Have I trashed my flywheel?
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 672
Likes: 2
From: Cheltenham, England
Have I trashed my flywheel?
Well I finally got the parts together to renew the clutch hydraulics on my 94, the slave had been leaking for quite a while, I was having to top up the master every 100 miles or so, but there never seemed to be any pools of fluid under the car, so Im guessing it all ended up in the clutch housing.. this would probably account for the clutch slip on gears 3,4,5,and 6, gears 1 and 2 its fine and pulls like a train, while I know I've got to change out the clutch what Im wondering is, if the fluid has contaminated the clutch, has it done irreparable damage to the flywheel? or would it clean up?
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 12,221
Likes: 446
From: Overland Park Kansas
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (appearance mods)
C4 of Year Winner (appearance mods) 2019
Most, if not all fluid should stay on the inner wall of the housing and, eventually, drip out the drain hole in the inspection plate. If it's slipping, it's more likely to be related to your clutch.
Still, anything you find on the FW should clean up.
ZFDoc recommends using maroon scotch-brite to clean up the face of the FW. It works very well!
Still, anything you find on the FW should clean up.
ZFDoc recommends using maroon scotch-brite to clean up the face of the FW. It works very well!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 2,736
Likes: 0
From: WAY UPSTATE NY
Most, if not all fluid should stay on the inner wall of the housing and, eventually, drip out the drain hole in the inspection plate. If it's slipping, it's more likely to be related to your clutch.
Still, anything you find on the FW should clean up.
ZFDoc recommends using maroon scotch-brite to clean up the face of the FW. It works very well!
Still, anything you find on the FW should clean up.
ZFDoc recommends using maroon scotch-brite to clean up the face of the FW. It works very well!
Clean it well with brake cleaner and scotch-brite several times and you should be fine.As long as you haven't really slipped the crap out of it you will be fine..
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 672
Likes: 2
From: Cheltenham, England
as soon as I started to notice the slipping I started treating the higher gears VERY carefully! I have little or no experience with any type of car clutch, by that I mean I've never had to work on one, but I've dealt with many bike clutches over the years, mostly old British bikes, so I know something about slipping! lol
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 40,156
Likes: 45
From: San Pedro CA
no resurfacing!!! the DMFW does not resurface well... contrary to others opinion...
First off, the tolerances are so damned tight that if you take .010 off the DM, it throws everything off... it is designed to accept the wear of the friction disc, but if you remove it from the FW, it is going to run out of tolerance that much faster.
Also, the DM simply doesn't like being machined. It can damage the mechanism inside the flywheel that makes it a DM.
I agree with the Scotchbrite and some cleaner... You can be aggressive by hand, and leave a random pattern... Shiny is good, orbital marks are good. If it's a bad spot, use a small orbital sander with the Scotchbrite to work it out, but don't go too nuts. Use a flat edge to look for friction material transfer.
Depending on miles, you can also do the same to the shiny surface of the pressure plate and simply replace the friction disc.
Keep in mind, the lifespan of the clutch assembly is about 95k normal driving miles. Lower if you race or beat the crap out of it. A flywheel can last up to 120k miles.
First off, the tolerances are so damned tight that if you take .010 off the DM, it throws everything off... it is designed to accept the wear of the friction disc, but if you remove it from the FW, it is going to run out of tolerance that much faster.
Also, the DM simply doesn't like being machined. It can damage the mechanism inside the flywheel that makes it a DM.
I agree with the Scotchbrite and some cleaner... You can be aggressive by hand, and leave a random pattern... Shiny is good, orbital marks are good. If it's a bad spot, use a small orbital sander with the Scotchbrite to work it out, but don't go too nuts. Use a flat edge to look for friction material transfer.
Depending on miles, you can also do the same to the shiny surface of the pressure plate and simply replace the friction disc.
Keep in mind, the lifespan of the clutch assembly is about 95k normal driving miles. Lower if you race or beat the crap out of it. A flywheel can last up to 120k miles.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 672
Likes: 2
From: Cheltenham, England
no resurfacing!!! the DMFW does not resurface well... contrary to others opinion...
First off, the tolerances are so damned tight that if you take .010 off the DM, it throws everything off... it is designed to accept the wear of the friction disc, but if you remove it from the FW, it is going to run out of tolerance that much faster.
Also, the DM simply doesn't like being machined. It can damage the mechanism inside the flywheel that makes it a DM.
I agree with the Scotchbrite and some cleaner... You can be aggressive by hand, and leave a random pattern... Shiny is good, orbital marks are good. If it's a bad spot, use a small orbital sander with the Scotchbrite to work it out, but don't go too nuts. Use a flat edge to look for friction material transfer.
Depending on miles, you can also do the same to the shiny surface of the pressure plate and simply replace the friction disc.
Keep in mind, the lifespan of the clutch assembly is about 95k normal driving miles. Lower if you race or beat the crap out of it. A flywheel can last up to 120k miles.
First off, the tolerances are so damned tight that if you take .010 off the DM, it throws everything off... it is designed to accept the wear of the friction disc, but if you remove it from the FW, it is going to run out of tolerance that much faster.
Also, the DM simply doesn't like being machined. It can damage the mechanism inside the flywheel that makes it a DM.
I agree with the Scotchbrite and some cleaner... You can be aggressive by hand, and leave a random pattern... Shiny is good, orbital marks are good. If it's a bad spot, use a small orbital sander with the Scotchbrite to work it out, but don't go too nuts. Use a flat edge to look for friction material transfer.
Depending on miles, you can also do the same to the shiny surface of the pressure plate and simply replace the friction disc.
Keep in mind, the lifespan of the clutch assembly is about 95k normal driving miles. Lower if you race or beat the crap out of it. A flywheel can last up to 120k miles.
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 173
Likes: 7
From: Blk Mtn NC
Most, if not all fluid should stay on the inner wall of the housing and, eventually, drip out the drain hole in the inspection plate. If it's slipping, it's more likely to be related to your clutch.
Still, anything you find on the FW should clean up.
ZFDoc recommends using maroon scotch-brite to clean up the face of the FW. It works very well!
Still, anything you find on the FW should clean up.
ZFDoc recommends using maroon scotch-brite to clean up the face of the FW. It works very well!
http://tech.corvettecentral.com/2007...1996-corvette/
Good luck with your repair.
Mike
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Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 672
Likes: 2
From: Cheltenham, England
On this vintage C4 the actuator is outside the bellhousing with the slave cylinder. No fluid should get inside just the actuator rod through the rubber boot gets inside the bellhousing.
http://tech.corvettecentral.com/2007...1996-corvette/
Good luck with your repair.
Mike
http://tech.corvettecentral.com/2007...1996-corvette/
Good luck with your repair.
Mike