2004 Civic EX - vibration at low RPM while engaging new clutch

[ifish4tuna]

Hi - so I had this original issue related to grinding in reverse which is now resolved. See thread... http://www.clubcivic.com/forum/threads/reverse-grinding-not-normal.231435/#post-3445917

One of the work items was a new clutch.

On pickup and initial driving of the vehicle, the depression of the new clutch was so light and comfy that I never noticed the vibration when engaging on the rise of the pedal.

If I have the RPMs around 1500 or higher as I engage from stop (1st or reverse), I don't notice the vibration. If I have it at idle spead and engage ever so slightly it vibrates pretty significantly until fully engaged. I feel like I'm unnecessarily revving and wearing the clutch to avoid the vibration. Once on the go and going between gears its unnoticeable. I came to notice it in the last week as I was doing much more parking lot related driving at really slow speeds and it's a bit annoying.

Before I call the shop back, I wanted to ask if you though the fly wheel should just be replaced. They said they put it on a grinding wheel for the initial job.

Other thoughts?

Ed

 

[ifish4tuna]

Well, brought it back, and we took it for a test drive. He said if I wanted to pay to put in a new fly wheel they would do it of course, but he didn't think that was the issue. They had resurfaced the original, and he is confident in that work being proper.

I'm going to bring to my local shop to check out motor mounts and transmission mounts. Today stuck in bumber to bumber snow traffic for almost 2 hours it was just brutal.

 

[XpL0d3r]

I don't think it would be the flywheel either -- resurfacing it should work just fine.

Did you break in the new clutch appropriately? 300-500 city miles of calm, normal driving and normal 2-3k shifting.

Otherwise it's possible that they never lined up the clutch disc properly, or that the flywheel was torqued down incorrectly.

 

[ifish4tuna]

Yes I'm always easy on the car as far as shifting. I pay the bills

In terms of break in. I'm mostly a highway driver, and have put on about 800 since install. With about 1/4 or less of that city driving. He did think it would wear in, although I had always been told parts wear out not in.

I guess I'll see what the motor/transmission mounts look like.

 

[XpL0d3r]

Yes I'm always easy on the car as far as shifting. I pay the bills

In terms of break in. I'm mostly a highway driver, and have put on about 800 since install. With about 1/4 or less of that city driving. He did think it would wear in, although I had always been told parts wear out not in.

I guess I'll see what the motor/transmission mounts look like.

Haha, yeah, the clutch needs to be broken in over the course of a few hundred miles, though it depends on the material of the clutch. Last month we installed a new Competition Stage 1 clutch in my RSX, and right in the box was a note recommending a 500 mile break in period of city driving.

It's the heat and friction of shifting the gears is how it gets broken in, similar to how it works the brakes. The clutch disc, brand new, won't match the flywheel 100%, thus limiting its ability to hold properly. After some driving, the heat and friction on the disc do two things - the disc gets "hardened", and the surface of it has now adapted to the flywheel / pressure plate for optimal contact. The hardening (I think this process is called heat cycling?) is important, as an improperly broken in clutch can feel spongy and cause slippage.

You seem like you've done it properly though, as long as you don't beat on the car or screw up your shifting in higher RPM bands, that's likely not an issue. This still doesn't rule out the possibility of an incorrectly torqued flywheel bolt though.

But yeah, check the motor mounts also

 

[ifish4tuna]

Thanks for that reply. I guess if the mounts look good I should ask about the fly wheel. While the local shop is doing the inspection on mounts are the fly wheel bolts accessible to check torque w/ out dropping the tranmission? Or is that going to be a job in its self?

Pardon my ignorance I never get below the car much...

 

[XpL0d3r]

Thanks for that reply. I guess if the mounts look good I should ask about the fly wheel. While the local shop is doing the inspection on mounts are the fly wheel bolts accessible to check torque w/ out dropping the tranmission? Or is that going to be a job in its self?

Pardon my ignorance I never get below the car much...

It's hard to see some of those mount, so it's difficult to diagnose. Try to shake the entire motor, it should wiggle slightly but shouldn't be much play at all.

Unfortunately the flywheel is behind the clutch, so to get to it you need to remove the transmission :/

 

[ifish4tuna]

My local shop looked at motor mounts. Said they all look good. He said there is a bearing noise as well as excessive clutch chatter. So could be multiple issues.
I'm not really sure what bearings if any come in a clutch assembly kit, but perhaps something was missed in the process.

Dropped it back at the transmission shop last night. They will take a look and advise.

 

[ifish4tuna]

Noise culprit...Bad input shaft bearing.
Going to replace all bearing before having them re-assemble.

Also replacing clutch disc and new fly wheel.
Existing fly wheel is showing signs of highspot.

Like I said before, I'm planning on driving this to 300K

 

[ifish4tuna]

Paul (Service Mgr) - also asked them to go through the care carefully for any other indications of current/future issues.
He did find there WAS a bad motor mount also. Pic above.

This is work above and beyond what I had originally brought it in for.

Again, I have nothing but high praise for this shop (AAmco - Portsmouth, New Hampshire).
High integrity, honorable.

Ed

 

[XpL0d3r]

Noise culprit...Bad input shaft bearing.
Going to replace all bearing before having them re-assemble.

Also replacing clutch disc and new fly wheel.
Existing fly wheel is showing signs of highspot.

Like I said before, I'm planning on driving this to 300K

I thought you just had the clutch replaced? It shouldn't need to be replaced already. Or did I misunderstand something somewhere?

Good catch on the bad bearing and motor mount by the shop. Might as well replace the mount rather than fill it in, it will be sure to last that way!

 

[ifish4tuna]

Right. The shop looked at the fly wheel, and either it or the disk is raised evident w/ the wear marks. By now I should have it well broken in. It's believed that's the source of the chatter.

 

[ifish4tuna]

I'm worth it

Got it back last night.
Love it.
Smooth as silk.
No sounds other than wind while driving.

Talk to you guys in 200K miles

 

[XpL0d3r]