Hello Everyone

First I want to thank you for taking the time on reading this post!

Last March I had my clutch and flywheel installed at a recommended tech out her in Pittsburgh. The first shop could not do the job for over two months, actually very close to three months of my car sitting there. After the second shop got their hands on it within a few hours they called me and said my car was ready for pickup

Here is the issue gentleman. Ever since I got my car back the clutch when pushed/ released feels really gritty, like metal grinding on metal/ dirty-rusty spring like feel and sound. The sound is loud and getting annoying. The loud sound and gritty metal spring feel is at its worst when I am at a full stop then slowly release the clutch to get the car rolling in 1st gear. A mechanic of mine back in California told me that it is due to the teeth on the flywheel needing to break in, etc. He worked on my car for over 8years and I take his word like gold. I gave the flywheel/clutch about 2000 miles to break in which I did perfectly.

I contacted the owner at the mechanic shop that worked on my car shortly after the install and he said . He said there is no way to eliminate that sound and feel with aftermarket clutch and flywheel on our cars. I think he was talking about the chattering- light diesel sound that the lighter flywheel does especially heard in lower rpms or idle. But this issue I was explaining is completely different. I am about 4-5k miles on the JWT flywheel/clutch setup. I am getting a bit worried now as this has been getting progressively worse with time. Good thing is I don't drive much as we use my wifeys car much more.

So my question is....does this sound normal? Do you guys have this experience as well with your G35's .....350zs...? I have and did massive research on this setup before and after purchasing knowing what to expect. But I cannot find something similar to this since the install.

Thank you and take care

 

You should slide the tranny back or remove the starter to see if the friction material is coming apart.

 

Good info xxHotelCrazyXx, ty! I am fairly ignorant when it comes to car mechanics so i am going to need help from a buddy to do this. Interesting though I have noticed on cold startup recently that the car acts funny....like the rpms are sluggish right off the bat on startup and it takes a bit longer than usual to crank up. Does this all come into play?

 

You sure you are not hearing the "rattle" of the light weight flywheel which is NORMAL?

Mine is quite loud at idle.

 

Guaranteed its not "the rattle"...it is two very differnent sounds. The rattle is what everyone experiences with this flywheel. The mushy sound and grindy feel are both in hand. It only happens when i press the clutch in....its a squeeky gritty feel like if there were rocks in between and I can feel it on the clutch. The sound when pushing in the clutch is loud inside the cabin....the rattle from the light flywheel is very subtle to me even at idle. I did tons of research on this setup on a few forums and knew what to expect. But I have not heard of this at all.

 

Here is a quick update response I got from my good mechanic friend back in California:

Being sluggish and sounds might not correspond to each other, meaning it might be 2 different issues.

Sluggish is contributed to the crank angle sensor which is right above the flywheel. This might need to get checked out as the clutch material might have found some it on the sensor, Its magnetic so itll pick up on the metallic material.

Point 2: The sound might be your ring gear as it might getting worn down from misalignment of the starter. When its misaligned, the starter is engaging the teeth evenly thus wearing out the gear on the starter and the flywheel. Its like a small sprocket spinning a larger sprocket.

Troubleshooting 1:
See if the noise is dependent on the clutch pedal being pressed in?
What about if you let the clutch out slowly ? At what point does the noise come into play?

Is the noise gear dependent? Is it speed dependent? Meaning does it have to be in gear for the noise to happen? Does your car have to be moving? Maybe the noise comes whens its on throttle?

I would check to see if there is enough fluid in your tranny, thats what happen to my Hachi....


Here is my response to Him:

The clutch engages well. Sorry for saying sluggish. I was referring to the mushy/sluggish feel like metal rubbing on metal when pressing in the clutch and releasing. It feels that way or like a spring that is about to snap when pressing the clutch in and releasing it. Its loud and has been getting progressively worse with time since the JWT clutch/flywheel install. That's the best way I can explain it. It is at its worst when the car is at a full stop and I put it in first slowly releasing the clutch to get the car rolling. Its loud and its a gritty feel on the foot as explained above. The stock OEM clutch and flywheel was very smooth and never did I have this issue. This odd issue has been there from day one of this setup but now I am getting worried as it is getting worse with time.

When I explained the issue to the shop shortly after I got the car back I was told this is normal for a after market clutch flywheel. That there is no way to get rid of the sound/feel but I don't think they knew how bad it was. I know the car has a slight rattle in low rpms and can be heard more easily in idle but that is due to the light flywheel. Its like a light diesel engine chatter but this is completely different. Everyone knows this and I knew what to expect as I did extensive research on multiple forums for G35/350z's.

As the break in period went on and now into 5k miles it has only got worse. Its a good thing i do not drive much at all. Not to mention it but the car is starting like **** now. Ironic how I was asking you a few weeks ago about the weird cold start ups I have been getting lately? Sounds like you mentioned that in your last statement.

What really pisses me off is that the first shop had my car for almost three months dropping the tranny and installing everything 3x before they called it quits....then I had it towed and installed at the other shop in a day but look whats been happening. The clutch/flywheel has felt off somehow since the install. I am about to drive it up to them tomorrow. Its like 1hr away though. At the same time I will have them install my serpentine and ac belt as I just got my new ones in the mail. They need to be replaced.

 

If it really feels like rocks in your transmission, then I would immediately take it back to the shop. Sounds like something was half-a$$ed.

 

i have a light weight flywheel and it rattles but not like rocks in there.

 

I know this is a Zombie thread, but as there's no resolution I figured I'd add my response for anyone that comes across it.

I had the same thing happen - it "almost feels like it's a spring in the pedal" because it is probably in your pedal assembly. Mine was real bad, to the point that you could feel the metal on metal grinding each time you disengage/engage the clutch. Answer? Little bit of wd-40 on the clutch pedal assembly, especially around the spring. Felt like new after that.

 

Is there ANYTHING that WD-40 cannot do?