LS6 clutch Carnage.
 

Included are some pics of the clutch removed from my 2002 C5 Z06. I am pretty confident the culprit for all the damage was an improperly adjusted Tick master cylinder. The clutch and slave both went out on a 6500PRM 2-3 shift on the first day of my ownership. I have since installed a lift in my garage to fix it myself in comfort.https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...59055b7065.jpgBroken LS6 pressure plate.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...42d7a4ef2b.jpgFingers dislodged after ring break.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...9cdb0f25ff.jpgDoes the torque tube pilot look normal? The wear does not seem to have taken any material besides the outer coating. I change the pilot bearing with the LUK included bearing.

The thing about the standard Tick MC is the extra flow makes the clutch hit harder. You do that on the stock clutch, and you see what happens. I'm going back to a stock MC to make my car more enjoyable to drive. With me, and a RPS dual disc, the rear end shrapneled instead of the clutch. Also, first hard shift with SC.

I will try to get some pics of the OEM slave cylinder also. The inner seal blew out completely. The clutch would not stroke at all.
I was able to move the car into the baseplate 2 post lift bay by starting in 1st gear and idling in. It was dropped in the driveway by a rollback flatbed tow truck. He took 45 minutes to get it on the back at stock ride height. I don't think he would have been able to load it if I was lowered at all. I have been working alone due to being new to Ohio and my work schedule.

Hit the back button.
 

Double post.

How do you find first gear pull away with RPS twin Zee... ?
I have it and it's awful..

Very strong clutch, but with a Tick MC is like a light switch, with about 1/4" of engagement window. It'd be really hard on the driveline if I raced the car. I'm going back to stock hydraulics. I also have a Centerforce TO bearing on the GM slave. I forgot to add; lots of people complain of clutch chatter, or general noise, but I have none of those problems.

It came with my new boosted Z .. I've stopped stalling it now.. At least that's something ha ha!
But find I'm riding it at high revs to pull away.. Sometimes it hooks and goes , but have had some hairy moments pulling out and being stranded in no mans land :D.
I'm wondering if I'm just not used to it, or maybe change it out.. Only had car few weeks.. It's fine once moving.. Was starting to wonder if shifter was lined up right, or fluids somewhere..

I'm sorry to say, but that is one nasty looking pressure plate/clutch. Also it looks as if at some time the pilot bearing may have failed. The nose of the input shaft looks a bit ruff. I had the pressure plate fail at 100k or so from fatiguing arms, and it didn't look that rusted/bad. Also if you need a new input (01/02) model years, they are not available anymore.

Mark.

car could have been in flood water, from prior ownership.

I sure hope not. It would be hard to tell from corrosion due to the cars construction. The frame and hardware seems normal for the cars age. I do know the BCM was recently replaced. It is also an Ohio car where the roads are salted in the winter, so hopefully that was the cause of the pressure plate surface rust.

Check the run-out at the end/tip of the input shaft where it engages the pilot bearing.

My clutch went at 6500rpm as well years ago and the shaft was slightly bent. Had a little wobble to it when rotated. A new shaft from GM is $500+. Ouch.


Old shaft as it came out of the car.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...16bc84ef8e.jpg


Notice the updated shaft (on the right) GM now offers has a little more meat in certain spots. Stronger. I also replaced all the bearings and couplers while I had the torque tube apart.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...d6493fd52c.jpg

i have the smaller, stock size bore 3/4" tilton master cyl rather then the 13/16 MC that comes with the tick kit. It's way better. Works great with my RPS twin! My wife drives the car no problem. It engages that good/smooth.

Thanks for the information and pictures. I will definitely check it. If the shaft is OK I should be back on the road Thursday. If not, I'll be rebuilding my torque tube also once the parts come in.

ive got a used Mantic Er2 Single Disc clutch (32K miles) with resurface pressure plate for sale. PM if interested. Thanks

You're welcome.

Another clutch was installed after the explosion without checking for run-out as mentioned and now many years (but just 3k miles) later when I took everything apart I noticed the pilot bearing needles were gone and the input shaft no longer had support. That made me investigate further.

That wobbling made the clutch heat up when run hard and the fingers of the pressure plate got heat fatigued and started to slip. Drive easy for 10 minutes and you can get a good couple gears and then issues again.

So the input was damaged when the 1st clutch went, and then un-diagnosed it was the cause for the 2nd clutch going.

Now it's all new, I'm upgrading to a twin disk, so things should be good.

Since you had yours explode like mine did initially that's why I offered the suggestion to look closely.

I tried the new style input,and the bigger new pilot bearing (as I was told to) nothing fit, never thought about using the small PB. As I noted, I destroyed my input when I damaged the PB at install. Two more tries with bronze bushings PB's with the damaged input ( I would get about 5k to 10k before noise and vibration) Finally found at a dealer a complete new Torque Tube assembly. (big bucks) It's never been smoother.

So do check the run-out. I bought two use TT's and both were bent.


Mark.

The standard C5 pilot bearing slips over the new one just as snug as the old one. Should hopefully be good.

The run-out seemed fine without disassembly. (Checked for play and with a straight edge as well as rotation with the half shafts disconnected.) I installed a new pilot bearing supplied with the LS7 clutch kit. I will also make sure to minimize the throw of the adjustable master cylinder. I just have a few more details to finish up before I can test out the car.

Back on the road
 

I installed a new LS7 clutch kit from Rock Auto. (Flywheel, pilot bearing, pressure plate, PP bolts) The clutch slave was from AdvanceAuto Parts. While I had the rear end dropped I changed the diff and transmission fluid. Both were black and seemed a little burnt with no evidence of water. I went with Mobil 1 LS 75W90 and Carquest DEX/MERC (Dexron 3 rated). I also upgraded to Stoptech stainless brake lines and used my new pressure bleeder. The pedal is super firm after 1 bleeding session and with no help.

Just sent you a long (really long) PM reply. Looks like you are already done. On the adjustable TB be carful not to over adjust the through, it can go to far and cause damage.

Mark.