Clutch went out today on my way into work. Smelled like radiator fluid, something of that smell. It started fine, there was no grinding what so ever in shifting of the gears. The tranny was slipping though, after I got on the interstate. Press the accelerator and the RPM's would just about redline, then drop to a reasonable RPM and then it would catch and accelerate. When it went out I smelled something like radiator fluid, after I got the car started again I was able to shift it through the gears with out using the clutch, this while the car was started. Needless to say, the car was not moving without a tow truck. Only took 35 minutes to get there. Towed it to a reputable repair shop, since my insurace would only cover up to 35 miles and the nearest dealership is well over 35 miles away from where I was at that was out of the question. They are even giving me their military discount for being a war vet (had to show VA ID card though). Hoping that it is only the clutch disk that went out and nothing to do with the flywheel or pressure plate. Since I really do not have the money for this to happen right now, well I do have the money right now, but that means other things have to wait, like around the house. We were going to get new furniture with the money, but I need a new clutch. The guy asked me if I drove the car hard or not, so I told him well it is fun to drive. So he took that as a yes, since I drive it hard sometimes. So we will see where this goes.

 

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but when a clutch goes it generally requires more than just a disc replacement. This is due to the fact that clutches operate as a result of friction. During regular usage the flywheel and pressure-plate friction surfaces wear which means that the contact faces are no longer flat. If you were to install a disc alone you would effectively be requiring the disc to seat to non-flat surfaces which will affect the new discs life expectency and overall capacity and performance.

Our cars also use a dual-mass flywheel that is generally not able to be resurfaced. This means that you should replace your flywheel and complete clutch assembly. There are a number of clutch and flywheel options available (most of these are less expensive than the OE parts). Assuming that you are interested in stock-like drivability I would suggest the use of a Stage 1 or Stage 2 clutch kit and a Steel single-mass flywheel. Let me know if you have any further questions and I will be more than happy to assist you further. Thanks!

 

Well SPEC-01 you were right, did not doubt you though, but I was just hoping that I would have some good luck for a change. Well that did not happen. Fly wheel is not reuseable at all. The shop I took it too, tried to resurface it, but could not get it flat and maintain minimum specs on the flywheel. So I ended up going the route of a new fly wheel, did not get the stock replacement fly wheel, as that is $1K for the damn thing. Having them put on an aftermarket flywheel, that will work with the stock replacement clutch pack. Could not afford to get the upgrade clutch pack at this time, hell could not really afford the clutch to go out right now either. This puts me and the wife in a bind right now, but not too much of a bind though. Only because the mortgage is due on the 1st of the month and I have a $218 bill due on the 21st that is electronicly debited from my bank account. So that is my little bind, pretty low on cash right now. But now I start putting money away to get the upgraded clutch pack, and I still need to get a box made for my HCCA 12.2 sub ($400 is what I am looking at for that).