I need some help. I replaced my clutch master cylinder and slave less than a month ago. It wouldn't go into gear, I bled it, it was better then would get worse. So all that is new and works fine. Now I feel like my clutch is bad, but I need some help to be sure. The clutch seems to engage when the pedal is basically all the way out which I think is an obvious sign and it seems to chatter when engaging.

I'm not sure exactly what the common terms mean...slipping, chatter, etc.

The clutch was supposedly replaced 20-30,000 miles before i bought the car (i've only put about 5,000 on it) so the clutch should not be bad, but he could have lied. either way i'm not real happy...

any help? thanks

 

Chatter is like a faint rattling sound you hear when the clutch is disengaged and goes away once you start rolling. It's fairly common for the LT1 clutch, although some have it worse than others. It doesn't affect the clutch in any way bad.

Slipping means just that. The clutch is slipping when it should be holding. Like when you slip the clutch in 1st gear? Except it does that when you are not slipping it yourself, usually under acceleration or at higher RPMs.

A clutch can definitely go out at 30k miles. It's not restricted to a set number of miles. It can be set by driving habits (i.e. racing, hard shifting, burnouts, etc), faulty components, or oil/debris getting inside the bellhousing and tearing it apart. I've also heard of some getting hotspots from resting their foot on the clutch pedal in anticipation of shifting.

 

thanks for the reply. based on that the clutch is not slipping, but i feel like i have to engage it slowly so it shifts smoothly and to do that the clutch pedal is basically all the way out before it fully engages. roughly when should the clutch be engaged when letting off the pedal? this is mostly just for shifting into first and second since once the car gets rolling it gets smoother.

when just cruising around i generally push clutch, shift all the way then get back on the gas instead of giving gas while letting off the clutch pedal. is this bad since the rpm's drop down without bringing them back up for the next gear...it's laziness really, but i'm wondering if this does damage.

thanks..clutches are kind of a mystery to me short of just driving one.

 

On mine the clutch fully catches just before the pedal is all the way up, so I guess it's normal. Of course mine didn't come with a manual stock, so I have no idea. By giving gas before slipping the clutch, all you are doing is slipping the clutch more for smoother engagement. It shouldn't be bad for the clutch unless you are bringing it up near 3k RPMs. If you smell the clutch burning, that means you need to give it less gas and slip it a little faster.

Do you know what kind of clutch was put in last time? If it was a high performance clutch, it might bite harder than a stocker, meaning you have to slip it a little more to keep it smooth. Other than that, it's all a matter of getting the feel for it. Just takes practice.

 

I'm not going to bother with it unless it starts feeling worse. I don't know what he put in. He didn't know anything...he had to ask his mechanic every mechanical question I had and I have receipts, but nothing for a clutch so i'm sceptical on that.

I have a feeling this guy only put a stock clutch in if anything, but the car didn't drive like this when I first got it so I'm not sure. I seem to remember it engaged sooner right after I put in the new master/slave and has felt worse since then in the last week or two

thanks for the help.

 

Mine was doing something very similiar. About 3 years ago I had my clutch replaced (I was in school at the time and couldn't do it myself). It had chattered ever since I got it back from them. Recently my pedal would only engage when almost all the way in, and it kinda felt like air in the line. So I removed the slave cylinder to see if it was leaking, it was and I replaced it. This was more of a coincidence. It seemed like I couldn't get all the air out of the cylinder, so I took it to have it bled. They called me back and said the pilot bearing was gone. Sure enough, when I tore it down last week, the entire inner race was gone and it chewed up my input shaft. I ignored it and had to get my tranny rebuilt because of it, and it fubared my clutch. So a $15 part failed with me ignoring it has cost me $2200 in parts alone. So beware my friend.

 

uhhh I think I'll have it checked out i do have an extra t56 though

i had air in the line before and i feel like that is fixed now. this should be completely unrelated, but i just don't really know what's going on. maybe i'll just get it looked at...worst case is i pay a diognostic fee for them to tell me nothings wrong and it will ease my mind and i'll live with it