Clutch install opinion

[njudd921]

Hey everybody, New here. Just bought a 2017 Mustang GT PP with 22k miles. I noticed a little clutch chatter/shuddering when I bought it and knew it was going to need to be replaced at one point. So the time has come, 3 weeks into ownership. It's in the shop and ready to be put back together and my mechanic called and asked if I wanted to replace the flywheel bolts, or reuse them, because the new flywheel didn't come with them. Anybody want to chime in? If replacing them is the way to go, I'll wait the extra couple days.


Thanks!

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[ORRadtech]

What does your mechanic say?
What are Ford's specs?
Do YOU want to trust that much HP to old, stretched bolts?

 

[njudd921]

What does your mechanic say?
What are Ford's specs?
Do YOU want to trust that much HP to old, stretched bolts?

I started thinking about the fact they are torqued and loctited in place. Once they are broken free it definitely weakens them. That alone is enough for me to decide to wait and do it right with new bolts. Thanks for the input!

 

[TunedN]

Flywheel bolts are torque-to-yield. DO NOT reuse them. They're only about $20 for a new set.

I replaced my clutch plate and flywheel and now have constant chatter on the new one when there was none before. I think there is a flaw in the throwout bearing design. Good ones have a bleed valve, but Ford claims these are auto-bleeding.

 

[njudd921]

Flywheel bolts are torque-to-yield. DO NOT reuse them. They're only about $20 for a new set.

I replaced my clutch plate and flywheel and now have constant chatter on the new one when there was none before. I think there is a flaw in the throwout bearing design. Good ones have a bleed valve, but Ford claims these are auto-bleeding.

Mechanic confirmed hot spots on the clutch and flywheel. Mine started off as noise, and quickly turned into actual shaking/stumbling from a stop. I knew ahead of time that I would be better off replacing all, or nothing, so he’s replacing the throwout bearing and pilot bearing as well.

He did say to expect a little more noise and vibration from the lightweight flywheel, which I’m ok with.

Did you have to have to have your crank sensor relearned? I hear it’s common on these cars and that it’ll throw a misfire code rather quickly.

 

[TunedN]

First, it's worth noting I have the 2.3 and not GT, so we have different flywheel designs. There's a little more vibration below 2.5k RPM. Hard to say if it's due to my tune being underpowered at cruising speed or if it was the flywheel being single mass instead of the factory dual. Kind of lazy of aftermarket suppliers not to make them dual mass (not the same as double mass). I don't have any more noise though.

I wish I'd changed out the pilot bearing. That could be part of my chatter problem.

Replacing the throwout bearing is usually recommended with a clutch replacement because it's assuming you have 10s of 1000s of miles of use on them and it's much cheaper to do it when the transmission is dropped than pay labor again to have it dropped when the thing starts failing. Unfortunately, in our cases, I'm not sure it would make much of a difference unless your new one is an upgraded aftermarket version with a bleed valve or your mechanic taps some threads into it to add a bleed valve.

I didn't have any problem that I know of with my crank sensor. Not sure if that was luck or due to a PCM reset by disconnecting the battery, etc. Sorry can't help you there.

Certainly keep us posted on your progress and what you think about the results.

 

[I Bleed Ford Blue]

If your gonna pay for new bolts anyway, get ARP flywheel bolts, they are not one time use like the factory and can be reused if you need to replace the clutch or flywheel again.

 

[njudd921]

Clutch has been installed, complete with lightweight flywheel (new bolts), throwout bearing and pilot bearing. Haven’t been able to put too many miles on it yet but already noticed a huge difference in engagement. I went with an exedy racing clutch which i heard has a firmer pedal, but to me the feel is pretty much stock. Very very minor chatter, not really a rough idle from the flywheel either. Overall happy with it. I did notice a little bit of air at the top of the pedal at first, because the throwout bearings suck and have no bleeder, but it seems to have worked it’s way out.

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