The car is a 96 z28, recently installed a new LT4 spec (valeo) duralast clutch. I have put 560 miles on the new clutch with having to bleed the slave cylinder about every 100 miles. In the past couple days I have noticed a smell that to me seems to be a "hot clutch smell" after making about a 2 mile trip.

The car still drives fine but would this probably mean that the clutch isnt fully engaging? I have noticed no difference in performance but I have not been getting on it. I did not replace the slave cylinder along with the clutch and I am wondering if this would be the problem.

Thanks!

 

it sounds like the clutch isnt fully engauging.

 

Did you resurface the flywheel?

 

Yes I had the flywheel resurfaced, it was the first resurface for this flywheel as well so it should be thick enough.

 

Would the slave cylinder be the problem? Or what would be preventing it from fully engaging?

 

I'm in the middle of replaceing my clutch, is the smell only on take off, then goes away? thats what mine was doing, but my flywheel wasn't re-surfaced when they installed the clutch, the car has 158K miles on it, how much did they take off the flywheel? mine was toast, so i got a reman, i never had to bleed my slave before, i'm running full bolt-ons, 9" with 4.11s & Hoosier DRs, it finally started slipping in 1st. at the track, but grabbed good through 3rd.-4th., but it always had a slite chatter & smell on take off.

How does the peddle feel, where is the peddle at on take off?

 

Since I have only made a couple short trips since i started smelling it I have only noticed it when I park and get out of the car. The shop that resurfaced my flywheel said that they did not have to remove much, but that I would be happy I chose to have it resurfaced. My car only has 74k on it so that is likely why the flywheel wasnt in as bad of shape.

After I installed the clutch I noticed that it was engaging at only 2 inches from the floor. After I bled it the first time it moved up to about 4 inches. Now that I have bled it a few times the clutch engages at about where it should be or where it was before I replaced the clutch. So to answer your question the pedal is firm and the clutch engages where it should as far as height off the floorpan. Also I noticed that after bleeding the slave the "chatter" you speak of was nonexistant.

I think im going to buy a new slave tomorrow... im getting tired of driving my s-10!

 

I purchased a new slave cylinder but was reluctant to install it. I still do not think that the problem is due to the hydraulic system because if the clutch was not disengaging I would be able to notice it I would think.... Im going to get it out and drive it tommorow and burn that disc up a little bit.

Any more Ideas?

 

I have been down this road before. The pressure plate is decent but the clutch disk friction material does not meet OEM spec and is prone to slipping more than it should. Again its ****ty friction material on the disk. Hydros usually are not a problem on LT1 cars.

 

It does not feel like it slips during driving, I think when i take it out ill give it a few good strong pulls and see if it slips. Lifetime warranty on this clutch disc dont mean a darn thing if its not going to grab.