DubbyZ28Camaro

I am continuing this thread from a discussion we had before the change over was made. Here were the problems that people were experiencing:

The original clutch in the car started slipping and obviously needed replaced. Then, the clutch was replaced with a high performance clutch (McLeod and Centerforce were the ones that were most common). At first, the clutch released a LOT lower than before, but now, it releases nearly all of the way to the top and under hard acceleration, the clutch slips again.

It was suggested by many that the hydraulics were bad (slave/master setup) and that oil was leaking onto the clutch disc, causing it to slip. Last week, I just replaced the hydraulics and that certainly isn't the case. It still slips.

I was reading in my Haynes manual about a slipping clutch and one of the possibilities is that a diaphragm spring needs to be replaced. The diaphragm spring will do two things if it is bad, possibly causing a slipping clutch and possibly causing a lot of clutch chatter.

Thanks in advance.

Would replacing this possibly solve the problem??? How much of a biatch is it to replace and where is this diaphragm spring located at???

JohnD

I didn't think diaphragm pressure plater were rebuildable.(?) Mine slips and chatters and it has a new LT4 plate, relined disk and resurfaced flywheel. All hydraulics are original. I did not have the problem of releasing off the floor though. My car had the release point near the top before and after the new clutch. I don't know what causes this problem but in my case, at least, I'm not ready to blame the diaphragm spring yet. As soon as weather gets a little cooler, I'm going to tear it down a third time and see what I find. Rest assured, if I find some sort of solution, I'll let everybody know.

DubbyZ28Camaro

I did have my flywheel resurfaced as well. Before the clutch install, my pedal had ALWAYS released pretty close to the top. After, it released almost off the floor, and changed to its normal position less than a week later.

Where is the diaphragm spring at??? Is it a PITA to replace??? Does the tranny have to come out again???

One other thing, the clutch is VERY inconsitent. At the track, I can always chirp second, the clutch will GRAB off the line, and when I get up to third and fourth, it'll always slip. The other day, I took off from a first gear roll and chirped second and chirped third too. Usually, it'll slip, but sometimes I can get the tires to make some noise.

Help guys. This slipping clutch is a pain!!!!

ZMAN Z28

Check and make sure you do not have a rear main seal leak. Oil on the clutch will cause slippage.

ZMAN

DubbyZ28Camaro

My rear main seal was just fine according to the shop. I made sure to have them check it when they had the tranny out. *shrug

I am getting kinda fed up with this crap.

You gotta love putting performance parts on these cars!!!

Any other suggestions???

Don 97 SS

I went through two clutch changes in a belief that my rear main seal was leaking and later discovered that my tranny input shaft seal was the culprit. (I wasn't present during the first two so I don't know what was or was not fixed for sure. I helped on the last and it was done right.) The leak was so light that it never produced a visable drip spot on the garage floor, but was enough to cause a slip in the upper gears. This may not be your problem but sure was a mystery slip for me for a long time before I finally got it diagnoses and fixed.

DubbyZ28Camaro

I might just leave this biatch slip for a little bit until I get to do tranny work at school. Then, I will put the turd on a lift, pull the tranny out, and replaced ALL of my friggin seals. That should solve the problem.

Will any of this cause my clutch to burn out prematurely???

Thanks again

ZMAN Z28

You can drive the car with it slipping. Just don't load the rpm's up, and she should hold up. I have drove around with a slipping clutch for over a month without any problems. Just don't get on the car at all. You can safely drive highway speeds it will be slow getting there. As a general rule for me, I don't try to rev it past 2500 rpms.

Putting in my SPEC stage 3 clutch today. this is my 4th clutch in 90,000 miles. hehe. not funny or fun either.

ZMAN

DubbyZ28Camaro

Well, the clutch is brand new, the flywheel has been resurfaced, the hydraulics are new, and I would like to hit the track on the 11th of October. IF oil is leaking onto it, I can't get on it at all.

This totally sucks. Takes away all of my fun.

Robbie

A rear intake oil leak will leak down on top and into it causing it to slip also. Happened to me. Might wanna check it out. Rub your fingers on the back at the manifold where it seals to the block. If your finger comes back black, you got the leak more than likely.

Lost

Went through almost the EXACT same thing. Thought the slave was leaking on the disk.. it was leaking just not on the disk. Turned out the seal on the imput shaft was letting a buch of tranny fluid get all over the clutch disk. If you do get some fluid on your disk - tranny or oil your disk will be ruined.. buy another one. Star sold me a new one at a great discount even though the f-up that ruined the first disk was completely my fault

Are you sure you've got enough fluid in the master cylinder? Also, did you buy the GM slave/master combo or did you just buy a new aftermarket slave cylinder? A lot of the time the aftermarket slave cylinders cause all sorts of weird problems.. might wanna check that before you pull your tranny again.

Good luck solving your problem,

timelord

Did you drill out the Master Cylinder end of the braided hose that goes to the slave.
Went through 2 discs in 2 months[pressure plate and flywheel just neaded resurfacing,until I did drill mod,now have 6 meets and not a whiff of clutch odor.
Like you it would grab initialy when cold but as soon as it was even a little warm it would slip in higher gears and wouldn't chirp 2nd even.
After mod floor it in 2nd or 3rd at 4k and the rear breaks lose.
Could be same problem ,doesn't cost much to try and could solve your problem.
Good luck!!!!!

All_Z_Way

Man I have had this clutch problem and it is driving me crazy too.

My original clutch was bad slipping, so I replaced it with a Star Stage II clutch and PP and had my flywheel resurfaced

It worked great for about 1000 miles, then began to slip at high rpms or in high gears.

I replaced the clutch/slave cylinder. This did help, but I still can't chirp second and at times it will still slip. It is not consistent, so I can't get a handle on it.

DubbyZ28Camaro

Too much stuff can cause this problem. I am so sick of this crap, I am honestly thinking about getting rid of my car. I can't afford to replace clutch disc after clutch disc trying to fix this ****ing problem.

So many people have the same problem, and so many people solve it differently.

I hate my car....

95 Z/28 LT1

Anyone have an update on their problem? Did you find a fix?