I just had a new clutch installed in my son's '88 SE (120k). Order the clutch from the local parts house as an o/e replacement part. Since install, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th shifts are fine, but starting in 1st is an adventure. Very easy starts (less than 1200 rpm) are fine and if you dump the clutch it's fine, but if you want to drive with traffic, say on a 45 mph road with stoplights, the chatter and shaking from the clutch is unbelievable. The only way around it is to start very slow and then accelerate - needless to say this pisses my 17 yr old off!!! Also, after about 15 minutes of driving, there is a noticible 'hot' smell coming from the car - although the clutch does seem to be slipping - accelerates fine.

Is there a break in procedure?
Should I change lubricants?
Should I have had the flywheel re-surfaced?
Will this go away?
Thoughts and ideas appreciated...

 

Is it possible you got a little grease/oil/dirt on the components during the installation? You really have to be carefull not to touch the surfaces and spray everything liberally with brake cleaner. Just some light fingerprint smudges will cause problems.

I would suggest you first shoot a whole can of brake cleaner through the inspection hole and see if that helps. If that doesn't help, you'll have to pull the tranny and do a visual inspection and/or replace parts. Get the FW resurfaced too, and definitely respect the break-in period (300-500 miles of low-load driving -- no fast starts, no 5th gear passing, etc). BTW, did you install a new pressure plate with the clutch disc, or not?

 

If the flywheel wasn't resurfaced before the new clutch was installed might also cause your prolbem. Its possible the flywheel could be warped or just warn unevenly.

 

Did not resurface FW, did not replace Pressue Plate, just installed standard clutch kit. Brake Cleaner is a good idea, seems like it can't hurt.

 

I can almost guarentee thats what your prolbem is.