Sticking clutch.. answers????

[kevin1106]

Ok so I've read over a million post about this problem... Searched everywhere for a cure... But haven't came up with a fix yet for this problem.. Other than a spring from Lingerfelter... Which seems like a band aid...

I've never had this problem till now... Stock clutch was fine.. My Ram twin disk didnt have this problem.. But now I have the LPE ZR1 clutch and NOW I get the sticking clutch... WTF...

I also changed my Fluid over to willwood EXP 600 plus... DOT 4...

Here is a link to the Clutch I purchased... Also bought the spacer..

http://www.lingenfelter.com/mm5/merc...Store_Code=LPE


Almost 2000.00 and Now I have This Problem.. Anyone Know what The Fix Is???

Thanks!!

[chopss]

i guess i would make sure fluid is always clean of clutch dust and that lengenfelter clutch return spring. problem solved for me on stock clutch

[steeleshark2]

Only sticking after/during hard launches or normal use?

[kevin1106]

Originally Posted by steeleshark2

Only sticking after/during hard launches or normal use?

Under hard launches...also whenever under hard accelleration......only does it when the RPM's get past 5000... If I shift around 4000, I have no Problems..

[kevin1106]

Originally Posted by chopss

i guess i would make sure fluid is always clean of clutch dust and that lengenfelter clutch return spring. problem solved for me on stock clutch

Well, I know the fluid is clean.. Just changed it.. Also used a power bleeder... I made sure there was no air in any of the lines... I ran 2 quarts through the system.. I did the brakes first, then the clutch... So I know I have a complete flush...

Idk about the spring... Just seems like a band-aid.... I've never had this problem before... There has to be a reason why it's doing this...

Every car I've ever owned that was a manual.. Has never given me any problems like this... The thought of this in the past, never even crossed my mind.. I never even heard of this problem till I got my camaro...

This BS is weird...There has got to be an answer to why all of a sudden I'm having this problem.

This sucks, cause I don't even want to go to the track till I get this problem fixed... I just finally recieved my 17' Bogarts... and I'm afraid to go the the track....Pointless to race when the clutch is like this... Ill Probably run a 18.00 or something crazy...when I should be seeing Hi 10's or low 11's

[justa25thTA]

For $90 you might as well and try the Lingenfelter spring.

[kevin1106]

Originally Posted by justa25thTA

For $90 you might as well and try the Lingenfelter spring.

True, True... I just want to know what's causing this problem... I'd rather find the problem... then fix it... the spring would just be a temporary fix... but not a fix to the real problem...

[calbert1999]

Originally Posted by kevin1106

True, True... I just want to know what's causing this problem... I'd rather find the problem... then fix it... the spring would just be a temporary fix... but not a fix to the real problem...

I'm completely surprised you get this problem with a new ZR1 clutch for $2k. Most folks have this issue with their stock clutches.
Did you have a Force or RTrack RAM clutch before? And, why did you swap it out for a ZR1. I thought the RAM clutches had more holding strength than the RPS clutch.

[kevin1106]

I had the ram twin disk... supposed to have been good for 1000 hp... If I remember correctly... When I took my car in to the dealership for an oil leak.. I got to see my clutch.. after 1000 or so miles... It didnt look to good at all... I thought I was making a good decission by getting the ZR1... but now I have this damn problem..

For normal driving the ZR1 clutch is great.. I really like the feel of it... Only when you get on it... does it give me this problem...

I'll tell ya, Im so pissed to have spent 2000.00 to get this problem.. I don't know what to do.. I hope someone on here can tell my why I have this problem.

[kevin1106]

:mad0 260:

[flyby]

First, a ram twin is good for about 700 hp. Second that clutch (ram) looks fine to me. If it was working ok why change?

[Matster]

This is strange and disappointing since I just purchased the LPE clutch for mine. I haven't had it on the road yet as I am at the tail end of a supercharged 416 stroker build.

Not sure whether it makes that much of a difference, but those who have added a separate clutch fluid reservoir find that it has solved the problem IDK. There are a number of theories on why this happens, some say it is fluid temperature, some blamed it on the stock pressure plate but I don't think anyone has actually found the real cause. If it is none of these, that only leaves the master clutch cylinder. The last I heard, there is no replacement or upgrade for the master cylinder.

[calbert1999]

Originally Posted by kevin1106

:mad0 260:

Not 100 sure, but, clutch looks just fine with some normal wear.

Originally Posted by kevin1106

I had the ram twin disk... supposed to have been good for 1000 hp... If I remember correctly... When I took my car in to the dealership for an oil leak.. I got to see my clutch.. after 1000 or so miles... It didnt look to good at all... I thought I was making a good decission by getting the ZR1... but now I have this damn problem..

For normal driving the ZR1 clutch is great.. I really like the feel of it... Only when you get on it... does it give me this problem...

I'll tell ya, Im so pissed to have spent 2000.00 to get this problem.. I don't know what to do.. I hope someone on here can tell my why I have this problem.

You must have had the Force. Why did you change the RAM, did the dealer convince you something was wrong with it?
Did you send it back to RAM for analysis re-build?
A lot of people are purchasing the ZR1 clutch also known as (Slayer, RPS, LPE, et al). Most really like it, but I think they get the return spring along with the ZR1 kit. Seems like that's the only thing you may be missing here.
I'd be pissed off too, both of these clutch systems are $1500-2000, plus labour.

Originally Posted by flyby

First, a ram twin is good for about 700 hp. Second that clutch (ram) looks fine to me. If it was working ok why change?

I agree seems like some normal wear on the flywheel to me. The RTrack with 900 series discs (steel) are rated at 1300hp., this one looks like the Force with some kind of carbon fibre discs.

Originally Posted by Matster

This is strange and disappointing since I just purchased the LPE clutch for mine. I haven't had it on the road yet as I am at the tail end of a supercharged 416 stroker build.

Not sure whether it makes that much of a difference, but those who have added a separate clutch fluid reservoir find that it has solved the problem IDK. There are a number of theories on why this happens, some say it is fluid temperature, some blamed it on the stock pressure plate but I don't think anyone has actually found the real cause. If it is none of these, that only leaves the master clutch cylinder. The last I heard, there is no replacement or upgrade for the master cylinder.
Attachment 263207

Hey Matster; You may be right on. I thnk lot's of folks just get the return spring from LPE as a quick fix, but a separate reservoir may resolve the issue.
This happened to me last week (clutch stuck to floor) and I thought I fried the stock clutch, luckily it's still okay (for now).

When I do my clutch upgrade, a few other things I'll be doing. Hopefully, folks do clutch upgrades will do the same and avoid any further issues with clutch and shifter.
1. Separate reservoir kit
2. Bleeder kit
3. New return spring (most likely LPE)
4. Clutch will exceed my expected capacity by at least 100-300 lbtq. just to make sure, and it will be all steel construction (if it chatters, who cares? It's a damn sports car and it's more important to be able to confidently beat up on it than for it to be quiet so the kids can watch cartoons in the rear seat. LOL)
5. Check and / or change the syncronizer rings, and verify no busted gears (due to defective rings) in the tranny (to carbon instead of steel).

Unfortunately, all of this is out of pocket expenses.
Personally, I don't think GM had their thinking caps on when they decided to share fluids between a super hot braking system, and a clutch that has to throw down gear shifting at 5+k RPM's.
I believe they did the risk analysis and intentionally made a lot of screw ups on this car (due to bean counting) which people will see resolved in future versions of the vehicle (ZL1), but will pay dearly for it especially after all the warranty work they had to do on the 2010's and most likely 2011's.
By far the clutch and shiftng mechanims seems to be the one single largest issue with this vehicle. Which to me should be taken very seriously by GM, this is a sports car, and should have been designed to take a beating, especially the clutch and the shifter. If the car won't shift properly, you can't drive it the way it should be driven (aggressively). It's not rocket science.
Some of us are fortunate enough that we can afford to muck around to achieve build up a vehicle that we believe should have been performing at a certain degree to begin with, but I really feel for folks that have to fight / claw to get this BS resolved.

[Slowhawk]

As most know the most common problem of a clutch sticking to the floor is heat/disk material entering the hydrolic system. Alot of the organic disks slip a certain % under heavy load or during a hard launch or hard gear shift.

My suggestion would be stay away from the organic disks. With the right clutch assembly your peddle will never drop or stick to the floor. I too think the spring mod is a band aid.

In the last 10 years I've tested a ton of clutches for drivability and life.Have blown up 7 of them personally in my own vehicles. Right now my favorite are Monster and Mcleod RXT's.With both of those the peddle will never stick on the floor.

The ZR1 clutches? I'd say they work for alot of people. We haven't had luck with them at all but our cars are driven hard. My dyno also showed them slipping in the whole rpm area when cool then they started to grab better the hotter they got but the peddles would stick to the floor. Must be the load dyno bringing them out because when I take out the 4000lb car load and use a generic 2k lb load they show no sign of slipping.