metroplex

I've got under 10k on my 07 GT with the TR-3650 manual. This morning, I noticed that when taking off from a stop light (just gentle throttle, light clutch release), the car would shudder. It almost feels like I'm getting wheel spin, but I know for a fact I'm not accelerating hard at all.

Is this a sign the clutch is slipping? Or is it just rust that might have built up on the clutch/flywheel surfaces over the weekend? I haven't driven the car over the weekend, it's not like I stored it for 8 months.

05YellowGT

My clutch wasn't shuddering , but when I parked it on a slope in gear with the brake off it would roll. So I assumed my clutch was slipping and when I had it replaced it turned out it was. You might try parking it on a slope and see if it rolls ...

metroplex

How many miles did you get out of the stock clutch? Mine doesn't seem to roll. It also works fine for 5th gear at low RPMs as well. It's just that when I'm accelerating and let out the clutch a bit slow, the car starts to shudder badly.

How much $$ is to replace the clutch at a dealer? Can I do this in my garage? What clutch, flywheel, and plate should I buy that can handle more abuse? I might go with a blower in the future too.

Cavero

Mine was doing this for a while around march-timeframe, but then it went away on its own. I never figured out what happened.

05YellowGT

It was several month's ago and I probably had 65K miles on the clutch and about 30K of that with my S/C , so it didn't supprise me. Your clutch may just be glazed due to heat and if that's the case it will go away with time just like the above post says. I had my clutch replaced by BBR here locally and they recomeded an Exedy 500. It's good for 500 RWTQ and still has fairly good driveability for a daily driver ...

metroplex

Is this something I could do myself in my garage, or how much in labor and parts ($$) am I looking at?

Antigini-GT/CS

It sounds like you have clutch chatter. I did for a while not too long ago and in some time it went away. Now if it continues, that's when you should figure out what's going on.

Parts..buy a clutch kit and you shouldn't need anything else. Can you do it on your own? Sure. Do you really want to? Probably not. It sucks doing a clutch job on the ground and keep in mind that's a lot of work for one person, especially when you've got to get the tranny back in place and bolt it in! Call around your local shops as well as your dealer for a comparison. The job should not take more than a day if they send the flywheel out for machining. Same day if you pick up a new flywheel.

As for my clutch, i've got 50k miles with many 6k rpm clutch dumps and other than those few days of clutch chatter, its still like the day I got it!

Do a search on CompetitionClutch, Spec, ACT and Exedy. They're all good brands and you can read up on each of them. Make sure you get enough of a torque capacity if you are going to go F/I in the future and also don't forget to keep in mind how you want the clutch to feel during engagement and how heavy of a clutch you're comfortable with.

metroplex

For pricing comparison purposes, if I do want to replace the clutch, I want to go max out for torque capacity and durability. What type of clutch would this be? I see that Exedy has a multiplate Stage 4 (2 disc).

Since we have a hydraulic clutch, what type of "feel" would I get with a maxed out clutch setup?
Is there something more durable/high capacity than the Exedy twin-disc Stage 4?

The Exedy kit is about $1800 (everything included). I figure there's about $1000 in labor in this, so rough order of magnitude: $3000 for full replacement, is that about right?

I have heard that the chatter can come from a glazed flywheel caused by excess heat due to stop and go driving/traffic. This is highly plausible for my case because of the sh*tty SE MI construction. I cannot cruise my way home anymore, I have to endure excessive stop and go traffic. According to Cobalt SS.net, they recommended shifting at higher RPMs to get rid of this chatter and glaze (like shift at 3000-4000 RPM). I've been shifting at low RPMs (1500-2000 RPM).

Antigini-GT/CS

PM'd

Cavero

Makes sense about the glazing. I don't know about you, but my car gets temperamental as hell at higher RPMs (2000+) and bucks like a bronco. I'd rather run the risk of glazing the clutch than put up with that. But maybe it's my tune that makes mine like that.

metroplex

Cavero, that shouldn't happen at all. I can take my GT up to the rev limiter and it is smooth. I also forgot to mention that the SS.net crowd only recommended taking it up to higher RPMs once in awhile, not all the time. I take a longer route home just to make sure I can cruise versus get stuck in stop and go traffic. The clutch *seems* to be working fine now.

I'm not sure how else I can test it for shudder/slip.

Berol

Get it up to 20 mph or so, put it 4th. Then floor it. If the RPMs shoot up, it's slipping. If the engine bogs and slowly accelerates, your clutch is good.

Lime GT

My clutch chattered for about a month around May. I store it for winter about 5 months. I started to take it easy on it for a month and it seems to be okay now. Go figure.