Recently I replaced the th350 in my 69 cutlass with a 4 speed. Everything went smoothly and I have had no problems with it until a few days ago. After its warmed up, the clutch chatters bad in 1st or reverse when engaging the clutch from a dead stop. Its totally smooth when releasing the clutch from a rolling stop but shakes the whole car when starting from a complete stop. This problem only happens after driving the car for about 10-15 miles and warmed up. I removed the bellhousing inspection plate and didnt see any oil on the flywheel or clutch. Ive put over 4000 miles on since the 4 speed swap with no issues until now. Pedal freeplay is at 1 inch like its supposed to be. Clutch is a centerforce II. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.

 

What kind of transmission do you have Muncie M20, M21, or T-10- etc. What is the rear end ratio? What kind of flywheel did you use?

 

muncie m20, 3:23 rear end, centerforce flywheel

 

There could be a few issues. One is the flywheel or the pressure plate may have developed hot spots; Two, the disc fits poorly on the input shaft splines, Third, the disc gets "sticky" when everything is hot. I had a similar problem many years ago, and it was the clutch disc. The bottom line is that to cure the problem you need to drop the trans. I am not a big fan of centerforce clutches.

 

So your saying it could be a defective disk? Is this common with centerforce cluthes? I did check the disk on the splines before I installed it and it seemed to fit well.

 

The disc may not be defective, it could be the materials that they are using. I see a lot issues with centerforce clutches, therefore, I don't use them.

 

Also, I forgot to add that when its warmed up, the clutch pedal feels stickier and not smooth. This is whether or not the engine is running.

 

You can see members here having issues with centerforce. Look up dave siltman, and you will see the issues he had.

 

If the car is not running, the clutch pedal should feel the same as if it was cold, regardless. What release bearing did you use? Was the bearing retainer changed on the trans? Also, did you measure the air gap?

 

centerforce release bearing. New bearing retainer on trans. Did not measure the air gap yet. What should it be?

 

Air gap should be .030 to .040.

 

The only sure way to diagnose your problem would be thru dis-assembly, and thoroughly inspect all of the components.

 

Thanks for your responses. I guess I know what im doing this weekend. Also, what clutch brand would you recommend?

 

I use Hays street clutch in my W-31, and have used them for many years. When you pull the trans be sure to inspect carefully all of the items we discussed. Good luck

 

As the previous post suggest, dropping the trans is the solution. The problem may jump out at you right away. I used a Ram clutch with good results, McLeod is very good also. Sounds like Hays is also a quality brand. I seemed to have had the same problem once caused by weak pressure plate spring. Good luck, there are several diagnosis charts if you search.


http://www.benplace.com/vw_clutch2.htm

 

For anyone who may have seen this thread, I thought I would post the solution to this problem. Turns out my motor and trans mounts were trashed and after replacing them, I havent had any more clutch chatter. Clutch pedal movement is also much smoother. I learned my lesson as I should have replaced the mounts when I had the engine out, but at least it was a relatively simple fix.

 

Thanks for posting, that wasn't in the clutch chatter diagnosis chart. Good call. Nice to have this knowledge if I ever get stumped.