Hey all, I've got an issue with my '14 FRS and wondered if you have any experience.
I often have a very hard time putting it into gear from a dead stop (any gear R through 6) right from clutch in.
- If i clutch in and quickly try to engage a gear, the car will roll a little as transmission inertia is taken away by the synchro locking up. However, it won't enter the gate.
- With the clutch in, if I hold the shifter at the gate lightly for several moments, the gear will eventually engage as everything stops spinning. Racing the engine to 3k RPM appears to help somewhat, but results are inconsistent.
- Alternatively, if leave the clutch in for some time (5-10 sec), it appears everything stops spinning and the gear will engage. However, at stop lights and traffic, this can be problematic.
- I've also noticed that sometimes when coming to a stop in gear, with clutch in, there is a resistance to pulling the transmission out of its current gear into neutral.
Right when I start the car, it has no issues. I also have no issues engaging any gear if the car is already rolling (e.g. 1 MPH or higher). This only occurs at dead stop.
- Symptoms appear when I start driving for a little. Symptoms remain until I park the car for a while and it cools off.
- Symptoms have surfaced fairly recently, and the local weather has become quite hot (So Cal, 105 deg F+ ambient)
I put the car in both first and reverse with the clutch fully depressed. I revved the engine out to near redline on a level surface (my garage), and the car did not budge.
I'd appreciate any help/insight.
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*****EDIT 1 (7/11/2018)
I put the car on jack stands for a more sensitive clutch drag test:
- With the parking brake on and clutch in, the gear was hard to gate (as before). I also noticed that the engine speed was responding and dropping slightly despite the clutch being in
- With the parking brake off and clutch in, the gear engaged smoothly. At first the wheels only spun a few revolutions, but quickly came to a stop.
- However, I also began to notice intermittently that the wheel would continue spinning while in gear with the clutch in at idle engine speed. This did not occur on every engagement, but occurred often enough not to be a coincidence.
- Also, wheel spin would occur at the same rate/sensitivity regardless of how far past the friction point the clutch was pushed in. In other words, the drag appeared to be consistent across the dead pedal throw depth.
- Nuance with this dragging incidence: when racing the engine, wheel speed did not increase appreciably or would decrease momentarily until RPMs returned to idle. Sometimes, the wheels would stop spinning after racing the engine. This might explain why primary clutch drag tests turned out negative.
Based on these conclusions, I might be observing some drag due to the throw out or pilot bearing?
I don't have any grinding or shifting issues while the car is in motion or when the wheels are free to spin. Again, only happens when the car is hot.
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*****EDIT 2 (7/19/2018)
I also tried adjusting the clutch pedal to get more travel at the fork. This did not appear to resolve the issue.
I also bled the clutch cylinder and put in new fluid. This also did not resolve the issue.
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*****EDIT 3 (10/16/2018) Resolved-ish
Drove on it for a few more months without any real improvement. Also noticed some screeching coming from the bell housing when the system was hot from spirited driving, in gear, in motion, and on a downhill.
A few weeks ago, I pulled out the ACT clutch kit and re-installed the OEM clutch kit. I haven't had any problems since.
Upon initial visual inspection of the ACT kit, nothing appeared wrong with it. Throw out bearing and pilot bearing spun free. No damage on the input shaft
I sent to back to ACT for evaluation, and they say they didn't find anything wrong with it either. They seem to think it's the clutch hydraulic system/supporting components on the car. Might have been a spline grease issue.
In the end, nothing conclusive. I'll keep the OE kit in the car a while and do another clutch job when I feel like I need to. I likely won't put the ACT kit back on the car.
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Relevant mods:
- Velox/Verus Forged 4130 Clutch Fork
- Velox/Verus Billet Clutch Pivot
- MTEC Shifter Springs
- ACT HB7-HDSS (Stage 1 Street Clutch /w Streetlite Flywheel)
- Whiteline Transmission Mount Bushing
- Motul Gear 300 Fluid, supplemented with Toyota OE Gear 75w90
Clutch was installed about 4 months/5k+ miles ago. Clutch was broken in for about 1k miles before driven hard. Last time the car was tracked was 3 months ago.