dealer put in new clutch, plate, slave cylinder, and new flywheel on 03 Z06. They told me it was ready to go. Soon as I got in it, I had to use both hands to force it into reverse, other gears very hard also. Got on road and vibrates like all hell. Especially the faster the rpm. went straight back and dropped it off. What is the problem? The first thing that comes to mind is the shifter binding up so that tells me something is seriously not matched up. Second-he told me he simply took the weights off the old flywhhel and put them in the same space on the new ones. That sounds odd as heck. Any advice from anyone would be helpful.

 

Sorry to read about your twin problems.

I had both those issues.

The hard shifter is most likely a simple misadjustment of the shfter cradle. It took the tech about 10 minutes to re-adjust mine properly. No harm done. Just sloppy quality control by the tech.

The vibration issue is another matter and a serious one, I'm afraid.

The dealer did that to my 01 in a botched clutch installation. By using improper procedures that included: (1) failure to scribe the old flywheel to the crankshaft, so that the new flywheel could be installed in the original orientation; and (2) failure to properly transfer the balancing pins from the original flywheel to the replacement.

The result for my 01 was that it vibrated badly enough to knock out dental work. There began an ordeal that lasted several weeks and two more installs to "rule out" bad parts.

Dealer finally insisted that the remaining vibration was something I'd get used to. Wrong.

Instead, I contacted the Maryland BBB and filled out the paperwork on-line. Within a few days a lawyer from GM called to hear my story. (GM had an electronic gateway to the Maryland BBB).

A few days later, GM dispatched a two-man field Engineer team with specialized equipment to rebalance my engine. The process worked and the car was good as new again.

Assuming your tech properly transferred the balance pins, if your tech failed to scribe your flywheel to the crank, then your car is where my 2001 was. And the process to getting it back to normal is not fun or easy. My advice is to remain business-like, but insist that the vibration was induced by the clutch installation and you will not be satisfied until the vibration is gone.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Ranger

 

Thanks Ranger. What the problem was from the onset was the vette tech quite after my clutch was all diassembled. New guy didn't seem to know where to pick-up and I also presume he didn't have a clue as to the previous location of the flywheel to the crank Am I correct in assuming that merely attempting to balance the flywheel will not correct the problem because the lywheel will have to be balanced to the engine???


Ken

 

Replied to your PM.

Yes. The balance pins in the flywheel are positioned to compensate for the imbalance of the engine. That means the correct (original) orientation of the flywheel to the crankshaft is crucial.

If that crucial, original alignment has been lost, then specialized equipment is needed to reorient and rebalance the flywheel to the crank. That process on my 2001 took two field engineers two days to accomplish.

Chevy will fix yours right, if you remain firm. The fact that the tech quit during the install is a great fact that Chevy will recognize as decisive...in YOUR favor.

Ranger

 

Ranger,

It sounds like my thoughts about changing to a lighter flywheel would probably not be a good idea. How are guys getting their new parts balanced to the engine?

Chuck

 

Changing out the clutch for another stock one or an aftermarket model entails risk. Risk that the new unit will induce vibration. There have been a lot of threads on botched clutch installations in my nearly five years on the forum.

Fact is not all C5 engines come from the factory with balance pins in the flywheel. But those that do, need to have the pins preserved and correctly positioned in the new flywheel and the orientation of the flywheel to the crank preserved too.

If no balance pins are present, that is presumed to mean that none were needed and, without them, the engine is correctly balanced. Therefore, if you are lucky enough to have such an engine, changing the clutch (together: the flywheel, rotating disc, pressure plate) should not induce vibration so long as the clutch components are properly balanced as a unit. Many folks send their components out to a machine shop to verify/correct the balance before doing the installation.

My bottom line: If your flywheel has balance pins, (you won't know for sure until you get things apart), you better had exercised particular care in choosing the tech to swap the clutch. If he doesn't do the job correctly, vibrations are in your future.

Ranger