage 3 disk. The disk is OK. It chatters like crazy and still doesn't grab as well as stock from normal take offs. It does grab well between shifts though.

why aren't you using the SPEC pressure plate?

it has more clamping force then the MSP PP,doesn't it?

if so,that would explain the chatter with the MSP PP,and why it doesn't grab all that well.

 

[CustomMSP]

No the chatter is because of the disk. I never had luck with the Spec pressure plate, so I decided to use the stock one, it's heavier in terms of clamping than Spec atleast the one I replaced. I made a thread about the problems I had with my Spec clutch kit a while ago. My Spec plate actually grabbed less, believe it or not, that's why I replaced it with the stock one. I had the Spec plate rebuilt to manufacture's specs by Spec and still it didn't work "right".

 

[wicked]

have you contacted them about these problems?

 

[daedalus]

i havent...

 

[CustomMSP]

have you contacted them about these problems?

Yes, and they worked with me. They gave me a new/rebuilt pressure plate, but I still didn't like the way it felt. I love the way the stock pressure plate grabs with the stage 3 disk now.

Check this out: http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99080&page=1&pp=15

 

[mazdaspeed/se-r]

Hey guys. I have had countless problems with Spec clutches. I had one in my old car listed in my sig and i first purchased the stage 2 and not even 1000 miles after the breakin the disk spewed a spring. I couldnt wait for another disk just yet so i gave them a call and i told them i was going to put the disk back in until they send me a new clutch. I ended up going with the stage 3 disk. 500 miles later with that stage 2 the disk spewed the other 3 springs out. It was destroyed. Not to mention the clutch slipped alot when under hard use such as drag racing. I got the stage 3 and it is still in the car today but their pressure plates do not hold up to what they say they will. The stage 3, six puck sprung hub disk is a good disk and it looks 100 times better made than the stage 2. Alot more beefy and better material. But that pressure plate still wouldnt grab. It would slip under hard use. I would stay away from spec. What other companies make clutches for the msp. i know act does. Has anyone tried clutchmasters yet. I know they made good clutches for the sentra i had. later

 

[doggman]

wait what, the clutch isnt just one big unit that u buy, you can buy it in pieces. oh s***. i thought i could just buy the hole thing. well i think i am anyway. i just dont know which clutch to buy. EVERYONE KEEPS GOING BOTH WAYS ON CLUTCHEs. i've herd good things about spec act and clutchmasters but i've also herd con's about spec and act, just havnt herd much about clutchmasters. how can i make my decision, i honestly dont know what clutch and flywheel to go with. damnit...
also with the flywheels, i've herd they make gear transitions real ruff. is this true? if it is what flywheel can i get that is lighter but not to lite to where my gear transitions are that comparible to riding in a over the top massage chair?

thanks for all the help. i would like to purchase clutch and fly soon so info soon woul help greatly.

take it easy
-dave