DIY clutch install, intimidating?
Racer
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 296
Likes: 33
From: Virginia Beach VA
i don't think all of them are. from what i understand if the damper, engine, clutch was over .5 oz then they were ext balanced, but, if they were under that gm sent them through just on the engines internal balance. this is why so many people can just buy a clutch, install it, and be good. i don't know percentages but more than a few people have had issues not matching the balance. if a shop is doing the work and there isn't time to have the machine shop match balance it seems to me that a zero balance of the flywheel/plate would be the next best thing. the last thing a guy needs is an aftermarket clutch that's off, say, 6g, being bolted into the car 180 off from where his factory clutch was out of balance.
As I 've also said many many times, this hot balance was not done to correct POOR ENGINE IMBALANCE, it was done to further reduce already small imbalances to minimize vibrations. It is a NVH issue, not an engine balance issue. So, if the best someone can do, for whatever reason, is to put on a zero balanced clutch assy ( as close to zero as possible),then your engine is fine, you just might feel vibrations you didn't before.
So I call it technically an externally balanced engine. Because the clutch assy is used to check the total balance. If you told a shop that the engine is externally balanced, and the clutch assy is used to accomplish that, but that some assys may be zero, slightly imbalanced, or more imbalanced, that is a VERY TRUE statement. And that is the most accurate way to describe this.
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 16,028
Likes: 170
From: oregon
All true. However, ALL of them are checked for balance. Some have the weights added. Many do not. AND, you can not assume that since your flywheel doesn't have any weights in it, that a zero balanced assembly will give you no vibrations. Since flywheels and pressure plates are put on WITHOUT balancing them individually, and then the total assembly balance is checked ON the engine, it is possible for small imbalances in the flywheel and pressure plate (due to tolerances) to counteract any imbalances in the engine, and no additional weights are added for further correction. So if that was the case, replacing with a perfectly zero balanced clutch assembly could put your total engine assembly above the .5 oz∙in spec. As I've said many many times, the combination are infinite.
As I 've also said many many times, this hot balance was not done to correct POOR ENGINE IMBALANCE, it was done to further reduce already small imbalances to minimize vibrations. It is a NVH issue, not an engine balance issue. So, if the best someone can do, for whatever reason, is to put on a zero balanced clutch assy ( as close to zero as possible),then your engine is fine, you just might feel vibrations you didn't before.
So I call it technically an externally balanced engine. Because the clutch assy is used to check the total balance. If you told a shop that the engine is externally balanced, and the clutch assy is used to accomplish that, but that some assys may be zero, slightly imbalanced, or more imbalanced, that is a VERY TRUE statement. And that is the most accurate way to describe this.
As I 've also said many many times, this hot balance was not done to correct POOR ENGINE IMBALANCE, it was done to further reduce already small imbalances to minimize vibrations. It is a NVH issue, not an engine balance issue. So, if the best someone can do, for whatever reason, is to put on a zero balanced clutch assy ( as close to zero as possible),then your engine is fine, you just might feel vibrations you didn't before.
So I call it technically an externally balanced engine. Because the clutch assy is used to check the total balance. If you told a shop that the engine is externally balanced, and the clutch assy is used to accomplish that, but that some assys may be zero, slightly imbalanced, or more imbalanced, that is a VERY TRUE statement. And that is the most accurate way to describe this.
i mean what customer would pay 2 grand in shop labor for a clutch install which is about what it would be if it required 3 days of lift time
Racer
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 296
Likes: 33
From: Virginia Beach VA
it's just not realistic to do in a shop. no one can afford to leave a car on the lift that long. zero might not be ideal but it is the best option when you can only allocate one day of lift time to do a clutch job.
i mean what customer would pay 2 grand in shop labor for a clutch install which is about what it would be if it required 3 days of lift time
i mean what customer would pay 2 grand in shop labor for a clutch install which is about what it would be if it required 3 days of lift time
