Sponsored

Transmission help

Dark Pony

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2019
Threads
28
Messages
137
Reaction score
31
Location
Ohio
First Name
Ramsey
Vehicle(s)
2015 mustang GT
I'm hoping you guys can help me out and or point me in the right direction. This is gonna be long but I want to be as detailed as possible. Back in June of 2020 I hurt my MT82 during a high rpm shift. Not sure what I broke, but 5th gear wasn't usable. I sent the transmission to Ben Calimer to get his stage 2 build. While the transmission was out, I decided to get a new SPEC twin disk clutch as well as an MGW shifter.

When the trans came back, we assembled everything and stabbed it back in. I did the bleed procedure of pumping the clutch a million times until you get good pressure, but right away I could tell that something was off. Shifting gears was a hard, didn't feel smooth, etc. The engagement point of the clutch was also super high which I didn't like and that coupled with how aggressive it was made it very hard to drive. I decided that I was gonna get a ram clutch height adjuster to see if that would help, and a braided stainless clutch line, and then re-bleed by pushing a solid stream of fluid out of the line where it connects to the trans. After doing this the clutch felt and shifted far better, however I was still experiencing some issues such as high rpm lock out, as well as a strange issue where if I was going over 40 mph, I could not shit into 2nd. I called Ben Calimer to get his thoughts about all this and he believed it was a clutch issue and told me he didn't really like SPEC clutches. I asked him what clutches he would reccomend and one of the ones he said was a lethal performance LPXHD, Which I ended up getting. When we put in the new clutch and slave, I bench bled the slave this time, bled the line before hooking it up to the trans and had instant pedal when it was all connected.

The feel of this clutch is MUCH better than the SPEC for me. It's a heavier pedal, but less aggressive friction material which I'll take over a light clutch and real aggressive material. That said, I'm still having some issues, but they seem to be intermittent. When I want to put it into first or reverse, sometimes it will go in super smoothly, and sometimes I have to fight with it(although it never grinds) sometimes if I let off the clutch and try again it will go in smoothly or at least smoother. Sometimes when I'm pulling the shifter out of gear it will have a fair amount of resistance and I have to force it out almost, or at least use a lot more force than you should need to. The last issue is it feels like there is some stiction in the clutch pedal sometimes. Like when I go to release the clutch and I will feel a little "pop" or something against my foot.

Things I have tried lately: I switched transfluid from amsoil gear oil (reccomend by Calimer) to amsoil synchromesh, to BG synchro shift 2. Brought the car to Finish Line Performance in Ohio to have them look over it, bleed it, do whatever. They removed my clutch height adjuster however no change, and apparently there is no air in the lines. Tried adjusting the MGW shifter, not sure this helped or hurt anything.

I'm not really sure what to do at this point. I called Calimer transmissions again however I didn't speak to Ben, but one of his employees who thinks it may be a clutch pedal issue. While my clutch pedal did have cracks and break, I was having issues with it before, and I had it rewelded as to never break again. I highly doubt that this is the problem, however maybe the community knows better, I just don't want to pay for a whole new assembly and then get it installed to have it not fix anything. One of the only other things I was reading about that I didn't do was lubricate the input shaft splines when we did the clutch. I had never done that before on any other clutch that I've put in, but apparently that's a thing? Any ideas from you guys? Any gurus around central Ohio? Once again, sorry for the long post.
Sponsored

 

BimmerDriver

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2018
Threads
44
Messages
601
Reaction score
464
Location
RDU, NC
First Name
Michael
Vehicle(s)
GT convertible w/3 pedals, BMW M550i
Without trying to be offensive, since you already broke the transmission by (I presume) doing something abusive, is it possible that your driving style is causing some or all of these issues?
 
OP
OP

Dark Pony

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2019
Threads
28
Messages
137
Reaction score
31
Location
Ohio
First Name
Ramsey
Vehicle(s)
2015 mustang GT
Without trying to be offensive, since you already broke the transmission by (I presume) doing something abusive, is it possible that your driving style is causing some or all of these issues?
No offense taken. No, I don't think it's my driving style, as it did it from when I put the clutch back in. I rarely get on the throttle to these days. Guess I'm getting old.
 

Zrussian13

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2018
Threads
24
Messages
1,988
Reaction score
1,791
Location
Phoenix
First Name
Chris
Vehicle(s)
2019 Mustang GT, 2018 Acura MDX
Sounds like clutch drag on the lpx. I had the exact same symptoms at first too. Sometimes hard to go into first and reverse and dropping second was a pain at high rpm. My clutch wasn't shimmed properly at first. It's much better but my trans had to come our 3 times to get it there. Did you check clearances and adjust the shims at all during install?
 
OP
OP

Dark Pony

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2019
Threads
28
Messages
137
Reaction score
31
Location
Ohio
First Name
Ramsey
Vehicle(s)
2015 mustang GT
Sounds like clutch drag on the lpx. I had the exact same symptoms at first too. Sometimes hard to go into first and reverse and dropping second was a pain at high rpm. My clutch wasn't shimmed properly at first. It's much better but my trans had to come our 3 times to get it there. Did you check clearances and adjust the shims at all during install?
No I didn't shim anything. Didn't know I had to. Directions to install the clutch didn't mention anything about it that I can remember, and I know it didn't come with any shims. I'm gonna have to look more into this. What did you use to shim? Any write up on how to do it? Thanks for your input!
 

Sponsored

Zrussian13

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2018
Threads
24
Messages
1,988
Reaction score
1,791
Location
Phoenix
First Name
Chris
Vehicle(s)
2019 Mustang GT, 2018 Acura MDX
No I didn't shim anything. Didn't know I had to. Directions to install the clutch didn't mention anything about it that I can remember, and I know it didn't come with any shims. I'm gonna have to look more into this. What did you use to shim? Any write up on how to do it? Thanks for your input!
There are round shims (like washers on the studs) in between the flywheel and floater plate. Interesting your instructions don't mention checking the clearances between those. Mine did so I followed it and it was way our of their spec. I called lethal and they put me in touch with mcleod who instructed me to remove shims until It was with in the spec given. After I got everything together it was exactly like how your describing yours. I tried bleeding the clutch and messing around with it for a while but no change. Then my brand new slave went out so I assumed that was my issue. Pulled the tranny swapped it out and put everything back together but same symptoms. Talked to mcleod again and this guy told me the opposite of what the first guys said. He said I never should have adjusted the clearances it was preset when they built it and that note in the instructions is only for adjusting the clutch later on to get more life out of it. Dropped the tranny a third time and put it back the way it came and all was good.

There should have been round shims on each stud between the flywheel, flex plate and pressure plate. Do you think they could have been mixed up? If so or if any weren't put back in the right place as you installed it, that could be the issue. If everything went back into the right place then you may need to contact lethal. If you send the clutch back in they will get it re-adjusted. Once it's all set the clutch is pretty bad ass. I like it's street manners and the way it holds power.
 

Zrussian13

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2018
Threads
24
Messages
1,988
Reaction score
1,791
Location
Phoenix
First Name
Chris
Vehicle(s)
2019 Mustang GT, 2018 Acura MDX
The note at the bottom of #8 is what I was referring to. My clearance was over .035" but apparently that's where it should have been. Not .020"- .025"


Screenshot_20220813-070632_Drive.jpg
 

Skye

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2022
Threads
12
Messages
1,674
Reaction score
2,378
Location
≈39N
Vehicle(s)
"Skye" Mach1 N2144
While my clutch pedal did have cracks and break, I was having issues with it before, and I had it rewelded as to never break again.
You have a lot going on and some things are greater priority than others. When you have time, I would circle back and look deeper at this. IMO, I think you're better off with a new OEM assembly, or something beefier to take any new loads. The pedal and the arm are all shaped a certain way. Being just a bit off can not only affect how things feel, but any loads applied throughout.

BTW, any ideas as to why the pedal cracked and broke to begin with? Finding the answer might help in the overall solution to fixing your problems.
 
OP
OP

Dark Pony

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2019
Threads
28
Messages
137
Reaction score
31
Location
Ohio
First Name
Ramsey
Vehicle(s)
2015 mustang GT
There are round shims (like washers on the studs) in between the flywheel and floater plate. Interesting your instructions don't mention checking the clearances between those. Mine did so I followed it and it was way our of their spec. I called lethal and they put me in touch with mcleod who instructed me to remove shims until It was with in the spec given. After I got everything together it was exactly like how your describing yours. I tried bleeding the clutch and messing around with it for a while but no change. Then my brand new slave went out so I assumed that was my issue. Pulled the tranny swapped it out and put everything back together but same symptoms. Talked to mcleod again and this guy told me the opposite of what the first guys said. He said I never should have adjusted the clearances it was preset when they built it and that note in the instructions is only for adjusting the clutch later on to get more life out of it. Dropped the tranny a third time and put it back the way it came and all was good.

There should have been round shims on each stud between the flywheel, flex plate and pressure plate. Do you think they could have been mixed up? If so or if any weren't put back in the right place as you installed it, that could be the issue. If everything went back into the right place then you may need to contact lethal. If you send the clutch back in they will get it re-adjusted. Once it's all set the clutch is pretty bad ass. I like it's street manners and the way it holds power.
I vaguely remember something about this. I had a lot going on when we put the clutch in so maybe I forgot about it. Maybe it was just that I made sure not to drop/lose any of the washers. Looks like the trans is going to need to come out regardless at this point. How did you check your clearences?
 
OP
OP

Dark Pony

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2019
Threads
28
Messages
137
Reaction score
31
Location
Ohio
First Name
Ramsey
Vehicle(s)
2015 mustang GT
You have a lot going on and some things are greater priority than others. When you have time, I would circle back and look deeper at this. IMO, I think you're better off with a new OEM assembly, or something beefier to take any new loads. The pedal and the arm are all shaped a certain way. Being just a bit off can not only affect how things feel, but any loads applied throughout.

BTW, any ideas as to why the pedal cracked and broke to begin with? Finding the answer might help in the overall solution to fixing your problems.
Maybe I'll look into a new assembly in the future, but at this point I don't think it's the issue. I have no idea why it cracked, however there are some threads about cracking pedals on here. Only thing I can think of for it cracking is heavier clutch and steeda spring is to much for the pot metal or shitty welds on the pedal to hold? I have never broken a clutch pedal before, so that's a new one.
 

Sponsored

Skye

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2022
Threads
12
Messages
1,674
Reaction score
2,378
Location
≈39N
Vehicle(s)
"Skye" Mach1 N2144
Maybe I'll look into a new assembly in the future, but at this point I don't think it's the issue.
I agree. I think it's the effect of something. Thanks for keeping us updated.
 

Zrussian13

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2018
Threads
24
Messages
1,988
Reaction score
1,791
Location
Phoenix
First Name
Chris
Vehicle(s)
2019 Mustang GT, 2018 Acura MDX
I vaguely remember something about this. I had a lot going on when we put the clutch in so maybe I forgot about it. Maybe it was just that I made sure not to drop/lose any of the washers. Looks like the trans is going to need to come out regardless at this point. How did you check your clearences?
You just use a feeler Guage between the flex plate, first disc and flywheel. But if you kept all the washers in the correct place then this should be a non issue.
Sponsored

 
 




Top