I think I killed my clutch! Help!

[astronut1885]

Well, earlier tonight, I was screwing around in the stang, and I noticed that when I ran it up to 6000 rpm, hit the clutch, shifted, and kept the gas floored, that the RPMs would go up quickly, and then drop down to where they should be, only to rise again as I accelerated. I thought it might be the clutch slipping, so I decided to test it. I brought the car to a complete stop, and put it in fourth gear. I popped the clutch and floored it, and the car slowly motored up to speed, which means the clutch held on fine, planting all the power. I wasn't satisfied, so I did it again. This time, though, the clutch pedal fell out from under my foot as I accelerated through 3k RPM. It fell a good 1/4 of the pedal! I can still shift smooth as butter, and it still feels like it always did, a tad slippy under stress, but now I have a shorter total pedal travel and it grabs lower. What did I do to my clutch???

 

[HISSIN50]

i will take a stab. i like your thinking. thinking of slipping alone, you probably toasted the disc, plate or flywheel.
i am not familiar with your 4th gear method of testing. you suspect a slipping clutch. now a test like that is likely to stall the motor, but if the clutch is slipping, this would only help validate your test (if it slips it would be less likely to slip).i see the point of seeing if the RPM's skyrocket when gunned, though. im just not familiar with that test. i would try something like putting it in 5th with the brake on. engage the clutch and see if it stalls nice and fast, as it should.

in any case, it does sound like it is slipping based on the redline experiences. slippage seems to get worse at higher RPM's anyhow.
now for the part about losing the pedal on your second test. my guess would be that the pressure plate broke or the cable is going (cable does not explain slipping that i can think of). PP would explain the lack of clamping force (slippage) and why the pedal dropped off.
your cable is still an option, but as i said, i dont see how it would allow slippage. . i have broken a couple of cables (one motorcycle and a car). the car did the same pop you had, and two shifts later, it went altogether. the bike lasted a day or two. (in case you want to play with it and see if it will go altogether - while in the driveway).

i know this is hard to understand. sadly, that is how my brain works. LOL. that is my two cents worth. good luck.

 

[StreetStang37]

look under by the tranny to make sure your cable isnt screwed up. My cable went out three weeks ago, was still in one piece but the part that helps hold the tension ripped. kinda hard to explain.

 

[SwAmPf0x]

The quadrant adjusted when you the pedal slipped from under your foot, probably a good thing but maybe not, reach down and pull up on the pedal with your hand and see if it clicks, does sound like the clutch is slipping though

 

[astronut1885]

Nah, my quadrant won't ratchet.

 

[ninety15.0]

What kinda clutch cable, quadrant and adjuster do u have. It might be that you just messed up the cable and thats why the pedal dropped a bit. As for the slipping clutch, i have never heard of a 4th gear dead stop test. I would think it would just stall the crap outa the engine wouldnt it? I would check the entire length of the cable and look for any frayed sections. It is a braided cable so its possible it came unwound a little. If you still have that piece of crap plastic stock quadrant, i would give that a check too. good luck man

 

[Thunder5.0]

Sounds to me you might be in for a new clutch soon. Look at the heavy duty ones if you like to powershift like I do. I toasted my clutch powershifting at 6800 rpms.

 

[astronut1885]

All my components are stock. The idea with the 4th gear test is that if the clutch holds, then the car will accelerate to it's normal 4th gear speed (you have to mash the throttle.) My car, however, totally looses clutch grip at 2300 RPM, which is the begining of the real powerband on my car. The clutch just lets go and the engine revs up as if it were in neutral. I spoke to the previous owner ( I work with him), and he told me that the clutch only had around 200 miles and three months on it when I bought the car. I have since put 6k miles on the car (mostly highway), but the clutch has been slippy since I bought the car. We called the shop where the job was done and told them the situation, and they are looking into it and getting back to me tomorrow. There's no way I killed a clutch in 7 months, I've been driving stangs for three years and this is my first problem with a clutch. If indeed it is a recently installed clutch, I'm gonna have them redo it, as my buddy paid alot of money to have it installed and now it's junk.

 

[HISSIN50]

i get the clutch test now. originally, for some reason i was thinking you were slipping the clutch from a stop in 4th. i get it now. hard on the motor, but a decent test. you would sure find slipping fast (too hard to tell in 1st or 2nd sometimes).

im interested to see what the shop says. good luck.

 

[astronut1885]

Well, the shop won't touch it, so I am basically on my own. My mechanic said I should go to Autozone and get one of their clutches with the lifetime warranty, but I want to do a FRPP Cobra clutch. I was told by my mechanic that if I put in a high end clutch, it could cost me my tranny as it's a 127k mile tranny and it won't take the abuse. I just don't want to have to change it out all the time.

 

[HISSIN50]

that is weird - what your mechanic said. when mine goes, i am goin to use a Spec stage 1, even though i drive like a lil old lady. he must think you drive like an animal, and having a weaker clutch will allow it to be the weak link when you romp on it and something goes.
i would be sensible and go with a nice clutch package, like the FRPP pieces you want to use. my two cents worth. good luck.

 

[astronut1885]

I do drive like an animal, and he knows it I ordered the FRPP heavy duty clutch kit with the throw out bearing, clutch disk and pressure plate, a new flywheel (incase I need it) and a steel TO bearing retainer. Hopefully it'll work good. It's going in next week along with the H/C/I and stuff.

 

[IndyBlk5.0]

i would of personally went with the spec stage 1... but the king cobra clutch is good nonetheless. Are you installing the clutch yourself or having someone else do it?
Im installing mine myself, easy when my car is gutted =) Engine is on a hoise, tranny on a stand. YAY

 

[astronut1885]

It's not the king cobra, it's the one a step down from that, just the FRPP heavy duty clutch kit. I can't afford the King Cobra right now (and yes, I know it's only 40.00 more). Oh well, gotta make do I guess. My mechanic will be doing the job as soon as we finish the H/C/I. It's all gonna get done next week.