01COBRA4LIFE

Hey guys!
So I should start off by apologizing for the lengoth of this, but as you'll read, it's a long history problem.
I own a genuine 2001 SVT Cobra. However the original motor blew up, and was replaced along with the transmission with a 2004 Mach 1 driveline. Not 5,000 miles after the swap(65000 on motor), the clutch fell apart and wedged against the flywheel making it impossible to disengage the clutch. A shop took a look at it and said the clutch, throw out bearing, and pilot bearing needed to be replaced. They said not to worry about the flywheel as it looked fine. So they did the work and immediately after I got the car back noticed a pretty distinct vibration in the clutch pedal. The shop told me not to worry about it as it should go away and was normal on break in. It never went away. After doing some research, I found that when having an aftermarket quadrant, firewall adjuster, and clutch cable all together, they can cause a vibration and to install a clutch free play spring kit. So I did. It kept the throw out bearing off the pressure plate so I didn't feel the vibration. Only problem now was that the throw out bearing would squeak or chirp when I pressed in the clutch. 10000 miles after clutch install shifting became a struggle after long periods of driving to the point of it taking several seconds to force it into the next gear even while trying to Rev match. Pulled the transmission and found the TOB was toast along with the pressure plate. So I decided to go all out. I bought an exedy stage 1 clutch and resurfaced and lightened the flywheel. Along with a Ford Racing TOB. Put everything back together (done right). And I'm still having the vibration issue in the pedal! Just the other day, I was stuck in traffic after driving for close to 40 minutes, and I even noticed a small shutter beginning to become quite apparent when going from a stand still to a moving speed... not sure what to do at this point, I love the car but these clutch issues are making me almost tempted to sell the darn thing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Not sure if all three situations are related or simply individual problems. All I do know is that the most recent install was done myself and done right, so torque specs are not an issue! It's got to be either a problem caused by damage from the first incident or something is not meshing smoothly between the pressure plate and TOB causing the vibration. I really can't afford to put much more money into it as I am leaving for College as well as I'm not really in a position anymore where I have the tools or equipment to drop the trans again. I just want to know what a majority of people think the problem is before I bring it to a shop.

Thanks!

Kevin N.

LivinTheStangLife

They should've at minimum turned your fly wheel. If the old clutch ended up welded to it, it probably should've just been replaced

lowblustang00

I had a similar shudder on my old SN95 after replacing the clutch myself. Turned out to be a bad TOB ( or installed wrong). I know its a pain to dig back into it, but it might be a safe idea, to go back and check that TOB.

Ps my TOB was also a ford racing one.

01COBRA4LIFE

Sorry it has been awhile. Ive been in college and not much free time. So thanks for all the suggestions, but i think i might have found the issue but cant quite confirm as i dont have the car with me to test my theory. However i would like to see what others think about this. As to the comment about the flywheel needing replacement. I did originally consider this, however 2 things tell me the flywheel is not the issue.

1) they did turn the flywheel as well as resurface and lighten it. They did an amazing job!

2) the vibration goes away when i put enough pressure on the pedal to depress the pressure plate fingers a small amount, without disengaging the clutch. if the problem was the flywheel i would expect the vibration to be present until the clutch and flywheel were no longer touching.

While tinkering around in my garage last time i was home i found the Throwout bearing i replaced from the most recent rebuild. I took a closer look at it and found that it had quite a bit of side to side play as well as an off-centered spin. it managed to become this tweaked after only 10,000 miles! I don't think that a defect would explain this unless after replacing it the problem went away... No, i think its connected! Whatever caused this damage is currently eating its way through this new bearing. I believe that during the original incident, when the original clutch shredded and wedged itself against the flywheel, the bearing retainer shaft was slightly tweaked thus causing the bearing to not engage centered or evenly on the pressure plate. this would explain both the damage to the bearing as well as the vibration. Unfortunately, i cant confirm this diagnosis until during spring break. If this is the problem however, i run myself into another issue. a replacement. I cant find any aftermarket bearing retainer shafts for the Tremec TR-3650. Ford Racing makes a performance retainer for the Tremec T5. but I cant confirm if it will be compatible with the 3650. I assume i can go through the ford dealership and buy an oem one, but i know i will be overpaying big time.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Kevin N.

BaknBlk

As far as the throwout bearing retaining shaft, they are not made anymore. I know this for a fact as I had a similar issue with my sons 01 Bullitt. We diagnosed the shaft was off or worn and tried to find a new one as they are replaceable....albeit they have to be pressed out and back in. I even contacted Tremec and was told the shaft was never sold by itself, but rather as part of the bell housing and they no longer made them or had any left over. Tremec did suggest I contact Tremec master dealers to see if anyone might have a "never sold to the public" shaft collecting dust on a shelf. Can't tell you how many I called and no one could help. I did find a used bell housing with shaft at Don Walsh racing and tried that as well...about 3 to 4 thousand miles later with that bell housing, same problem with the throwout bearing, pulsing pedal and some chatter.

As a last resort, believe it or not I was able to find a new, never installed 3650 for sale and bought that....$1600 bucks...ouch. Still had all factory markings and was still sealed. Now, when we put that in we noticed a odd wear pattern on the clutch fork that seemed to cause the throw out bearing to move around and "wobble" for a lack of a better term. I ended up with the new trans, new clutch fork which Ford still sells, throwout bearing and pilot bearing.

So far, everything is working great.....perhaps try replacing the clutch fork if you tear it down and replace the bearings again.

I also used a Exedy clutch and pressure plate....flywheel resurfaced once.

BaknBlk

I know my post was rather long....but I need to add the following. I thought about putting a newer version of the Tremec 3650 in the car, but even though the 05 to 09's are called 3650's they are not the same. The case design was changed and they will not work in the 99 to 04's. There is a shop local that sells rebuilt 3650's for the 99 to 04's, but what they do is take the internals out of the 05 to 09 3650's, modify them and out them back into a 99 to 04 3650 transmission case. I didn't want to go that route tho.

If you need, send me a pm and I'll give you my phone number if it would be easier to answer any questions you might have.