follow ft86club on our blog, twitter or facebook.
FT86CLUB
Ft86Club
Delicious Tuning
Register Garage Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community - FT86CLUB > Technical Topics > Engine, Exhaust, Transmission

Engine, Exhaust, Transmission Discuss the FR-S | 86 | BRZ engine, exhaust and drivetrain.


User Tag List

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 08-04-2016, 04:06 PM   #1
Pneub
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Drives: Dark Grey BRZ
Location: Huntington Beach
Posts: 306
Thanks: 172
Thanked 143 Times in 77 Posts
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Bad Idle, stalling, clutch chatter, gear lockout, failed clutches: My story and fix

This could be a well known problem as I don't stay as up to date with the community as I would like. If nothing in my experience is new or helpful I apologize.

That being said here is what happened. When I got my car in 2013, even stock, I had light transmission issues. My car would want to lock out first and reverse when cold. I hear this is pretty common. I modified my car pretty heavy from the start and started with an ACT Stage 1 clutch combined with a long list of engine mods. From this point forward I had a very rough idle, gear crunching, stalling and so on. My tuning shop, Evasive Motorsports in Santa Fe Springs, said the clutch was bad so they replaced it with a second ACT clutch with a different flywheel. This clutch after a few months had me completely locked out of gears. I couldn't get into first unless I pushed it in at a rolling stop. My car idle was still terrible and they tried to fix it through tuning. Eventually I changed my clutch again to an Exedy Stage 1. My shifting gears was fixed but I had loud clutch chatter, my idle was shit, car would still die randomly. The clutch itself would sometimes catch on take off and made the car driving experience very lurchy and my friends/passengers were not always enjoying the experience. My car spent more time in the shop trying to to work out the idle issues, and while somewhat improved, the experience driving my car was not the best.

Fast forward 35k miles and my clutch is starting to slip. Any acceleration from 4-6th gear would cause it to slip out. I made an appointment to replace my clutch and started doing more research, most of it point to an Exedy Stage 2. After my prematurely failed Exedy Stage 1, and two failed ACT clutches, I wasn't thrilled about any of this, nor the other clutch options that were incredibly expensive.

I took a leap of faith with South Bend Street Clutch. It held more torque than the Exedy, cost less, and all the reviews were stellar. Problem is there were so few reviews. The day before my service my clutch made a loud squealing sound when depressed and the car would die if I shifted. The throw-out bearing went bad. Car towed, new clutch installed.

Now the car has a stock resurfaced flywheel, a South Bend Street Clutch, Toyota pilot and throw-out bearings. Since picking it up and slowly breaking it in I've noticed that my car idle is just fine, there is no clutch chatter, no issues with the clutch grabbing at launch, a much lighter and easier clutch pedal feel, and better shifting in all gears.

I don't know what parts specifically fixed my issues, but if you're having some of the issues I've described it could be related and hopefully something in here is helpful. I am unfortunately not as knowledgeable and well informed as most of you but if you have insights on my issues and the eventual fix I'd love to hear about it. Just so happy to be driving a happy car again. Thanks for reading!

TLDR: Bad idle, car stalling, clutch chatter, gear lockout. Went through 3 clutches. Now have South Bend Stage 1 with Toyota bearings and all issues resolved.
__________________
Pneub is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to Pneub For This Useful Post:
Cop (08-04-2016)
Old 08-04-2016, 04:29 PM   #2
Scenic Driver
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Drives: 13 Subaru BRZ, 02 Audi TTQ
Location: Orange County, NY
Posts: 456
Thanks: 61
Thanked 321 Times in 168 Posts
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pneub View Post
a much lighter and easier clutch pedal feel
You have a weaker pressure plate than the others you tried. Our weak clutch fork setup doesn't like strong pressure plates, I had issues with an ACT clutch too.
__________________
Scenic Driver is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to Scenic Driver For This Useful Post:
Pneub (08-04-2016)
Old 08-04-2016, 04:35 PM   #3
Pneub
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Drives: Dark Grey BRZ
Location: Huntington Beach
Posts: 306
Thanks: 172
Thanked 143 Times in 77 Posts
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scenic Driver View Post
You have a weaker pressure plate than the others you tried. Our weak clutch fork setup doesn't like strong pressure plates, I had issues with an ACT clutch too.
Why do ACT and Exedy put on strong pressure plates that cause all these issues?
__________________
Pneub is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2016, 04:40 PM   #4
Scenic Driver
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Drives: 13 Subaru BRZ, 02 Audi TTQ
Location: Orange County, NY
Posts: 456
Thanks: 61
Thanked 321 Times in 168 Posts
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pneub View Post
Why do ACT and Exedy put on strong pressure plates that cause all these issues?
I have no idea. I'm actually surprised you had problems with Exedy, people had issues with them over a year ago and I've seen posts saying they were OK now.
__________________
Scenic Driver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2016, 04:44 PM   #5
mdost03
Member
 
Join Date: May 2016
Drives: Jeep Grand Cherokee
Location: Hutchinson, MN
Posts: 11
Thanks: 0
Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
How does a clutch have an effect on idle?
mdost03 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2016, 04:44 PM   #6
Pneub
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Drives: Dark Grey BRZ
Location: Huntington Beach
Posts: 306
Thanks: 172
Thanked 143 Times in 77 Posts
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scenic Driver View Post
I have no idea. I'm actually surprised you had problems with Exedy, people had issues with them over a year ago and I've seen posts saying they were OK now.
The Exedy clutch was installed back in mid 2014 so that might explain it. Wish I had been able to fix this back then.
__________________
Pneub is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2016, 04:49 PM   #7
Pneub
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Drives: Dark Grey BRZ
Location: Huntington Beach
Posts: 306
Thanks: 172
Thanked 143 Times in 77 Posts
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdost03 View Post
How does a clutch have an effect on idle?
I'm guessing this was a bearing or a flywheel issue but I'm not sure.
__________________
Pneub is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2016, 05:17 PM   #8
VerusEric
 
VerusEric's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Drives: BRZ, STI, GT350R, Supra, 987.2
Location: Indiana
Posts: 1,146
Thanks: 567
Thanked 2,529 Times in 780 Posts
Mentioned: 87 Post(s)
Tagged: 3 Thread(s)
When installing a heavier than stock pressure plate, it is highly recommended to look into an upgrade clutch fork. OEM is a known weak point. Stronger pressure plates equate to higher torque holding ability.

Check out the thread here: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104963

Post #64, #95, and #105 are some 3rd party testimonials.

Thanks,
Eric
VerusEric is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to VerusEric For This Useful Post:
Hyper4mance2k (08-04-2016), Pneub (08-04-2016), Tcoat (08-05-2016), Teseo (08-04-2016)
Old 08-04-2016, 05:32 PM   #9
Pneub
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Drives: Dark Grey BRZ
Location: Huntington Beach
Posts: 306
Thanks: 172
Thanked 143 Times in 77 Posts
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quote:
Originally Posted by VeloxEric View Post
When installing a heavier than stock pressure plate, it is highly recommended to look into an upgrade clutch fork. OEM is a known weak point. Stronger pressure plates equate to higher torque holding ability.

Check out the thread here: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104963

Post #64, #95, and #105 are some 3rd party testimonials.

Thanks,
Eric
I already installed my clutch without replacing the clutch fork. What are the consequences of leaving it in? The clutch pedal feels softer than stock. Does this mean it has a weaker pressure plate? Here's the new clutch I have installed: http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/sout...l#.V6O0KrgrKUk
__________________
Pneub is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2016, 06:04 PM   #10
VerusEric
 
VerusEric's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Drives: BRZ, STI, GT350R, Supra, 987.2
Location: Indiana
Posts: 1,146
Thanks: 567
Thanked 2,529 Times in 780 Posts
Mentioned: 87 Post(s)
Tagged: 3 Thread(s)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pneub View Post
I already installed my clutch without replacing the clutch fork. What are the consequences of leaving it in? The clutch pedal feels softer than stock. Does this mean it has a weaker pressure plate? Here's the new clutch I have installed: http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/sout...l#.V6O0KrgrKUk
You'll probably be alright. No idea for sure but with less effort, one can assume less force is being placed on the fork. Since the clutch has already been replaced, I wouldn't bother dropping the transmission again for this fork. Just a suggestion to others that may be looking at clutches in the future.

Thanks,
Eric
VerusEric is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2016, 07:57 PM   #11
Pneub
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Drives: Dark Grey BRZ
Location: Huntington Beach
Posts: 306
Thanks: 172
Thanked 143 Times in 77 Posts
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Norville Rogers View Post
Probably don't modify a car unless it is in good mechanical condition first, if at all?
Good advice except that both the message boards and dealerships all said it was a common issue. I went and drove other BRZ's that also had the same stiff gears at cold start. The dealership said they wouldn't fix it under warranty. I thought by putting in a better aftermarket clutch and flywheel the problem would get better not worse.
__________________
Pneub is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-05-2016, 10:29 AM   #12
Cybmx
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Drives: 2016 Hyperblue Brz
Location: PA
Posts: 133
Thanks: 32
Thanked 25 Times in 21 Posts
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
I had the same issue when I put in my ACT clutch and lightweight flywheel. Fixed it by simply adjusting the clutch pedal higher to get more travel. These aftermarket clutches probably needed more fluid to move, so at stock pedal height you might not have enough travel to disengage the clutch completely, which results in premature wears and gear lockout
Cybmx is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Cybmx For This Useful Post:
dhuang (07-25-2017), Pneub (08-05-2016)
 
Reply

Tags
act, bearing, clutch, exedy, south bend

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
OFT Stage 2 UEL Help. Rough Idle Stalling shellslinger Software Tuning 11 03-05-2017 09:33 AM
Clutch chatter brzydk Engine, Exhaust, Transmission 7 10-05-2016 12:31 PM
Clutch, LW flywheel and chatter.... wootwoot Engine, Exhaust, Transmission 20 11-17-2014 03:50 PM
Stalling, Misfiring, poor idle.. Car is at Toyota, hopefully some results soon WTF Issues | Warranty | Recalls / TSB 12 06-14-2014 10:40 PM
Clutch Chatter & Traction Control? Fortney Issues | Warranty | Recalls / TSB 9 10-23-2012 11:43 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:24 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.

Garage vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.