Injuneer

When placing the intake manifold, use dowels in at least two of the bolt holes on one side to insure the manifold locates correctly on the heads and doesn’t need to be slid.

Chimera96

No RTV on intake bolts. Use "thread sealer". It is typically white in color. Permatex also makes it

If the steam pipe gaskets are torn they need replacing. I have otherwise re-used them before. (pic) You need 4

^^^^

this really helps especially bending over the fender to place the manifold. Do a "test fit" first to confirm no wire harness or other item is in the way. As you found out you certainly don't want to "slide" the intake manifold into place as it moves the RTV off the mating surface. I wipe down both china wall, heads and intake mating surfaces with acetone before gasket & RTV install

DrewHMS97SS

The new gaskets were exactly what I had previously



And the intake is back on the car, sitting overnight for the RTV



I ended up buying a longer bolt and chopping the head off to make the guide for the intake. It worked pretty well, I got the hole line up and basically let it fall straight down.

Thanks for the help guys, hopefully this was the only leak, and the RMS can stay where it is!

DrewHMS97SS

The car was back on the road this weekend after buttoning up the top end. The intake was definitely the primary source of the leak. I had a few drops on the ground after it sat overnight, but I think it might have been some residual that was on the transmission.

I fixed the poor running condition by fixing the plug wires: I had 6/8 swapped. I swear I triple checked it, but it was indeed wrong.

New info from my drive, I felt a bit of stutter at about 5500 RPM WOT then had a strong smell of clutch. Now there is some clanking noise (clutch chatter?) when the clutch is engaged, which goes away with the clutch to the floor. This is a Spec stage 4 with carbon pucks mated to a Spec billet flywheel.

While I don't pretend to be a perfect driver, I have had a few other manuals that I have put 80k+ miles on without clutch issues, and this is the 3rd clutch on this car. I had 2 Centerforce clutches previously, each lasting less than 3k miles (when I bought the car, it had 100k on the dial and I put about 6k on the clutch (which looked stock). I replaced the slave cylinder before putting the Spec clutch in, and this is making me think the clutch is not fully disengaging. How would I verify, and is it even possible to make adjustments?

Chimera96

the "stutter" you felt..then clutch smell at 5500 RPM would suggest the clutch was slipping

Carbon "puc" type clutches are more aggressive friction material than a stock organic full disc clutch and are more prone to "chatter" than stock clutch but that happens on engagement. Sounds like your clutch was slipping while under load. You can initiate a load test by finding a incline and while going up it at 45 mph in 4th...floor it. Does the "studder" (chatter) happen and you smell clutch?. If yes your clutch is slipping. Given you have gone through a few clutches is short order you should confirm you are not leaking oil onto clutch. Your rear intake leak certainly could have caused this and if so your clutch is done. Perhaps the same reason you went through 2 centerforce clutches previously. Rear main leak would also puke oil on clutch.

To check that the clutch does disengage completely jack up rear end an put on jack stands, start car, put in gear with clutch fully depressed. Do rear wheels move? If they do the clutch is not fully disengaging. This could be because of a warped disc but generally is a sign of failing hydraulics or hydraulics that need further bleeding

Is your clutch pedal firm or is there some "spongy" feeling initially when depressed??

DrewHMS97SS

First, am I using the terminology correctly in regard to engaging and disengaging? Engaged to me is foot off the pedal (clutch disc engaged with the pressure plate and flywheel), and foot on the pedal would be disengaged. That said, I would think since shifting seems ok, that the disengagement is fine, and engagement would be the issue. Should I still test the tire spin with the rear of the car jacked up?

I have definitely seen oil under the RMS, and leaking down from the slave cylinder. That said, I could not see oil on the fly wheel when the oil pan was down and the dust cover was off.

I can't recall if there was a RMS or rear intake leak with the Centerforce clutches. These went in before the engine was rebuilt, so it is hard to say.

The chatter is as soon as the clutch is engaged after the car is started, and is pretty constant while engaged. The noise is not present while disengaged.

The clutch smell and studder was in 4th at about 70 if memory serves me, and was on a slight incline. The exhaust is so loud, I couldn't tell you if the chatter noise was present.

I will have to jump in the car and test the pedal to be 100%, but I think it is pretty firm. There could be a tiny bit of softness at the very top though, and I am second guessing myself a bit.

The master cylinder is stock and has never been out of the car. The slave was pre-bled, and just attached to the master line. It had a plastic strap that kept the plunger depressed, which broke the first time the clutch was pressed. The clutch pedal was not depressed while the slave was disconnected.

Chimera96

I understood the post as you describing "disengagement" problem but you clarified it as what you feel is a "engagement" problem. The later can be caused by oil leaking onto the clutch disc

You mention you have seen oil under RMS...now that intake leak is fixed do you still see it?

Sadly once a clutch disc is contaminated with oil it is done. It can "chatter" when engaged if contaminated because it is slipping especially under load at WOT.

If you aggressively shift during WOT does the car really hit hard and tires bark (burn rubber) or does it feel like clutch is just slipping and RPMs stay high?

DrewHMS97SS

I need to get it back up to see if the RMS is still present. I need to pull the starter and dust shield to be certain, but what is on the ground could still be leftovers from the original leak.

I was honestly so excited when I found the swapped plugs at the opti that I just wanted to get it out and test. Then throw in a mix that it was getting hot which caused a laziness for taking stuff apart to fully clean. Ill pull the slave out at the same time and make sure that I have everything as clean as it can be before taking it back out (likely this coming weekend). Then get it back out for another short drive and hit it with the UV light again.

I have never seen Spec sell just the clutch disc, do you think that would be a possibility based on the low mileage should there be oil on the clutch vs buying a set with the pressure plate?

I can easily peel the tires from a dig and a hard 1-2 shift will chirp the tires. I only felt the one slip and it was the first time I smelled clutch. The loud chatter noise has been present since I resealed the front cover (which doesn't make much sense to me). I though perhaps it was the new dipstick flapping around since I trimmed the tube, but removing the dipstick makes no difference, and again the noise isn't present when the clutch is disengaged.

Thank you as always =D

Chimera96

IDK if SPEC sells disc separate. McLeod and other companies do. You need a 11" x 1 1/8" x 26 spline disc

You can look from under the car through that small rectangle slot at bottom of bell housing and see end of crank...if there is a drop of oil on it that shows oil is leaking. If not from above like intake it typically is RMS

Common way to test for clutch slip is find a incline and in 4th going about 40 mph...floor it...if clutch holds its good. If it slips...disc minimally needs replacing assuming the PP is just not toast (worn) also

DrewHMS97SS

Sweet, you can get just the clutch disc, but that will wait until I figure out if the RMS is leaking and verify if there is oil on the clutch.

Did you have a test to ensure that the clutch was fully engaging?

Chimera96

yeah.....do a 2500 rpm clutch dump....do the rear tires IMMEDIATELY go up in smoke?

if yes you are good :-)

the going up a hill in 4th and flooring it is the more common way to see if a clutch is slipping. Either because it is just simply worn out or if you got oil on it will slip

DrewHMS97SS

I will enjoy executing said test. Thanks!