detectiveorange

Hey all, So I needed a new clutch for the 8 and I decided to go with the exedy stage 1. Had a buddy's shop (this was probably the mistake) put it in and noticed it felt really soft. He said he noticed it too but "the reviews said it felt soft and they made it that way for daily driving so your foot won't get tired in traffic." Sounds believable, but this thing is INCREDIBLY soft, I don't even know where it bites unless I'm driving it. It just feels like there's a spring at the bottom of the pedal that's helping it back up.

So I took it back and he bled it for about a half hour, and it felt a LITTLE bit better but is still ridiculously soft. I've been driving it this way for about a month.

Well it's starting to genuinely **** me off so I decide to read on the interwebs and see everyone's saying it feels 10x better than stock, etc. etc. and even the description of the clutch says "designed to give an OEM feel" THIS DOESN'T FEEL LIKE OEM!

So my question, What could be going on with this thing? I'm not taking it back to his shop, I don't want him touching my car.

Keep in mind, it FEELS like a new clutch, it I just dump it between gears it kicks me in the ***, so that's nice. It just feels like there's no clutch in the pedal. My buddy's burned out stage 2 clutch on his miata feels stiffer than my brand new clutch.....

edit: should also mention that I got the flywheel resurfaced

hoosier1104

iTrader: (2)

I know from past cars that there should about 1/4" of play before you feel the clutch engage. Could be one of the bearings, pressure plate alignment, slave cylinder or a lot of air in the line. My guess would be a bearing, slave or air. That is just me. Calling RIWWP for more insight.

04Green

iTrader: (1)

Stage one is not OEM. It will be stiffer...

Bad news is that there is a stack height problem with some of them, at least the ones I have had. Does the clutch get lighter at higher RPM? If so, that could be the issue. The fingers that the release bearing press on should crown out in the center, about a tenth of an inch or so over the outer part. If this is not going on, life sucks. Basically the weights that are supposed to press the plate down, end up lifting it because the pressure plate is too close to the flywheel. I had to add 6 precision .060 inch spacers between the pressure plate and the flywheel. They look a lot like washers from Lowes. An awful lot like washers from Lowes. Even come in the same package. The bad part is you have to pull everything out to change them. Charles at BHR at one time did it through the starter hole, but for that you need a box end crow foot socket, and buddy to turn the engine, and patience, lots of patience.

The other thing that can cause this is the fact that the layer between the two clutch surfaces needs to settle down. That can take 500 miles... But it is likely you are past that point.

The big test is if it gets lighter at higher RPM. If it does not, you dodged that bullet. If it does, it is likely the stack height issue. If it stays hooked up, through 9K, in second gear, I say learn to drive it. Your old one could have just been incredibly heavy.

Sorry. Others may weigh in with advice, but what you describe is exactly what I experienced.

detectiveorange

The clutch feels the same throughout all RPMs, it's just incredibly spongy. It feels like it's burnt out except for the fact that it kicks when you dump it between gears.

Waiting for a response from RIWWP as well hoosier haha

hoosier1104

iTrader: (2)

I stand by my previous post. RIWWP would know better than I. I am starting to lean toward pressure plate alignment though.

detectiveorange

The thing is I've never worked on a clutch ever, so this would be a first =X haha