Wayne O

I have a modified 2005 C6 putting-down just under 500 RWHP, 6-speed with an OEM clutch. I run road courses 2 – 4 days a month. The car is driven aggressively but it’s well-maintained and has been exceptionally reliable. I flush/change the clutch fluid monthly from the reservoir. A couple months ago, I had a couple incidents where I missed the 2-3 shift which was unusual. I found the clutch pedal return spring broken afterwards but ultimately I wrote it off as a missed shift rather than any mechanical problem. I did replace the clutch pedal return assist spring. I ran PIR a few weeks ago without any problems.

I just ran the east road course at Firebird Raceway Friday and Saturday. In each session except one or two, when shifting from 2nd to 3rd I’d find the clutch pedal about halfway to the floor. Strangely, this would only happen one time/one shift during each session and the clutch pedal was fine otherwise throughout the session.

I thought about the slave cylinder...about bleeding the clutch to remove a possible air bubbles and/or contamination...about the clutch pedal position switch, etc. For now, I will bleed the clutch to see what happens.

One experienced Corvette racer suggested these infrequent episodes (where the clutch pedal is halfway to the floor) may not have anything to do with hydraulics. He said he’s seen this happen to OEM clutches in both the C5 and C6 and he made it sound like it’s an inherent flaw/condition of the clutch which may progressively get worse until replacement is required.

If anyone has any experience, knowledge or suggestions about this very intermittent clutch pedal condition I would greatly appreciate your help.

ErnieN85

look here http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...al-issues.html

az55

Hey Wayne, I saw your post after I submitted mine about clutch choices. I saw your car yesterday. It's a real beauty. BTW, I hear you joined Arizona Corvette Racers as a new member, so I will see you at the next event. My car was the silver #79 that could not shift out of third gear in Time Trials. I ran that way just so I could post a time and points for the week-end.
I hope your problem is an easy fix. I only have one choice for mine--replacement!

Cheers and welcome to the club.
CV Wells

Wicked Weasel

it is common with the OEM setup. We notice it with modded cars in the 1/4 mile the most, but also for RR and even street driving.

It seems the OEM just cannot handle the extra power. There have been many threads talking about solutions, but really the best solution is a new aftermarket clutch (although the LS7 clutch might work).

I have used both the Tex single and the Spec twin on the track. Both hold up well, but the Tex will only get you to about 500rwhp. I did use it for some time with my LS7 setup pushing 565 RWHP / 545 RWTQ, but eventually it started to slip so I went with the Spec twin and absolutely love it.

I tried the search function to help you out but it wasnt working for me right now

joemoia

I had the "stuck clutch pedal" syndrome back in '07:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...-remedies.html

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...dal-redux.html

I ended up having a C6Z06 clutch/slave installed with heat wrapped hard lines and that seemed to cure the problem

Wayne O

I appreciate everyone's help and direction...I'll definitely research this further. The OEM clutch has held up well with the added power and track use for 2.5 years but I guess anything can 'go' in time. As the clutch pedal problem happened so infrequently I think I'll properly bleed the clutch and see what happens before buying a new after market clutch. Sadly, I suspect the handwriting's on the wall.

Thanks! I've known Ken for a couple of years and he's been tremendously helpful...encouraging me to join ACR's for a while now. The ACR's are a seriously fast group to run with so I held off on joining until I felt I was a bit more ready (working on my driving skills in the meantime). I'm no Michael Schumacher...I'm out there to have fun but I want to be 'respectably' competitive. My car is getting there but I still have some important improvements to make.

Ken was very helpful getting me going with NASA. I ran PIR a couple weeks ago starting off in their HPDE Level 3. Everything went well enough but I'll probably run Level 3 at PIR a few more times before jumping into the ACR time trails. I feel fine doing time trials on the Firebird road courses. Despite old tires and some traffic I managed a one minute 5 second (00:01:05) lap time on the east track.

Everyone has been extremely nice and helpful getting me going with the ACR's. I'm looking forward to learning more and improving my driving skills. With any sport the best way to improve is to compete with the best. Lord knows I have a lot of room for improvement and I consider the Arizona Corvette Racers the best!

Good luck with your own clutch issue and I look forward to seeing you soon.