FYI: XTR Clutch (eBay US) = Bad

[dsp26]

OK a lot of people have asked about these and I and some others have highly recommended them.

it is now my turn to turn around and give it the thumbs down.

This is what happened to mine with almost 2yrs of normal use:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/dsp26/Maintenance/ACT.jpg
http://www.megatuninginc.com/ebay/XTR/images/XTR-54012R3.jpg

I DO NOT Thrash the clutch. My engine gets it instead

I DO:
- (Did) flatshift at redline twice on 2 runs at wsid about 6months ago.
- engine brake alot
- rev match alot on sensible up and down shifts. so much so that my shifting is smoother than an auto/tiptronic/cvt transmission most times.
- have a lightweight flywheel as well as solid engine mounts also, and suffer A LOT of shudder when i don´t rev enough from idle.


After inspecting the clutch carefully it seems the containment just couldn´t hold heavy duty dual springs as 2 other spring holdings are cracked + bent which cannot really be seen.

My theory is that i probably didn´t bed it in properly to give it the proper heat tempering and constant shuddering eventually killed it. This would have been a better clutch with standard springs.

For those that do not understand the purpose of these springs, it is what gives you your clutch friction point play. On drag spec clutches like these with no springs they simply grab and stall if not revved high as theres no real in between friction point.

[dsp26]

Also the spring thats missing is compressed and seized... that could´ve failed first which caused banging in its containment during shift eventually braking a piece off as it was not captive

[bennjamin]

thought so Ron. Bad luck there boss....i guess it pays to stick to what works for everyone....exedy.

[dsp26]

^yep got an oem exedy fitted... ie never felt a clutch so light... mite actually stick with manual lol.

oem exedyś can take a beating or will last the life of the car if i baby it yeah? i have this mentality that clutches wear like brake pads and just wanted something to last forever i guess... considering how pain in the arse a clutch/fly is to install without a hoist...

[bennjamin]

think of it this way....clutches are changed every 80-100,000ks usually. Probably half of that nowdays , considering the younger more aggressive audience driving style.
Ive got a exeedy organic which apparently has superior wear rate compared to a "oem" style clutch plate.

But Ron , forever is basically past the time you sell the car or crash it :) No one keeps a car for more than say 5-10 years or 100,000ks.

[nigs]

My clutch shudders like a mofo too. It's taken alot of abuse. Side stepping clutch @ 4,000rpm + and many many clutch kicks.
It was taken out last week for inspection and showed normal wear.

*shrug* Maybe just a bad clutch.

[vinnY]

doh bad go ron
how'd you know the clutch had busted?

pulling off the box and looking at the clutch isn't really a 'routine check' hehe

[dsp26]

doh bad go ron
how'd you know the clutch had busted?

pulling off the box and looking at the clutch isn't really a 'routine check' hehe

lol couldn´t get into gear at peak M5 traffic on the right lane.... lucky there was a slight decline... i shook my arse in my seat like crazy just to give it some momentum for me to roll into the shoulder lane... had it towed to work called benny for some troubleshooting and possibilities, came back for it on the weekend to bleed the slave and inspect all the cylinders and pedal and nada... then had it towed to my mech monday morning. wasn´t in the mood to take annual leave and do the clutch myself and shop around for one....

but yes now that i think about i have ´ḱicked´ my clutch a few times.... that could definitely do this!!

[Bludger]

I've never changed a clutch, do'able at home yes?

[vinnY]

if you got the tools then it's pretty straight forward
but considering your troubles with the shock fork bludger i'd just pay someone to do it :p

[Bludger]

if you got the tools then it's pretty straight forward
but considering your troubles with the shock fork bludger i'd just pay someone to do it :pFYI. previous coilover change only took me 3.5 hours for all 4 corners. its easy fitting something shorter.

reason why the crx shock change last week took so long was cos the fricken shock was super long.

anyways, I know you're just giving it to me.:)

[vinnY]

:p
it's generally not hard if you have a service manual or online guide just lots of time consuming steps and theres bound to be problems when you're remounting the gearbox even if you have two people doing it
would probably only take an afternoon with your mates to do it,

[dsp26]

get strong mates.

my gf's bro dropped the gearbox on my face and benny had to run and grab it.

need a big hydraulic jack to lift the gearbox, regardless how strong you are it's hard to be underneath pushing the gearbox up at an awkward angle... gotta have strong fore-arms which i don't :p


change or solid fill the rear mounts while your there

[Chris S15]

would this sort of thing happen to an ORC 309DS?

Coz i get shuddering too if i don't rev enough when moving from a stand still and if i downshift without rev matching....got me worried now...

[Bludger]

if you change your clutch without machining your fly wheel, this will cause shuddering too.

[geeang]

would this sort of thing happen to an ORC 309DS?

Coz i get shuddering too if i don't rev enough when moving from a stand still and if i downshift without rev matching....got me worried now...

Your clutch is acting normally for an ORC, ORC clutches have a very fine engagement point (which usually feels like the gear just slams in even if you try to ride the clutch), so with an ORC you need more revs to take off and you need to revmatch when downshifting for it to be smooth.

[dsp26]

i'd imagine the bigger brands are stronger and have addressed this issue. I've scoured the net and the spring/holder issue seems to be common on B and H series only.

This happened to my mrs DC4 oem clutch also.

I'm going to guess clutch-kicking played the bigger part in the destruction. Makes sense since we both have solid engine mounts.... the torque and shock transfer on the clutch would be instantaneous. Probably a good thing, i'd imagine that if the clutch wasn't sprung gearsets would be broken instead.

I guess now we can say that not much can be expected from the XTR clutch considering this "Stage 3 Heavy Duty" clutch cost me less delivered versus an oem replacement standard duty Exedy locally.