I think it's time for a new clutch, at 26k miles

Sucks man. Seems like you've had intermittent problems with that car

I got over 100,000 miles on my stock 2004 GTO clutch and I drove it like I stole it. Broke an engine and a diff along the way though. My HHRSS with intake, exhaust and a tune easily overpowered the stock clutch. You could pedal into it in 4th gear on the freeway and hear the RPM increase without any increase in vehicle speed. Definitely clutch slip. I'm not sure what you are describing sounds like clutch slip.

JuRuKi said:

Im a new standard driver too and I tend to use the clutch to smooth the downshifting transition but only when my RPMs are low enough. Like when im approaching a curve in 4th gear around 1k RPMs i downshift to third while im turning and slowly let out the clutch. Or when im slowing down too much on the freeway i downshift to a lower gear when my RPMs are close to 1k and again let out the clutch slowly.
Am i doing it wrong?

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It's all in the speed and sensitivity which you are using to release it... Too quick and it becomes jerky, and too slow and you are wearing it out. I think it's a matter of learning it in time.

Clutch has to be pushed in quick, released slow. Gas pedal, the other way (well, there are situations where you don't release gas too quick, like in racing in wet where a lack of rear torque can cause a loss of traction, but that is extreme).

altjx said:

Hmm, wouldn't this happen in any gear? I'm not exactly sure but just curious though. So just keep the brake pedal held down while letting out of the clutch?

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It will most likely not be obvious in lower gears due to low rotational speed of the main shaft; so even a worn out clutch will stop it fairly quickly and you won't notice it..

With a high shaft speed in a high gear, if the clutch isn't gripping properly, it will take some time until that shaft is stopped (i.e. engine stalls).
A little slippage will cause more slippage in time, as it will overheat the clutch plates due to friction, and burn them out. If not changed in time, the flywheel might also get damaged....

Whenever you can confirm 100% it's slipping, take it out and inspect all parts, don't wait for more damage to occur...

Good luck.

50 Deep said:

Sucks man. Seems like you've had intermittent problems with that car

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Yeah man. Brake squealing (far more excessive than other members here), headers hitting the chassis, and now this. I just bought the car, did full exhaust and wanted to have fun in it. I would expect to be frustrated if I tried going forced induction or something.

barstowpo said:

I got over 100,000 miles on my stock 2004 GTO clutch and I drove it like I stole it. Broke an engine and a diff along the way though. My HHRSS with intake, exhaust and a tune easily overpowered the stock clutch. You could pedal into it in 4th gear on the freeway and hear the RPM increase without any increase in vehicle speed. Definitely clutch slip. I'm not sure what you are describing sounds like clutch slip.

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Very interesting. So your R's clutch is slipping too?

torque124 said:

It will most likely not be obvious in lower gears due to low rotational speed of the main shaft; so even a worn out clutch will stop it fairly quickly and you won't notice it..

With a high shaft speed in a high gear, if the clutch isn't gripping properly, it will take some time until that shaft is stopped (i.e. engine stalls).
A little slippage will cause more slippage in time, as it will overheat the clutch plates due to friction, and burn them out. If not changed in time, the flywheel might also get damaged....

Whenever you can confirm 100% it's slipping, take it out and inspect all parts, don't wait for more damage to occur...

Good luck.

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Sounds great. Thanks for the feedback! Hoping to get it over to Ford soon. Most likely Monday.

I'm just amazed you're getting your clutch replaced for free beyond 12k which is normally Ford's cut-off point for a wear item.

No altjx my turbo car overpowered its clutch after a tune. My 350 is fine. I drive it like I stole it too.

torque124 said:

It's all in the speed and sensitivity which you are using to release it... Too quick and it becomes jerky, and too slow and you are wearing it out. I think it's a matter of learning it in time.

Clutch has to be pushed in quick, released slow. Gas pedal, the other way (well, there are situations where you don't release gas too quick, like in racing in wet where a lack of rear torque can cause a loss of traction, but that is extreme).

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^Yep, agreed.

Always want to be deliberate. If you're releasing it at a certain speed, continue that through the entire stroke of the clutch pedal. If you hesitate in the middle of the bite point or slow down so that the clutch is helping the engine catch up to the drive wheels or vice-versa, it's wearing out the clutch.

JuRuKi said:

Im a new standard driver too and I tend to use the clutch to smooth the downshifting transition but only when my RPMs are low enough. Like when im approaching a curve in 4th gear around 1k RPMs i downshift to third while im turning and slowly let out the clutch. Or when im slowing down too much on the freeway i downshift to a lower gear when my RPMs are close to 1k and again let out the clutch slowly.
Am i doing it wrong?

Click to expand...

Yes, if you are approaching a curve your rpm should not be below 3000 rpm (just kidding, but mainly serious Also try to be in the right gear before you turn because sometimes you can upset the balance of the car, if you engage the clutch in mid-turn. If you have tried to rev-match, but find it awkward, it's because the gas pedal placement is too far to the right, and is placed at a slightly uncomfortable angle. Still, I believe everyone that drives a standard should learn the technique. This video really helps, and is a different way of heel toeing(not actually using his heel).

[ame="[MEDIA=youtube]96ekbvjyr0g[/MEDIA]"]

barstowpo said:

No altjx my turbo car overpowered its clutch after a tune. My 350 is fine. I drive it like I stole it too.

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Gotcha. Haha. Glad I'm not the only one that either does or wants to, lol. It's hard not to. That's why I have 26k miles on the car in just a year. Can't keep the damn thing parked man.

Your habits look fine. When pulling off from a light I rarely break 1000 rpm unless I am on a hill. I do not know what the expected life on this clutch is though

firestarter2 said:

Your habits look fine. When pulling off from a light I rarely break 1000 rpm unless I am on a hill. I do not know what the expected life on this clutch is though

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Gotcha. Thanks man! Yeah it's very strange. I mean I figured I was driving pretty well, but I guess we'll find out when they take things apart :shrug:

Just got my car back today after it being at Ford for just two days. Brand new clutch and throwout bearing. Can't really see if it's still happening considering I need to baby the car for at least 500 miles or so. New clutch feels so damn good though. I actually thought the guy forgot to put my steeda spring back in, but he told me he didn't have to change anything by the clutch pedal, so the steeda one is still in there.

500 miles for me is gonna come quick, probably a week or two. Forgot to ask for pics and price (since it's covered under warranty), but I'm sure I could get at least the pricing information if I asked.

Car is feeling absolutely wonderful! Shit, almost makes me want to change the clutch every 25-50k miles if it feels this damn good (brand new all over again) LOL

So the clutch feels back to normal today and I decided after about 350-400 miles, we should be good to go. Shifted at 6K just to be on the safe side, and guess what? My problem has returned. :frusty:

That sucks man. New trany time ?