New Clutch/Flywheel Installed

[Shifting_Gears]

So, I finally got around to having a new clutch, flywheel, pilot bearing, braided clutch line and throwout installed on my 16 GT.

I have at least one previous thread about transmission woes and I had my car at two different dealers who dismissed it stating nothing was wrong. I had a pretty noticeable “rocks in a grinder” sound at idle, foot off the clutch. If you blipped the gas it became very noticeable. There was also some not so great sounds on deceleration at low speed and shifting quality took a dump.

New parts:
Exedy Mach 500 clutch (organic, rated to just under 500 ft lb torque)
Exedy lightweight chromoly flywheel
Exedy throwout (same markings as Ford, same manufacturer it seems.. FTD?)
Steeda braided clutch line
Pilot bearing (came with the kit)
ARP bolts

First impression - nervous. The pedal engaged right off the floor. I suspected there was still some air that needed to be bled. As I drove, this cleared up and pedal engagement went back to normal.

Second impression - the flywheel. Wow! The engine WAY more responsive. It turns up very quick now just free revving. It’s much more responsive under throttle as well and feels AWESOME.

Shifting quality is restored, other than the fact the stock shifter feels like a pile of hot turd. Should’ve done a short throw while it was apart, but I wanted to see how this went first. Everything is nice and smooth. It feels much like a stock clutch and it’s not jerky at all.

Noise issues: I would say are about 85%-90% resolved. I will definitely say that the lockout collar on the shifter is a horrible contribution to transmission noise. I do have a slight amount of the original noise (rocks in grinder), but it has been way reduced. No more funky deceleration noises, either.

Overall, I’m really happy initially. Hopefully everything breaks in nicely!

I kept the OEM parts to see if I could identify anything wrong with them. Noticed a few things:

The clutch material looked fine, probably 40-50% life (49k on the car). However, it got hot at some point. There are some pretty noticeable hot spots on both the flywheel and pressure plate, which would explain why it was also very chattery.

The clutch disk hub/spline had a lot of play. I think this was a contributor to at least some of the noises I was hearing. The disk would’ve been able to oscillate a decent bit.

Throwout bearing wasn’t notable destroyed but did have a lot more play on the hub surface than the new one.

The stock clutch brand is Valero, made in Turkey. The stock flywheel is too damn heavy.

Old:

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[5.0_Lojos]

Getting my clutch (Mcleod RXT and MGW short shifter) as I type. Looking forward to the new performance it shall bring

 

[GT-DM]

I'm sure you already know this, but I will mention it for those reading this in the future who do not.

Any a time a change is made that no longer joins the original factory flywheel, to the original factory crankshaft-
(by either changing to a new short/long block- thus a new crankshaft,
While still using original clutch/flywheel.....
....or installing a new clutch/flywheel mated to the original OEM crankshaft. Yours being the ladder. Ours was the 1st example. A new crank, w/ orig clutch/ flywheel

It's recommended (required actually) that the installing dealer performs this
'Cam to Crank' rephasing step. By changing either, or both parts that rely on a dowel pin & a hole, from original OEM mating pcs.

There is an opportunity for a dowel pin hole (flywheel) or dowel pin itself (crank) to be ever so slightly in a different position, relative to the bolt circle pattern.

I do not recall what the Correct dealership procedure NAME this step is known as. It essentially gets the 4 cams in alignment with the crank location, by allowingthe sensors to be in time, as intended. It's a phasing operation. & it's all in software, if I understand it.

The dealer tech or mechanic plugs in his laptop with the correct software at hand, & they bring up the engine rpm to a minimum amt, & hold it for so many seconds, while the softwaredoes the operation.

The exact parameters escape me now, but it's something in the area of numbers like- ~3k/~3500rpm, held for ~10 seconds.

They then disconnect the laptop & it's finished.
I needed this done when I had a new (not original) crankshaft, connected to the original OEM clutch, on a Gen3 - '19 V8 S550.



I'm sure a little research will produce the correct name of this Calibration process that's said to be required when either or both mating parts, have been replaced.

We would never know if the new component mated to the old 1, was already correct or not, so the step is consider necessary.

So even if a person put a new OEM replacement factory clutch/flywheel in a car with 100k miles, you are supposed to do this Calibration step, do to machining tolerances.

Thanks for sharing the pics. The new Flywheel looks great!

 

[Shifting_Gears]

I'm sure you already know this, but I will mention it for those reading this in the future who do not.

Any a time a change is made that no longer joins the original factory flywheel, to the original factory crankshaft-
(by either changing to a new short/long block- thus a new crankshaft,
While still using original clutch/flywheel.....
....or installing a new clutch/flywheel mated to the original OEM crankshaft. Yours being the ladder. Ours was the 1st example. A new crank, w/ orig clutch/ flywheel

It's recommended (required actually) that the installing dealer performs this
'Cam to Crank' rephasing step. By changing either, or both parts that rely on a dowel pin & a hole, from original OEM mating pcs.

There is an opportunity for a dowel pin hole (flywheel) or dowel pin itself (crank) to be ever so slightly in a different position, relative to the bolt circle pattern.

I do not recall what the Correct dealership procedure NAME this step is known as. It essentially gets the 4 cams in alignment with the crank location, by allowingthe sensors to be in time, as intended. It's a phasing operation. & it's all in software, if I understand it.

The dealer tech or mechanic plugs in his laptop with the correct software at hand, & they bring up the engine rpm to a minimum amt, & hold it for so many seconds, while the softwaredoes the operation.

The exact parameters escape me now, but it's something in the area of numbers like- ~3k/~3500rpm, held for ~10 seconds.

They then disconnect the laptop & it's finished.
I needed this done when I had a new (not original) crankshaft, connected to the original OEM clutch, on a Gen3 - '19 V8 S550.



I'm sure a little research will produce the correct name of this Calibration process that's said to be required when either or both mating parts, have been replaced.

We would never know if the new component mated to the old 1, was already correct or not, so the step is consider necessary.

So even if a person put a new OEM replacement factory clutch/flywheel in a car with 100k miles, you are supposed to do this Calibration step, do to machining tolerances.

Thanks for sharing the pics. The new Flywheel looks great!

Thank you.

That’s great info. I was actually unaware of that. I have read that sometimes you need to do a KAM (keep alive memory) reset after due to the sensor that reads the flywheel not syncing up. No issues so far, but if anything this is a great reference. The shop may have done it.

 

[Shifting_Gears]

Getting my clutch (Mcleod RXT and MGW short shifter) as I type. Looking forward to the new performance it shall bring

Right on!

 

[5.0_Lojos]

Just got the car back and let me say, aside from having FI the next best upgrade is a Clutch paired with the MGW race spec standard shifter (Standard was most popular) shifts are short, precised and absolutely zero play. As they say, in comparison the oem shifter feels like it's falling apart Cant wait for the full clutch break in to go all out

Install by Lujan Motorsports. Willy Lujan is a beast

 

[5.0_Lojos]

I'm sure you already know this, but I will mention it for those reading this in the future who do not.

Any a time a change is made that no longer joins the original factory flywheel, to the original factory crankshaft-
(by either changing to a new short/long block- thus a new crankshaft,
While still using original clutch/flywheel.....
....or installing a new clutch/flywheel mated to the original OEM crankshaft. Yours being the ladder. Ours was the 1st example. A new crank, w/ orig clutch/ flywheel

It's recommended (required actually) that the installing dealer performs this
'Cam to Crank' rephasing step. By changing either, or both parts that rely on a dowel pin & a hole, from original OEM mating pcs.

There is an opportunity for a dowel pin hole (flywheel) or dowel pin itself (crank) to be ever so slightly in a different position, relative to the bolt circle pattern.

I do not recall what the Correct dealership procedure NAME this step is known as. It essentially gets the 4 cams in alignment with the crank location, by allowingthe sensors to be in time, as intended. It's a phasing operation. & it's all in software, if I understand it.

The dealer tech or mechanic plugs in his laptop with the correct software at hand, & they bring up the engine rpm to a minimum amt, & hold it for so many seconds, while the softwaredoes the operation.

The exact parameters escape me now, but it's something in the area of numbers like- ~3k/~3500rpm, held for ~10 seconds.

They then disconnect the laptop & it's finished.
I needed this done when I had a new (not original) crankshaft, connected to the original OEM clutch, on a Gen3 - '19 V8 S550.



I'm sure a little research will produce the correct name of this Calibration process that's said to be required when either or both mating parts, have been replaced.

We would never know if the new component mated to the old 1, was already correct or not, so the step is consider necessary.

So even if a person put a new OEM replacement factory clutch/flywheel in a car with 100k miles, you are supposed to do this Calibration step, do to machining tolerances.

Thanks for sharing the pics. The new Flywheel looks great!

HP Tuners has the exact step by step process. Pretty simple, HP Tuner tech or main dude does speak on the importance of this crank relearn process, however your car should trigger a code that supports the above. I mentioned it to my installer and he's never had to do it. He is a badass with these cars. I drove mine home and it was smooth and no codes triggered. I may still go ahead and use the HP Tuners to complete the crank relearn for piece of mind

 

[Shifting_Gears]

Just got the car back and let me say, aside from having FI the next best upgrade is a Clutch paired with the MGW race spec standard shifter (Standard was most popular) shifts are short, precised and absolutely zero play. As they say, in comparison the oem shifter feels like it's falling apart Cant wait for the full clutch break in to go all out

Install by Lujan Motorsports. Willy Lujan is a beast

Awesome man. I’d love to put a shifter in mine at some point. The stock shifter feels like warm butter.

 

[5.0_Lojos]

Try and upgrade the clutch as well since its all in the vicinity.

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