Clutch feels different??? Need Help!!
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 178
Likes: 0
From: Blaine Washington State
Clutch feels different??? Need Help!!
Ok I got my headers installed yesterday locally from a reputable shop which deals with vettes exclusively, and after the install of the headers soon as I drove off my clutch felt different. I noticed it right away, and took my car back there today to make sure everything was ok underneath.....seems fine...
Question is why does my clutch not feel springy anymore, feels really spongey. it feels more rough, not smooth and almost feels like I got to press down harder with my foot, no bounce to it......Thats the best way I can describe it. I know anytime you make/do mods your car is going to feel different but why does my clutch feel different if they never even touched it or did any work to it?
When I got my B&B fusions installed earlier this year this never happened....need help? What should I do?
thnx guys
Question is why does my clutch not feel springy anymore, feels really spongey. it feels more rough, not smooth and almost feels like I got to press down harder with my foot, no bounce to it......Thats the best way I can describe it. I know anytime you make/do mods your car is going to feel different but why does my clutch feel different if they never even touched it or did any work to it?
When I got my B&B fusions installed earlier this year this never happened....need help? What should I do?
thnx guys
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 25,889
Likes: 7
From: Virginia Beach
CI 3-5-6-7-8 Veteran
Headers really heat up your fluid which makes the clutch feel worse... one of the downsides. Wrap all your clutch lines in DEI cool tape and swap your fluid for something with a higher temp threshold. Also, suck out the reservior and replace w/ fresh fluid every couple of weeks.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 3,488
Likes: 27
From: Long Island NY
If the degraded clutch feel was purely a function of high heat from the headers, wouldn't the clutch then feel "good" for say the first 15 minutes after a cold start before the clutch system has had time to "overheat"? Or perhaps everything "overheats" almost instantly? Sounds like a very noticeable change in clutch feel... not good. Is this a common observation by those who install headers?
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 25,889
Likes: 7
From: Virginia Beach
CI 3-5-6-7-8 Veteran
It's pretty common... many don't say anything. I started having stickey pedal problems with my car at the track (track = road course) after putting headers in. I ended up having my headers ceramic coated with 2000 degree "turbo black" coating, wrapped all clutch lines with heat reflective tape, and upgraded to ATE superblue in the hydraulics.
Clutch works now, but no nearly as well as my father's '04 w/ stock exhaust etc.
Clutch works now, but no nearly as well as my father's '04 w/ stock exhaust etc.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 178
Likes: 0
From: Blaine Washington State
Also my malfunction.... check engine light came on the dashboard this afternoon....Im assuming b/c of no cats (off road) ??
Is this something to worry about?? How can I get rid of it if I need to other than putting on aftermarket cats or dummy cats....
Thanks in advance..
Is this something to worry about?? How can I get rid of it if I need to other than putting on aftermarket cats or dummy cats....
Thanks in advance..
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Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 25,889
Likes: 7
From: Virginia Beach
CI 3-5-6-7-8 Veteran
^ You need to get the car tuned and have them turn the rear O2s off. That will stop you from throwing codes. The car sees the increased flow as a malfunctioning cat because it is getting readings outside of it's "ok" threshold.
Will it hurt anything? No... but if you live in a state where they plug into the OBD to do your state inspection you'll come up with a "not ready" status and they won't be able to inspect you car. The car must go throuh a certain amount of drive cycles to achieve "ready status" on all of it's systems. When you reset a code those affected systems go to "not ready".
Will it hurt anything? No... but if you live in a state where they plug into the OBD to do your state inspection you'll come up with a "not ready" status and they won't be able to inspect you car. The car must go throuh a certain amount of drive cycles to achieve "ready status" on all of it's systems. When you reset a code those affected systems go to "not ready".
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 25,889
Likes: 7
From: Virginia Beach
CI 3-5-6-7-8 Veteran
The car won't be funky when hot only, as the fluid gets hot it degrades and needs to be freshened up religiously.
Most C5/C6 drag racers suck out the reservior and refill it every week as a bandaid. The actualy bleed screw for the clutch hydraulic system is only accessible by removing the center section of the exhaust and the tunnel plate.
This is why most people who get a clutch put in their cars go ahead and get a remote bleed line which moves your bleeder into the engine bay area.
