(How to) make your clutch stop slipping. Find out inside.
 

Ok First thing I'm going to say is please PLEASE, read this post top to bottom and be sure you fully understand it before posting.

I don't want alot of unneeded flaiming in here and name calling. Thats not what this thread is for.

Its to help people that are having problems!


Ok now here is what I did. I talked to a few tecs about this clutch and a few people that are involved with making clutches for OEM replacement.

I found that the clutch in this car IS more then capable of holding 300hp. The problem is that is sensitive.
No it doesn't cry at the drop of hat. It doesn't like the way some people drive.

Now most of you are like me and have had a stick before. And have never had any problems with it. Thats fine. But this is not your old car and it cant be driven like it is.

The problem we are having is glazing. Pure and simple!
The reason for it is also simple. This clutch is one of the only ones I have ever sean that needs to be heated to grab properly. Now don't get ahead of me and start think (Hes full of shit) just yet. It also doesn't like to be over heated at all! In fact that really pisses it off.

But after testing with my car and a friends I have found that if you shift the car at higher RPM all the time, (I'm not saying red line it here guys) your clutch will hold better.

The problem is that most of us shift at 2k or so in normal driving. Now on almost every other car out there this is fine.
But the SS S/C seams to have a problem with this.

By shifting a that low of and RPM the clutch is getting slipped more then you think or can feel in the peddle. This over heats it and glazes it in normal driving and you think your being nice to the car.

Now my clutch started to slip as you all know around 4K.
I stopped driving it hard at that point as I didn't want to have to replace my clutch this year.
So Mine was not slipped alot. But it was done more then a few times.
Now I changed the way I drive and started shifting it at 3K all the time. At this higher RPM you can feel slip more easily and will not slip the clutch as much. After doing this for about 1.5K I started to get on the car again. And what do you, not more slip unless I over heat the clutch!!!!!!!!

Now I know right about know most of you are going (Hes full of it and has no proof to back this up. Hes getting flamed!) But I do have proof! On two cars at that.

After about 8K on the car and with no clutch problems for just over 2.5k even with about 25+ WOT runs from a stop I decided to see if the clutch could be made to slip just as it did again by letting my mom drive the car for about an hour.

Now she has not driven a stick in almost 10 years but dose have 20+ years of driving them under her belt. She did fine but did shift at lower RPM and slipped the crap out of my clutch many many times.

After that I let the car sit for the night and cool down.

The next day I took it for a ride. And HOLY HELL my clutch slipped so bad if I got on it hard that I thought I had just let her kill the thing for sure.

But after about 100 miles of driving it the way I had been with no hard running and 3K shifts my clutch was right back to holding like it was new again.

I did 5 WOT runs and every time I could cherp 2nd gear.

Now I let my best friend drive the car for a day. About 150 miles we did that day. (He bout on SS S/C the next day!)
And he has been driving a stick almost as long as I have and did fine. He did slip the clutch more then normal, and shifted at to alow an RPM most of the day. But nothing major. He had not drive a stick in a while as his car was an auto.

After he was done I drove the car and again my clutch would slip on WOT runs. I drove it around for about 60-80 miles like I had been and then slowly started to get on it more and more till I was doing WOT runs and guess what? No slip! I have sins put almost 2K on the car with no slip unless I have over heated the clutch from driving it to hard.

I tested this on his car a week ago when I drove it and found that his car did the same exact thing as mine. EXACT same thing!

I could make his clutch start slipping if I drive it like a normal car and shifted low, and then after only a few miles I could get it hold like new again by changing to the higher RPM shifts and getting off the clutch a bit faster.

Now this might not work for every one. If your clutch has been slipping for al long time then its probably to damaged for this to help you.

If it just started or has not been doing it for to long then try it and see if it helps you.

But if not I bet it will if you do it right.
You need to shift at or close to 3K as much as you can. Skip 4th gear when needed. Get off the clutch a bit faster then you normally do. Yes this will not be as smooth as your used to but it will fix your clutch problem so do it!
Stop trying to drive the car smooth like its a family car. Its not! So don't drive it the same as you do your camry!

Now I know I'm going to get flamed here. No one wants to admit that this could be there falt. I sure as hell didn't. But It was my falt. It was driver erorr.

The problem is that the dealers don't know this. They don't tell you. So you don't do it.

Now I think most of the guys that are not having problems just kind of drive like this normally. Thats just there style.

I road with another cobalt SS S/C owner that lives near me a few weeks back. I asked him if had the clutch problems and he said no. I asked him to just drive me around like he dose when no one is in the car and I sat in the back seat passengers side.

And what do you know. He drives like I'm telling you guys to.

He almost never shifted below 3k unless he was at the speed he wanted to go and he got off the clutch faster then most people do to. Me included. (Until now that is)

So thats 3 cars now with no problem when driven like that, and 2 that will have slip if driven like your moms mini van.

Try it and see!

Now for the people that are not having problems please post if this sounds like the way you drive your car.

This will help the rest to correct there driving habits.

Later. (Gets ready for the flaiming)(That or this thread will be ignored)

P.S No fighting please. I dont want to see this get :lock:

thats where i shift under normal driving (3k) and i have had no problem whatsoever, but then again i only have 2k km's on my car, but i also go to WOT alot! aha :twothumbs

17,000 miles.
about 265 WHP.
I have been to the track w/ this car about a total of 30+ runs.
I drive VERY SPIRITED and race anything with wheels.
Never had a clutch slip problem. PERIOD.
when normal driving I rev to 3000-3750 before I shift. I would never shift lower then 3, as no power after the shift.

Only problem I have is when I am going from a dig, I think theres too much power there for the car to grip the clutch from a higher then idle launch, but once IM moving I dont have any problems and I drive like a phycho. My bro drives the same way, and he has 19,000 on his stock Redline clutch. There may be some truth to this theory.

Oh did I mention, I LEARNED TO DRIVE STICK ON THIS CAR?

i drove like that when i first got the car (3k shift). then as gas went up and i drove longer distances i started shifting earlier and now that i actually think about it i did end up with more slipping when i started shifting lower. when i get back to the states i will have to try your theory out.

I hope this works. Mine has started to slip. And i do try to shift below 3k. I'll have to test this out.

so lets say you go from a dig what do you launch at? my clutch is not disengaging it stays stuck in first and wont drop the rpm when i shift in second. how would i go about fixing that? thats been my only problem, thinking anyone out there can help?

So youre saying to change our driving habits, and saying it's driver error and not mechanical failure?

I'm not too knowledgeable on this subject, but are people with aftermarket clutches (like SPEC), are they having problems with slipping?

Great post though. Thanks.

It's crazy but it's the best explanation I have seen so far.

Personally, I still feel that it's still the clutch that is the problem here.

I have never heard of any clutch that needs to be treated diferently for it to work.

I have had my SS/SC since May, and I have never had the clutch it slip, but as I read your post I realized that is exactly how I drive. I always shift close to 3K RPM. :)

I think for those that have slippage, they should try your theory out, I think your onto something, and this may help alot of folks out. It's also possibly the reason a dealership says that the clutch is fine and theres no slippage (For those that have taken their car in for Warranty work on the Clutch ), maybe the mechanic drove it and shifted close to the 3K line, so the clutch never slipped. ;)

Shit well its worth it to try out even if your a doubter. If it can fix the problem your the man.

Badmunky is right on his thoughts! me and xeno since we learned on this car devloped are driving style off of it ;) we only slip when we dont let it warm up enough and such good info!

Great write up man. I'll definately remember that when I start driving stick again. I know I'm guilty of riding the clutch when I haven't driven stick in a while.

Shit I never thought to mention this but He is on the money,I drive a truck for a living and were taught if we shift to low this can happen,and Badmunky Im sure will back me on this cause he drives truck as well,this isdefinetly one of the most informative writeups yet:twothumbs :twothumbs

This thread gets my vote for a sticky.:cssNET:

good info... thats how I've always driven my car... and my clutched has only slipped once... even launched har enough to snap the axles in my car... I"m at 13000+ miles on the stock clutch... putting down over 280whp.. and the sucker is still holding... on a side note every other ss/sc that I"ve driven (quite a few) the clutch pedal seems stiffer than mine and releases nearer to the floor ... my pedal is super light and releases near the top.. and its been like that since day one (I picked up the car with 46 miles on it) but I don't have and slippage problems... I will tell you though outta all the stick shift cars I"ve driven this has been the strangest clutch to get used too

mine doesn't slip and 98% of the time, i shift anywhere between 3k-4k rpms, there's 22,2xx miles on my car now.

Theory worked for me. My clutch slipped 2-3-4 at nearly 700 miles. I started shifting at around 3200 rpm's and now and then i will get 1 slip out of 10 1-2 slam shifts.

only had 2 clutch slip problems and thats with overpowering a launch and the clutch just not keeping up in speed. i always shift around 3k-4k and i never have problems and my clutch feels like a princess.

...i drive like an asshole and shift "normally" between 2500 and 3000 and have had no issues..... one way to be SURE to get slip is if you launch and are spinning the tires at 6000 RPM and decide to shift into second and still floor it.... holy slippage! i dont do that.... but ive seen people do it :)

P.S. i still want the exedy clutch/flywheel

I have over 12000 miles on mine... no slippage what so ever. I always shift

at 3000-3500 under normal light acceleration (plus I have been driving a manual

trans for a loooong time).

Ive learned on this site that all the people who have had clutch issues and

complain about it are the ones that have 6000 miles and have bald front tires.

Down shifting and letting the clutch out is another issue that will glaze the clutch.

I always "double clutch" using the heal/toe method to match the engine rpm's

to the input speed of the transmission (learned that from scca racing).

- just my thoughts

i have no probs maybe cause i shift always at 3k when driving normal

maybe from 4th to 5th i dont cause at 3k in 4th id be well over the speed limit

exactly they are going to get on the car and try and get it to slip so they are gonna beat on in alittle

oh yeah i have very little if any slippage and i shift normally around 3K

I never had a problem with mine. Car is at 7,000 miles.

You have a sweet looking set of rims on that car..

this is my first stick and if i don't want the clutch to slip when racing i powershift and it grabs.