that's just it - even the Tex reps say that it shouldn't be chattering or shuddering and that regardless of the puck design the clutch should be smooth as a baby's butt. when I was working with the distributor on what series and disc to choose they also said that the Z-grip was the way to go, and never said a word about chatter.

the so called "burn-in" procedure that I was told to follow by Tex is what added additional problems to the clutch that weren't even present in the first place. so the chatter is only 1 of 3 problems that I am having with the clutch, and some of those problems are direct result of a procedure that was followed by instruction of the manufacturer.

look, if all this thing did was shudder a bit I would be fine with it (not happy, but accepting) - but considering the rattling/slapping/grinding this thing makes even when it's in gear and the clutch is fully engaged I don't think it's acceptable that the clutch is forever going to feel like crap, continually chatter and change pedal pressure/engagement points on me...

 

Greetings!!

I purchased my Textralia clutch from Andy at A&A and had it installed by RPM Transmission in Anderson, IN. The clutch chattered like crazy initially, but I either eventually got used to it, or learned to engage the clutch in a way that minimized the chatter. I drove it for about 400 miles and took it to an NCCC High speed event.

The clutch pedal went to the floor the first shift to 3rd and never came back up. I bled it, tried it again, nothing helped. I thought I had a huge air pocket in the hydraulic system. When I would try to start the car with the clutch pedal depressed and the car in gear, it was like the clutch was fully engaged and the car would start to move. There was an unbelievably bad 'groaning/whining' sound to go along with the rest of the problem.

I put the car on the trailer and headed home. Back up to RPM Transmission I went. When they pulled out the clutch disc, every single puck on the friction plate had been ripped off and had settled at the bottom of the bell housing. This of course forced the clutch to be fully engaged, which explained the groaning/whining sound and the vehicle moving forward when I tried to start it with clutch pedal depressed.

After speaking with Andy at A&A, they sent out a new friction plate no questions asked(fantastic customer service, btw). Subsequent research showed that there was a very small batch of Textralia clutches where the pucks had been epoxied, but not riveted to the plate. It would seem when the clutch got hot out on the track, the friction material started generating more grip(as designed). Unfortunately, due to the incorrectly attached pucks, the epoxy didn't like the heat and pulled away from the plate. That's what caused them to fall into the bottom of the bell housing and essentially jam the clutch against the pressure plate/flywheel assembly.

RPM installed the new friction plate(how this didn't damage my new Fidanza flywheel is anyone's guess), and it felt just like it did upon the initial install. I am happy to say that the chatter has gotten better(I did a couple 3rd gear full throttle slip procedures outlined in other posts), and hopefully this clutch will be in the car for quite some time. Only time will tell.

Regards

Brian A.
90 ZR-1
12.09@118
01 Z06
not quite stock

 

Thought I would post some video of what the clutch is doing...

http://s90.photobucket.com/albums/k2.../Tex%20issues/

 

I tell you this:

That sounds an *awful* lot like mine did at the track.. That shrieking sound very well could be metal on metal contact!!! You can't be certain until it's removed, but my recommendation is to get it out of there as quickly as possible.

I believe the bad 'batch' that I was referring to shipped from Tex in April 2006. I'm not sure how old your clutch is, but if it was manufactured in that timeframe, it's a fair bet that it's slowly going through the same transformation(ie pucks coming off) that mine did, albeit much more slowly as you aren't on the track. It's also possible that there was another bad 'batch' subsequent to April 2006.

I'm not sure if you bought it directly from Tex or another vendor; if the latter I would recommend contacting them and if they can't get you a new friction plate. If they get no satisfaction, have them call Andy at A&A because he solved the problem for me without a hitch. Could be he knows the 'magic word' to get Tex to fix the issue.

Brian A.
90 ZR-1
12.09@118
01 Z06
not quite stock

 

I bought it from a vendor, and now have them involved also... I haven't heard back yet what is going to happen though...

 

wow that sounds horrible. sorry man get that clutch out!
Something wrong with that clutch thats not even normal for chatter.
I HOPE text comes through for you and your vendor, I think they will. Definitely something wrong.

 

yep, I knew explaining wasn't doing any good and video was the only way to accurately depict what was going on

 

What did you find out about the ARP flywheel bolts?

 

Glad to see people finally understand what's going on. Video is a great way to convey the problem... Now I just hope the Vendor or MFG will come through and make it right, because it's pretty ridiculous/arrogant to say "these sounds are because you don't know how to drive a stick..."

If Tex can make it right, i'd say stick with that clutch. But if they end up screwing you, Centerforce seems like it's doing well in the C5 department...

-Dan

 

I got ahold of the installer and he did not use ARP flywheel bolts...

 

That's good, at least you can scratch that off the list..

 

Josh
Did you get this issue resolved yet? I was following this thread closely as I just installed a OZ700 Z series clutch on Saturday and I was a bit concerned. However I believe you must have a defective unit. I have already put about 250 miles on mine and it seems just fine. There is a small bit of chatter in it at times when starting from a stop. Like some other members said to do, I just adjusted how I take off from a stop. So I guess my point is that Textralia needs to take care of the problem. It looks like you had a good knowledgeable installer do the install so the only thihg left it the clutch itself.

I hope they come through for you!

 

Textralia has ceased to answer any of my mails (even after sending them the video of what was going wrong) and I have now gone to the distributor.

Originally I didn't see the distributor at fault as this was a manufacturing issue so I didn't approach them with my issues. It took 4 e-mails and 3 days of calling before I finally got a reply from the distributor. At first they said it was no big deal to get a clutch warrantied that was defective, but when I tried to pursue the warranty channel they said it would be necessary to contact Textralia first. The last time I heard anything from them was Thursday or Friday of last week, and that was only because I called them time and time again until I got through to the single person that could answer my questions...

Also when I talked to the distributor they said there were very specific ways to break in these clutches or you would damage the entire unit. That was a far cry from what Textralia told me about being able to beat on these like a race car right out of the box - I am wondering who is telling me the truth at this point since manufacturer and distributor have wildly different opinions on how to get this clutch functioning properly...

I am going to give it until the end of next week, if it's not resolved or far on it's way to resolved by then I know for a fact both Textralia and the distributor are planning to jerk me around until I give up or just generally ignore me until I go away. If that happens I'll be publishing all of my communications from both Textralia and the distributor showing how throughly they screw people that pay good money for a defective product.

It's going to be a real shame if it comes to that because it'll mean I am down the $1,800 for the clutch and labor, and will have to start from scratch with a car in worse condition than before the clutch was installed. Also it will certainly mean far more than $1,800 in lost sales both for the vendor and manufacturer due to the bad publicity generated from my experience. Lets hope for all of us that they do the right thing here...

 

Boy I hope they fix this asap. I can't imagine anything other than a new clutch in the mail immediately, and maybe even labor reimbursement if they old clutch is determined to have a manufacturing flaw that caused the failure...

A new clutch at a bare minimum seems like a pretty reasonable thing to expect...

Good Luck, I know I'm interested to see their companies "True Colors"...



-Dan

 

I just installed an OZ700 this weekend and so far I HATE IT! I have a huge cam in mine and basically have to slip the clutch on startup or deal with bucking. I replaced it becuase I was having problems with the pedal sticking to the floor on my ls7 setup. I am not at all happy with it, I only have about 100 miles on it but I can tell there is no way this thing is going to work. I believe its a problem with the puck design, just no real room for slipping. If I take off hard its great, but cant really do that in stop and go traffic. Maybe if they have a none puck disk i'll try that but it mean another whole day worth of install.... No happy about this at all, hope it works out for the original poster. At least I do my own work (with my buddies help) so all i'll be out is the parts.

-Ken

 

Z-grip, for about a year now. Its going to chatter slightly at first.
Take it out and slip it a few times at high throttle. It won't hurt it.
Or take it to the drag strip on something sticky and slip it.
That will break it in well. I have an 0Z700 and thats what it took.

 

good luck, I sure hope that it breaks in for you!

I have over 2k miles on mine now and it's still horrible... still haven't got any closer to a resolution with Textralia or ECS either...

 

Hey, w/the problems you are having, I'm guessing that clutch needs to be fired asap. I would just hope you are not having tranny issues along w/this. Amazes me all the bs you read. Anyone who states these clutches (no anti-chatter springs) does not chatter is completely nuts.
The other noise, you gotta wonder if its throw out bearing, off balance issue, or trans. Thats about how my trans sounded before it checked out.

 

Textralia has shipped a new replacement OZ700 X-grip free of charge, and I am shipping back the Z-grip that is in the car now for them to inspect and see what went wrong...

Depending on what is found (or not found) wrong with the clutch there may be a labor reimbursement claim in the works too, but first things first...

I guess persistance pays off, I've been badgering them for over 5 weeks now...