OEM clutch durability

[OffTheWall503]

With all the talk of power on here, I have never heard of anyone upgrading or having to replace their stock clutch. Some of us are pushing 300 ft/lbs or more of torque and I'm worried about how the factory clutch will handle that over time.

Does anyone know the maximum power the stock clutch can take?

 

[frankiefiesta]

Some people with big power upgrade the clutch. Not really sure if it was ever a durability issue. And the 300+ ft lbs of torque being pushed out of stock turbos for .25 of a second isn't doing any harm

 

[Capri to ST]

One guy on here reported that he was still on the original clutch at over 170k miles, and that his engine was stock up until about 150k, then he got a stage 3 tune. That doesn't exactly speak to your question about how much power they can hold so I hesitated to mention it, but it's pretty impressive and obviously shows they are tough so I thought it might be helpful.

 

[A7xogg]

deadhook motorsports 11 sec fiesta is using stock clutch i believe

 

[wspec]

With all the talk of power on here, I have never heard of anyone upgrading or having to replace their stock clutch. Some of us are pushing 300 ft/lbs or more of torque and I'm worried about how the factory clutch will handle that over time.

Does anyone know the maximum power the stock clutch can take?

After over a year with a big turbo and some of it with a spec aluminum flywheel the stock clutch finally let go in the middle of an autox run, literally broke the hub spline off the disc. Pressure plate shown some heat spots from a little bit of slipping as well.

 

[Hijinx]

deadhook motorsports 11 sec fiesta is using stock clutch i believe

That's correct.

And did my standing 1/2 mile 161 mph pass on the stock clutch. By far and large, they're pretty stout.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[redox87]

I hope the stock clutch is durable. I've never had a manual before this car and let's just say after three weeks, I'm still learning. I would hate to have to replace the clutch before I even pay the car off.

 

[Intuit]

I hope the stock clutch is durable. I've never had a manual before this car and let's just say after three weeks, I'm still learning. I would hate to have to replace the clutch before I even pay the car off.

As long as you don't ride it, (keep foot *completely* removed from pedal between shifts,) you should be okay. Another no-no, (hard on the transmission,) is downshifting into first while the car is still moving "excessively" fast. It's also a good idea to keep one's paw from resting/pushing on the shifter... or so I've read.

A properly driven clutch is going to be on order magnitude, better than traditional automatic transmissions of the past. (don't know about modern designs)

 

[redox87]

As long as you don't ride it, (keep foot *completely* removed from pedal between shifts,) you should be okay. Another no-no, (hard on the transmission,) is downshifting into first while the car is still moving "excessively" fast. It's also a good idea to keep one's paw from resting/pushing on the shifter... or so I've read.

A properly driven clutch is going to be on order magnitude, better than traditional automatic transmissions of the past. (don't know about modern designs)

Well, I know about not riding the clutch and not shifting into first, but the clutch in this car is so soft that I have a hard time feeling for the catch point. So moving from a stop and my 1-2 shifts are pretty horrid.

 

[Intuit]

I agree. Turn off hill-assist. Once that was turned off, I learned the friction point pretty quickly. It isn't my first clutch but this has a comparably high engage height, with very little pedal movement between slip and full-on engage.

EDIT:
http://www.fiestastforum.com/forum/threads/9878-Light-Clutch?p=169454#post169454

Relevant conversation.

 

[wspec]

Here is what to much power did to mine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsPzZq9PPyI

 

[Joker328]

Here is what to much power did to mine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsPzZq9PPyI

What was the flywheel you had in it? From the general jerkiness of the shifts in this car (especially 1-2), I get the sense the springs in the dual-mass flywheel are absorbing a lot of the momentum during shifts. I imagine a different flywheel (perhaps a SMF) could transfer more of that to the clutch disk and increase risk of failure. Just a thought.

But to OP's question, it hasn't been a major issue with this car. All I've read of is wspec's issue and another guy bitching about a warranty denial whose clutch showed signs of abuse (whether it was or not, nobody knows). People have reported transmission whine and output shaft bearing failures, but not much on clutch issues.

 

[wspec]

What was the flywheel you had in it? From the general jerkiness of the shifts in this car (especially 1-2), I get the sense the springs in the dual-mass flywheel are absorbing a lot of the momentum during shifts. I imagine a different flywheel (perhaps a SMF) could transfer more of that to the clutch disk and increase risk of failure. Just a thought.

It had the spec flywheel on it, I do suspect it had a contributing factor, I will get some more pictures of the damage from the other side I believe the hub springs were failing. I had been running with big power for over a year and I put the flywheel and quaife in at the same time, and it gave out during autox about a month later.

 

[TuxedoST]

Mine has been making all sorts of awful noises and clicking and clacking and has a really high engagement point since about 5000 miles. YMMV, though I'm glad to hear most folks have been having good luck with theirs!

 

[Intuit]

Mine has been making all sorts of awful noises and clicking and clacking and has a really high engagement point since about 5000 miles. YMMV, though I'm glad to hear most folks have been having good luck with theirs!

This is likely your issue...
http://www.fiestastforum.com/forum/...y-transmission?p=169865&viewfull=1#post169865

I started to notice this with <1k on the odometer. Gets progressively worse and more consistent as wear increases. When you got two parts essentially slapping eachother and they weren't designed for it, wear is rapid. Will eventually get it done. But I'm always hesitant about having others work on my vehicle and are considering doing it myself.

 

[wspec]

What was the flywheel you had in it? From the general jerkiness of the shifts in this car (especially 1-2), I get the sense the springs in the dual-mass flywheel are absorbing a lot of the momentum during shifts. I imagine a different flywheel (perhaps a SMF) could transfer more of that to the clutch disk and increase risk of failure. Just a thought.

 

[Siestarider]

I also had trouble getting 1-2 shifts to be smooth. When I mounted a set of OMP aluminum pedals, I set the clutch pedal to "floor" at disengagement. It has been much easier to modulate since. The real benefit of these pedals is being able to set brake and throttle pedals for my style of heel/toe for track.

 

[lb7]

Here is what to much power did to mine.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsPzZq9PPyI

Same exact thing just happened to mine. My car is completely stock though, and just 25k miles (no warranty btw, long story). I'm the second owner though, so I don't really know how much abuse it had taken before I got it. Isn't it supposed to handle stock power?

 

[Intuit]

They will more than handle stock power. That said if you clutch drop or mistime a clutch release, getting on the throttle too hard and too early after a shift.....

 

[Quisp]

On my 3rd clutch with hub sheared, first at 12,000 miles which was 4000 after engine replacement. Sounded like crap till again at 63000 it failed. Changed myself, 3000 later again, was 100 miles from home so found a reputable transmission shop. Tech found no locating dowels in block or transmission, he's confidant they were left out of replacement engine and was the problem all along. Fingers crossed.

Sent from my SM-A205U1 using Tapatalk