Is this Clutch slipping?

saleener94 · Jan 10, 2012

I have a 1994 5.0 5-speed. Toady I was driving to get smogged and sounded like I drove over a wire or something. I thought nothing of it. After I passed smog went home and floored it in first and rpm needle jumped to like 5000 rpm without the car moving any faster. Then I tried WOT again in first and then again in second gear and did the same thing. The guy at the smog place was saying that my clutch was hard but its the same as when I got it. I'm hoping he didn't mess with it somehow. Does this sound like clutch slipping or something else? I got an auto to stick tranny back in 2007 and I don't drive the car that much. I drive it like once a week sometimes once every 2 weeks so I know it cant be that wasted.

VibrantRedGT · Jan 11, 2012

Put it in 5th at low speed, like 35MPH then floor it. If the RPM's jump and the car isn't picking up then your clutch is slipping. Do you have an adjustable clutch quadrant on the firewall? Nowday's you can adjust the clutch pedal with the quadrant.

revhead347 · Jan 11, 2012

VibrantRedGT said:
Put it in 5th at low speed, like 35MPH then floor it. If the RPM's jump and the car isn't picking up then your clutch is slipping. Do you have an adjustable clutch quadrant on the firewall? Nowday's you can adjust the clutch pedal with the quadrant.

+1

Usually a hard clutch is just a bad clutch cable.

saleener94 · Jan 11, 2012

The clutch feels good to me. I think it was hard for the smog guy because he was like 4 feet tall. I'll try the 5th gear run later thanks.

saleener94 · Jan 11, 2012

Well, I just ran it to 35 mph put it on 5th and floored it and it gradually sped up without rpm jumping up. But first and second gear at WOT still rpm spikes up to 5000. I do have an adjustable clutch quadrant at the firewall. I don't know how to mess with that though.

revhead347 · Jan 11, 2012

Sounds more like you are spinning tires in 1st and 2nd.

Kurt

saleener94 · Jan 11, 2012

I did a complete WOT run on the freeway and rpms jump on all gears. Runs fine under normal driving. I know its not tires spinning.

VibrantRedGT · Jan 12, 2012

So you did the 5th gear test at low RPM and no slipping? Then you ran WOT in every gear and slipping?

4Jenna · Jan 12, 2012

If you did the 5th gear thing at 35 and the rpms didn't go up like Vib mentioned I say its fine. That is alot of load on the car at that point.

What gears are in this car, you said you dont drive it much right? Maybe a 4.10 car or something, rpms would jump good in 1st/2nd with that gear. Just a thought.

saleener94 · Jan 12, 2012

It has stock gears. I just don't understand why its doing that. I'll post what I find when my mechanic looks at it tomorrow. I did the 5th gear test and RPMs didn't jump it just gradually sped up. I saw the needle jump on 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th. Is there some kind of adjustment somewhere that I could mess with, perhaps a sensor was moved during smog? by the way I checked for codes and its good.

saleener94 · Jan 17, 2012

I have an update on my problem. I have only checked under the car and looking in the hood for anything unusual everything looks normal. Today I drove it it and still RPMs jumped only at WOT. When I got home it also did in neutral when I rev past 3oooRPM. I'm starting to think its not clutch related. Any ideas where to check first? Does it sound like a leak or a loose spark plug or something?

Noobz347 · Jan 17, 2012

Are you running any after market ignition items?

saleener94 · Jan 17, 2012

MSD coil

Noobz347 · Jan 17, 2012

Slave an OEM coil into it's place and see if that makes the tach aberration go away.

revhead347 · Jan 17, 2012

Usually those eratic tach problems and not revving past 3000 rpms is a sign of a dying distributer.

Kurt

Noobz347 · Jan 17, 2012

revhead347 said:
Usually those eratic tach problems and not revving past 3000 rpms is a sign of a dying distributer.

Kurt

It depends on the conditions and what part is actually failing. Either the feed to the coil (voltage too high) or feedback from the coil (internal short) can cause those kinds of problems.

I was betting on a bad after market ignition box but a bad coil can cause it too.

Either way, doesn't hurt to swap it out if the OP has or can lay hands on another coil to try it out. The other thing is that he's not having trouble revving past 3000. I think he said he saw the tach go nuts when revving past 3000.

If the car is running well and the only symptom is indication then my theory is stray voltage getting to the pickup. I can duplicate that symptom by increasing voltage to a spark amplifier until the tach wigs out.

All that said... you may still be correct. The problem may not be with the coil at all. If it's the dizzy though, you usually get more than just a tach problem.

I base the coil problem theory on a similar issue I had several years ago.

revhead347 · Jan 17, 2012

Very possible. Every time I had a coil go bad, it just died. The car was running, and then it wasn't.

Kurt

saleener94 · Jan 19, 2012

Problem fixed. I replaced my spark plugs with motor-craft plugs, swapped coil with OEM coil, and problem remained. I kind of ruled out the clutch because it felt good,no gear grinding, smooth shifts and the problem occurred in neutral also. Then I called a friend of mine, he checked and test drove it and said that my timing was off. He adjusted it and problem was fixed. I guess guy at smog shop did mess with it. That's the last time I stand behind the yellow line while a stranger is under my hood. No wonder he gave me car magazines, soda and a nice chair in the shade. Anyways I took advantage of the extra hands and I through on my BBK H-pipe again. My friend said I'm gonna need a timing chain soon. He said something was loosing tension(I don't remember what). Thanks for the help guys. appreciated it.

Noobz347 · Jan 19, 2012

So bad timing caused the tach to go sky high? First I've heard of that. Will definitely have to write that down somewhere.

Glad you got it figured out though.

saleener94 · Jan 19, 2012

Yup. by the way, when the tack would jump it also had a little hesitation and backfire and other times just a complete slip. If I were to drive normal I never would have known it had a problem, but I like to punch it once in a while. I'm glad to leave a thread with a solution to a problem. Hopefully it will help someone.

Is this Clutch slipping?

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