Shutter in clutch, PROBLEM???
 

When I first start my se, I let it warm up for 5 minutes. When I put it in 1st gear or in reverse to start out, I get this awlful shutter....I finally get going and once the car warms up, it does not do it anymore. What is the deal with this??? Do I need some kind of adjustment in the clutch, is it a sign the clutch is going? ( original clutch on 80,000 mile car)... what do I need to do......if anything...thanks........

It sounds like a mixture of worn clutch and possibly overheated and crystalized pad.

peace

crystalized pad??? what does that mean. other than the shutter, the gears and all work fine, shifting smooth etc...one other thing, sometime when I try and put the car in reverse, it grinds a bit or it is hard to put it in reverse. I usually have to double clutch and try again....cjf

When a clutch wears it will start to slip and shuttter or buck causing it to heat up. once it heats up the particles will begin to break down and get hard and brittle (crystallize).

peace

Check your tranny fluid and clutch fluid. Make sure it's full. You may have more than 1 problems. One is low tranny fluid making cold shift difficult and a bad clutch. You could have low clutch fluid or a leaking slave/master clutch cylinder so your not getting all your pedal travel.

Either way, you should have your mechanic look at it ASAP. You may experience a catastrophic failure and could end up wrecking your car and injuring yourself or others.

fluids all look good. In fact, I replaced the tranny fluid with redline synthetic so that is all ok. the fluid level in the clutch master is full. YOu think this is all "catastrophic"???? It just shutters in the beginning then the car runs like a champ.. I don't get it... Do I really need to worry here??? And the car "shifts" fine...no slipping , grinding nothing...just the shutter at the first start of the day and that is it. I drive it later on in the afternoon, no problems at all ...WHAT GIVES??????

My '84 -SE has had a shudder since I bought it (in 1984) when the clutch is cold. Usually, if I slip it a hair by pausing as I release the clutch pedal, it doesn't shudder. But if I release it too fast, it shakes the car. It did new and does now with 137,000 miles on the clutch, if I don't engage it just right. After a couple of stop signs, it's perfect.

If it has just started recently, I would check the motor and transmission mounts. I believe a broken mount can cause a shudder. Racing Beat sells an engine brace that may help, but with a stock clutch you shouldn't need it.

I don't think the hydraulics or fluids could cause this, though: if it engages fine after a few minutes, and always shifts normally, the hydraulics must be good.

When you put it in reverse, do you do so from neutral? I always put mine in fourth, then reverse. Otherwise it grinds. No double clutching required. If you do the same as I do and it grinds anyway then it may be the clutch is not disengaging fully; likely hydraulics for that symptom, but when my master or slave have been ready for a rebuild, reverse was not a problem, it showed in the other gears.

-John.

Oh, and I wouldn't worry about major disasters as a result of this. :p:

Tranny fluid is far different than gear oil. As we're talking about clutches I presume that cjf has a standard transmission.

Transmission fluid is a special hydraulic fluid that actuates the valves in an automatic transmission.

There IS no "tranny fluid" in a standard transmission. There's gear oil. Take your gar in to a garage and tell 'em to fill your standard tranny with tranny fluid, and watch their expressions.

thanks FJ, I will check the motor mount and tranny mounts. And yes, I was going from neutral right into reverse and it grinded a bit...will go into 4th, then reverse and try like you did. Other than the shutter at the beginning, it is all perfect. Maybe it is just one of those things . Looks like you have had it awhile and live with it...mine too, as soon as you go through a couple stop signs, all gone...thanks for your input, I was starting to think I better not drive it??!!

Yes, it's been a while now. :)

-John.

Could be a worn flywheel. I've had cars that when the flywheel develops a "hot spot" it shudders in some gears.

How about this one. The springs in the clutch disc, when cold, resist "giving" when pressure plate clamps disc to flywheel. After springs warm up, more flexible.
In "race" discs some springs in disc are so strong you'll get a chatter all the time.

http://www.racingbeat.com/resultset....rtNumber=14030

There ya go :).

~T.J.

wowww, engine torgue brace...I think that is the answer..racing beat says the shutter occurs in 1st and reverse and that is exactly what I have...I think this is the answer to the problem!!! THANKS!!!!!!!!

I love all the suggestions. By the time your done you'll have rebuilt the gearbox.

My experience with hard 1st and R shifting with different 5 spd boxes was due to the following in 80 % of the cases, after gearbox fluid and clutch hydralic fluid were ruled out..

If the gearbox main input shaft does not slow down enough when the clutch in disengaged, then the whole synchro function of the gearbox slider hubs is outside the tolerance range when you move into gear (hence grinding). This is particluarly true of gears like 1st and R. R is also the only gear without a synchro gear to assist shifting (since you are engaging the main output shaft in an opposing direction to the main input shaft a synchro would not work here).

The reason the main input shaft does not slow down enough when the clutch in disengaged is due to binding in the pilot bearing. That is, instead of the main input shaft riding freely on the pilot bearing inside the engines eccentric shaft , now the engine eccentric shaft rotations are passed along to the main input shaft, whether the clutch is engaged or disengaged.

To correct this replace the pilot bearing and seal. As a temporary workaroud, turn off the engine (stopping all rotation of the eccentric shaft) and then shift into gear followed by cranking up the engine with the clutch still disengaged.

How do you install that torque brace?