HELP! Should I resurface my Racing Beat flywheel?
 

I had posted (https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tech-garage-22/clutch-engagement-point-71794/) that I had a drifting clutch engagement point but with no slippage. That turned out not to be true. The clutch recently started slipping so I pulled it with the intent to replace the pp and disc with the stock unit. I unfortunately was suprised with the condition of the flywheel and clutch.

You can see the pp with major pitting, I think. My major concern is that the wear pattern on the pp is not centered on the plate! There is actually an edge of the pp that was pushing on the clutch disk hard and another portion of the plate that is nearly completely unused! On the edge of the pp that was getting action, it obviously overheated. Here is where it starts getting scary. The pp has cracks in it on the off center portion where the clutch disc was making contact (top of the second pic). This is why I was having a burning clutch smell all the time! Whats the deal!

You can also see the condition of my flywheel. Now, this is the scariest. I dont know what to do with my flywheel. You can see it is not in the best of shape and in the fourth pic there are little cracks like in the pp. I cant imagine that it would be a good idea to put the stock pp and clutch disk back in without at least resurfacing or replacing the contact ring.

The last pic is my thoughts on what was happening. The disk doesnt seem to have been rotating centered on the pp. This is probibly the ultimate cause of my vibration at 3500 rpm. Also the disc was only makeing contact on one side of the pp and fw. this caused the hot spot with cracking on the edge.

So what do I do? can I risk just putting the stock pp back in? will the irregular surface on the flywheel wear back to normal (minus the cracks) Or should I remove the contact surface and replace it with a new one or have it resurfaced? PLEASE dont suggest I remove the flywheel. For one, it is a queen pita, and two, I just wont anyway.

looks like the tranny was not aligned properly. is this a racing beat clutch and pressure plate you put in?????

if so this was an issue ~ 6 to 8 months ago. racing beat stopped selling the clutch setup after that.

i will see if i can find the thread for you. also yes i would resurface the flywheel.

beers

if the products are racing beat you might want to wade through these threads.

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...+beat+flywheel

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...+beat+flywheel

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...+beat+flywheel

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...+beat+flywheel

hope this helps

beers

thanks swoope. Products are all RB. I waded through these a while ago. As far as WHY this happened I am pinning it on either the RB disc or RB pp, but NOT the flywheel. Of course, I am not really caring why it happened, I just want to fix it.

Can I put the stock pp and disc back on the flywheel, as is, without major concern? If it is still not working, I dont mind the work involved with pulling the clutch, but I REALLY do not want to pull the flywheel again. So if I can get out of resurfacing the flywheel by just replacing the contact ring if all else fails, I will be happy. My concern is that I will make things worse by putting the stock clutch unit back it on the possibly damaged flywheel. Could bad things happen?

yes stock clutch will work.

i would replace friction ring.

but first i would call racing beat, they are very helpful. see what they can do with you. i dont know why that combo had a problem, but it most certianly did.

somewhere in those threads is the procedure for alignment.

who did the work???? i have not seen anyother clutchs have this issue.

beers

Those are heat stress cracks; not good. That means the parts are getting brittle which can be a disaster at the rpm's the Renesis can achieve. And I mean disaster as in "letting go" at high rpm's which is a frag grenade exploding at leg-level.

Absolutely talk to RB first before putting any of these pieces in and do what they recommend. I would not under any circumstance put back the parts that are showing cracks. Keep in mind that everything that was in contact with the cracked parts reached the same temps they did; which means although they may not be showing visible cracks, they could be on the verge.

I know it's a PITA to replace the flywheel; however if RB says replace it, then replace it. Don't think of it in terms of difficulty or dollars cost; it's about safety. If ANY of those components come apart at 8k rpm's they can slice through the center tunnel, carpet and anything else including your legs.

Talk to RB first, and take their advice... they know what they're talking about.

Alignment of what? The disc? the PPF? The only thing that can be misaligned is the PPF. Everything else either wont fit if it is misaligned or bolts down. :confused:

I did all the work.

hmmm.. removing flywheel in garage...vs. taking chance of losing leg....hmmm. I can always get a prosthesis! :)

You make a good arguement. Thanks. Calling now.

:hangs up phone with RB:

Dude, Racing Beat is absolutely the BEST aftermarket car parts company EVER. The existance of them is, IMHO, a good reason to BUY an RX8. Other companies out there need to take notes from them. Product (my experience; exhaust, sways, flywheel), customer service, service after the sale...+++++

Long and short of it, My flywheel comes off and it, the PP and disc go for analysis. a new wheel in goes on in replacement.

good to hear, btw i had a pp explode in a 66 mustang at ~ 6500rpms. i saw part of it leave through the hood. luckly none of it made it past the firewall.

beers

Thanks, Cant wait to fix this.

Interesting that car parts let go at rpms of 6krpm, yet where I work, I regularly use equipment that sees 100krpm. (not to say that this use is casual. These 1000#+ machines have been known to "dance" when they break)

I am not afraid to fly, but I when I sit in the back of a MD88 I have irrational fears that the turbine will let go and ginsu valuable parts of my anatomy. Or in the front of those delta puddle jumpers, if one of those props let go...

would not want to be anywhere around a compressor ring failure. i think watching one on closed circut tv would be to close.

i think the issue of alignment was the ppf.

and everytime i try to adjust the radio in the rental the horn honks.

let us know what rb says.

beers

RB sent a new friction ring for the fly. Easy to replace. Put stock pressure place and disc on the RB fly. (only prob on install was difficulty starting. Most likely a flood (my second) due to a weak battery. Jumped it until de-flooded. Got the post-flood white cloud out the exhaust)
Car runs like a champ. NO vibration (not even a hint). Quick revs. Awesome. So happy. Did I mention that I am happy?

Even got it done early enough to take it to a car meet in the Best Buy parking lot in Columbia MD.

My professional opinion is that RB got served a bad batch of pressure plates. But that is just my opinion. Going to ship my old pressure plate back to them along with the rest of the stuff that came off (friction ring, disc, throwout bearing (which was a little loose)) Maybe they will let us know what was up?

good to hear, very interested on what they come up with. where did you get all of the stuff????

would hate to have to do it againg to get a higher preformance pp and disc in.

beers

You would probably be the luckiest one on that MD-88 then, everyone else would have to suffer the long plummet to their death. You would just get chopped up and die.