Clutch break in /questions

A clutch is good to go as soon as it is installed. Some clutches have a chatter until it has some miles on it though. As far as the adjustment goes, as long as it is engaging and disengaging correctly it is fine. I had to tighten mine because the pedal would vibrate if it was too loose.

Break in your clutch!

Just drive "normal" for atleast a few hundred miles to let everything mate together and let it go thru a few heat cycles. You don't want to glaze it right off the bat.

A clutch is not good "right off the bat"...just be easy on it so if something happens later you know that it wasn't because you beat on it.

When does it squeek? Most likely your throwout bearing squeeking...

Good Luck!

ok now i'm curious, this kinda reminds me of debates about breaking in engines........anyway
for those who do say to break it in, or for the instructions that are sometimes given on breaking them in i'm curious. is it the milage so much that counts or the actual engageing/dis engageing thats breaking it in??
for example, driving 500 miles on the high way isn't going to be enguaging/dis enguaging it like in town traffic.........so is it supposedly just the heat cylces, or is it the actual engageing and dis engageing of it thats supposed to break it in??? if that makes any sense
actually i just read the instruction for my new ford king cobra clutch, al it says is, that harsh engagement and mild chatter MAY happen until 500 miles, and that that is normal for a performance clutch. it says nothing about driving it a certain way...

5spd GT said:

Break in your clutch!

Just drive "normal" for atleast a few hundred miles to let everything mate together and let it go thru a few heat cycles. You don't want to glaze it right off the bat.

A clutch is not good "right off the bat"...just be easy on it so if something happens later you know that it wasn't because you beat on it.

When does it squeek? Most likely your throwout bearing squeeking...

Good Luck!

Click to expand...

I just looked at Centerforce. They say break-in for 400-500 city driving miles. HOWEVER, my Ram HD says no break-in is required. http://www.ramclutches.com/Tech/perf_tech.htm So I guess it depends on the manufacturer. Just do what they say.

The adjustment is not so much where the point of disengagement is, but rather the preload on the cable. One generally wants to ever-so-slightly preload the cable (on a new clutch, you dont want to preload too much).

In general, if the adjustment is too loose, the TOB can be heard making noise unless the pedal is pressed down to some degree.

As said, I would follow the manufacturer's instructions on break-in, and even if there are none, still break it on (read dont beat on it) for a bit. Just like with brakes, there is a burnishing period of sorts with the mating surfaces in a clutch.

Good luck.