So I've been searching all day but am having a helluva time finding an answer to my question.

How can you tell if you have a rubber center clutch?

After my starter broke on the way home for Thanksgiving I had quite a racket once the car was started. I'm thinking that it may have been the flywheel hitting the edge of the starter because only one bolt was holding it on. I did feel around after pulling the starter and pulled a cubic centimeter of rubber out.

The kid I bought the car from had told me he'd had the clutch replaced a few months ago and had the paperwork for it. In fact he said he had the paperwork from the time it was new because it had been his dad's car and the paperwork was all at his dad's place. I never did get the paperwork so have no idea if it's true or not.

There is 225K+ on the car and it has already (so he told me) thrown a rod. Is is possible that a rubber clutch could still be in the car? Or maybe the piece was a leftover from the last one?

Garrett

 

It's been a couple of years since my clutch job, but if memory serves, there is no chance that the old clutch could still be in there at the same time as a new one. As for pieces of it being left in there: also extremely unlikely. Someone who knows better might correct me on this. I think all the housing comes apart to such an extent that nothing should be left inside.

 

My friend, it sounds as if you have a rubber clutch disc that has come apart! Put it in neutral and block the front wheels. Jack the rear of the car. Remove the plastic inspection cover from the transaxle. Reach in and grab the driveshaft. It should not move. If it moves about 30 degrees either way, you have a rubber-centered clutch that has gone bad!

GL

 

Do what Kerry suggests. It could prove the "make it home tabs" on the OEM rubber clutch disc are clicking. See pic.

If you found a chunk of rubber in the bell housing the "Kid/Father" may have gone real cheap and picked up a NOS (new old stock) or Gently Used (sarcastic)" OEM rubber center clutch. I still see a few on ebay from low mileage cars. Even if a nearly new rubber disc was used, they would be 15-25 years old and the rubber is deterioated.

On another issue. If a rod was replaced, was the crank damaged/scared?

GL
John

 

I don't know about any damage. I wouldn't know what to look for but I never did notice anything.

I do not have the car with me now, it's parked back home as I brought a different vehicle back from break. I'll pull the inspection cover next time I'm home. Any photos of what the plastic cover looks like and where to grab? I can't say I've gotten under the transaxle much.

 

Oh, and I forgot to mention that the racket was more of a grinding than any sort of clunking. Shifting did still feel fine. Is it possible that something got into the clutch? I did have to start the car with the driver's side in the air because I had to hold the starter in place.

 

The cover is at the back where the TT (torque tube) and transaxle join. You grab the TT shaft coupler to test.

Grinding could be a bad TO (throw out) bearing. Maybe it was not replaced or repacked.

More ideas...

http://media.centerforce.com/DiagGui...cGuide04DL.pdf

GL
John

 

Great pdf, but I don't remember any sort of difficulty with the clutch and it slid in and out of gear just fine. The noise was the only thing. I'm thinking that it was just the flywheel on the starter, or at least that's what I'm hoping.

Once I get a new starter I'll go home and take it out to see if there is anything else going on.

The TO bearing is what I was afraid of earlier in the year when I posted this...
https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-...n-neutral.html

I will yank on the driveshaft sometime and let you guys know what I find. Sadly I don't think I'll make it home until February.

 

Drove the car this weekend. Clutch worked just fine with no noise or other issues. Unfortunately I completely forgot to jack up the rear and do that test.

Is it possible for a failing clutch to function just fine? I put about 100 miles on with almost half being canyon driving with plenty of shifting.

 

Yep, they work pretty much like normal, it just beats the hell out of the transaxle, and if you get on-and-off the gas you'll notice what feels like excessive slop in the drivetrain.

Are you seriously saying the flywheel only had one bolt on it? How do you know this, but don't know the condition of the clutch? You can't get to the flywheel bolts without pulling the clutch apart. Are you talking about the bolts that are accessible when you pull the starter? Those are the pressure plate / starter ring gear bolts. If the flywheel only had one bolt, VERY bad things would happen!

 

No, I meant the bolts that hold the starter up. I'm not very familiar with the terminology for what they screw into, bellhousing or flywheel.

I suppose I will just have to wait until I make it home again to yank on the torque tube. Thanks.

 

Well I crawled under the car the other day when I was home for Spring Break. This is what I tried turning, I just wanted to make sure it was the right part because it barely moved. The rotation was maybe 1/8th of an inch or about one spline.

I did notice that the part in the first photo rotated too. This makes me think that maybe I was trying to turn the wrong part.

Anyone care to school me?

 

If you have a borescope, or access to one, is it possible to look at the clutch through the bell housing? I know you can check the clutch thickness that way. Not sure if you would be able to see enough and tell what type of clutch it is though.

 

Both parts will turn because they are locked together. If the trans was not in neutral, it was not a valid test. If you only got one spline worth of rotation, and it was in neutral, your clutch is good.

The disc is in a recess in the flywheel, covered by the pressure plate. I don't see how a borescope would do it. You can infer the thickness of the disc by the position of the release fork relative to the inspection opening --- see Clarks garage writeup. http://clarks-garage.com/

 

She was in neutral. I made sure and gave the wheels a few rotations while under to make sure. Sounds like the clutch is still in good shape, next step will be to see how much a respray would cost me.

Thanks for all the help guys.