Clutch Problem
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 450
Likes: 1
From: Washington
Clutch Problem
I was at the track tonight making my 5th 1/4 mile run of the evening when the car didn't go into 4th gear and so I just coasted the rest of the way. After the run I noticed that my clutch was not as stiff as before. It felt very soft. Everything worked fine, it was just VERY soft. When I got home I checked the fluid level, and it was full, there was no leaks. Any ideas on what the problem might be?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 10,649
Likes: 31
From: Central Florida
Re: Clutch Problem (Swimmer)
Hey Swimmer,
Sounds like you have clutch pedal woes. Common problem. A lot has been written about this issue both here and on the other forum. Suggest you do a search on the term "clutch pedal."
The bottom line is that you will need to take the car to a clutch-savvy dealer. Depending on your relationship with that dealer, they may insist that they duplicate the problem. If so, I suggest you ride with them. The Chevy Technical Assistance Center has authorized the replacement of many, many, many clutches on C5s that are run hard. There is a known issue with the clutch but Chevy is not yet saying what the exact problem is; rather they are replacing the entire assembly plus actuator (slave) and often the master also.
Your problem may be different; but pedal woes after consecutive hard shifts is the classic symptom indicating you have entered the zone that leads Chevy to replace your entire clutch. At some point they will publish something that tells us what parts are actually failing. As of now, they are holding their cards close and just replacing parts. But the parts they replace will show no sign of failure or abuse.
Ranger
[Modified by Ranger, 7:49 AM 6/27/2002]
Sounds like you have clutch pedal woes. Common problem. A lot has been written about this issue both here and on the other forum. Suggest you do a search on the term "clutch pedal."
The bottom line is that you will need to take the car to a clutch-savvy dealer. Depending on your relationship with that dealer, they may insist that they duplicate the problem. If so, I suggest you ride with them. The Chevy Technical Assistance Center has authorized the replacement of many, many, many clutches on C5s that are run hard. There is a known issue with the clutch but Chevy is not yet saying what the exact problem is; rather they are replacing the entire assembly plus actuator (slave) and often the master also.
Your problem may be different; but pedal woes after consecutive hard shifts is the classic symptom indicating you have entered the zone that leads Chevy to replace your entire clutch. At some point they will publish something that tells us what parts are actually failing. As of now, they are holding their cards close and just replacing parts. But the parts they replace will show no sign of failure or abuse.
Ranger
[Modified by Ranger, 7:49 AM 6/27/2002]
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,448
Likes: 16
From: Humble tx
Re: Clutch Problem (Swimmer)
I was at the track tonight making my 5th 1/4 mile run of the evening when the car didn't go into 4th gear and so I just coasted the rest of the way. After the run I noticed that my clutch was not as stiff as before. It felt very soft. Everything worked fine, it was just VERY soft. When I got home I checked the fluid level, and it was full, there was no leaks. Any ideas on what the problem might be?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
I was having that problem and it got worse. The pedal would not come off the floor under hard acceleration. It got to where it was happening every time at the big end of the track.
I went with LG Motorsports custom clutch and Cartek's slave and master cylinder. However, the shaft from the pedal to the master cylinder on the upgraded unit bent after a few weeks. I took it back to Lou and he fabbed a new unit with much more strength than the Cartek unit.
The new clutch is much heavier but man can it take the power. I took it to the track and put on some ET streets to see what it would do if I could get it to hook. We only got two passes because of the crowd but I launched at 3500 and it just bit, bogged and then took off. The juice came on after around 100' and the clutch never slipped. I am sure it will take Lou's stated 600 RWHP capacity.
If you are buying a new clutch, go to him.
Regards
Randy :cheers:
