Hey,

I have a 96' Maxima and recently installed a new ACT clutch sold by Stillen (part # NM1HDMM). 6 months later and 6k miles of normal use and the clutch is dead in the water. My car hasn't been taken apart yet but my mechanic (who I trust inherently) says it’s either the diaphragm or pressure plate. Details to follow on Wednesday…

First off, I’m out the labor cost (~$500)to install a new clutch, and because the clutch is out of its 90 day warranty ACT won’t stand behind it. I spoke with my sales Rep at Stillen (Adam) and he referred me to Bill Claytor, the customer service manager. Bill was sympathetic but basically reiterated the manufacturer warranty. I told him I’ve bought from Stillen for 6 years and felt this part was defective and he should allow some additional consideration (like a refund!). He told me it was a ‘use’ part and that he couldn’t do anything about it. He continued by indicating he’s had only 3 returns on this item in the last 12 months – based on what I’ve read here, this CAN’T be true.

I’m outraged that this part has failed so quickly for me and so many others on our list. It’s also disappointing that Stillen is carrying substandard equipment and not willing to stand behind it under reasonable circumstances. Bill indicated to me that the ACT clutch has not been a problem. I’d like to know who has had a problem with it, your model year and after how many miles the clutch failed. I will be glad to represent this to Stillen in an organized fashion. Please indicate the cost of this repair (in labor time) as well as I think this is important to represent. Hopefully, Stillen will recognize the issue and offer some consideration when presented with this ‘global’ problem with one of their suppliers.

This story seems old and I want to get to the bottom of it. Please post here and email me your specifics. I’ll keep people updated on my story and on the Stillen/ACT saga.

Seth

 

So, would I be better to just get the stock clutch then? My stock clutch slips now, and was thinking of getting the ACT, and I see the Exeddy clutch on ebay all the time for under $200. What do you think? Im no going to run boost or anything, I have just the frankencar intake, and putting a stillen y-pipe on tomarrow. And all I will do is the b pipe and axle back. and possibly the crank pulley. Do you think I should go with another one other then the stock clutch?

 

Seth,
I'll support you 100%. My ACT clutch got shredded up after 3 weeks of use. After I broke it in properly and everything. The clutch disc basically when I took it out was gone( came apart.) Luckily, I was still under the 3 month warranty. All ACT did was clean up my pressure plate and send me a new disc. I drive a 98 SE

 

The % of failure rate for the ACT street disk clutch is very low...I only know of two guys, you two, having a sredded disk like you have said...many guys have run SC'ers and Turbo setups with the street disk and have no problems...to me it sounds like it was put in wrong, way wrong

The only complaint I have with my ACT is that it chatters...Alot of that has gone away lately and my pedal release height has gone up a considerable amount which means its breakin in..I have about 13K on the clutch

-matt

 

Hey guys, I'm really worried after hearing all of this. What symptoms did you guys start to see when the clutch was going? I had mine put in a few weeks ago and i'm at about 1000 miles on it. It grabs hard but it feels like its taking less pressure to push down than before and the height of where it engages has gone up, should I be concerned?

 

---It feels easier to push down because your getting used to it
---Its grabbing alittle bit higher because its wearing in just alittle bit
---Just drive the car and Dont Be Concerned
---You bought a good clutch kit

-matt

 

Mine was fine for 5k miles. Then one day it started to chatter when i shifted into first gear. The cahtter got worse until the whole car woudl shake when i engaged first or second gear. I scheduled an apointment with my mechanic and the weekend before I put the car in, i started having trouble getting the car into any gear. It was notchy, then it got worse until i couldn't get the car into any gear at all (it felt like i wanted to push the clutch about 4 inches past the floor to get it to disengage). Now my car is at the sho and must be pushed around. I ordered an OEM clutch for $120 from Trollhaten Motors. I'll send my ACT clutch back for analysis/repair and then sell it - becuase I sure as ehll won't put it back in my car!

seth

 

Sounds like it could be a problem with the clutch hydaulic circuit.

I've had an ACT clutch for 13000 miles, the last 5000 of them boosted, and I've had no problems. I installed it myself.

 

Ive had ACT for on for 3 months and about 4-5k miles. i hope this doesnt happen to me. i cant afford it.

 

Myself and many other boosted members have ACT clutches in our cars and they have yet to
fail. Matty is correct, clutch was not installed correctly causing clutch failure. If ACT
failed as much then many people would not even have bought them. Like any product it could
have been defective. I am going to go with improper installation of the ACT clutch.

 

Wait till it happens to you.


Dave

 

Mine was shreeded after 5K miles. I am trying to take it easy on the replacement.

 

I think we have enough people with ACT problems to call this a pattern.
ACT advertises that there street clutch will handle up to or around 400HP.
We should not be able to shreed these like we are with, in most cases, just over 200 crank HP. Is there anyway to address this?

 

Handling 400 hp is not the same thing as handling power shifts, clutch dumps and other forms of driver abuse.

 

 

Man you are preaching to the choir. I am just saying the "normal"
result of this type of abuse is Hot spots, and glazing. not the clutch disc coming apart, and this is what is happening. Has anyone else noticed that ACT is using Exedy clutch discs on there street
kits?

 

So I spent $663 for my mechanic to pull the tyranny and remove the POS broken ACT clutch (6 months and 5,750 miles after its original installation).

He laughed at the quality of construction and indicated that the way the clutch broke could have had nothing to do with driving style but with lack of quality craftsmanship. The clutch disc cracked right along the rivet line and then deteriorated, along with the rivets. He spent extra time pulling my flywheel just to clean all the debris of the broken clutch. I opted to replace it with an Excedy clutch. I plan on returning the ACT clutch to Stillen for analysis and expect a full refund. I'll keep you guys posted. Here's a pic!

Additional pictures of clutch, click

HERE

 

i had my act for about 10,000 and for 6 months.i have cattman poly mounts. and i still have really bad chatter. mostly highway miles tho can the chatter do any damage 2 my car?

 

That looks like a "Puck" version of the ACT...not the street version (HD-MM)...

Maybe they sent you the worng pair up of the clutch and it eat away on its own

-Matt

 

First of all, to have clutches rated by HP is. Horsepower has NOTHING to do with how much twisting force an engine has. It is just a function of that twisting force with relation to RPM. They should be measured in lb/ft of TORQUE. Second of all, my brother has a V2 supercharged 2001 5-speed SE with an ACT Street disc and Heavy Duty pressure plate. He abuses the hell out of that clutch and it still works perfectly fine after after over 25,000 miles. So one company shouldn't be bashed because of sporadic reports of failure because this is NOT typical. Of out of 100,000 clutches made, of course at least 500 are going to be defective. But those 99,500 are satisfied with their product. Of course, if you wanna jump on the bandwagon, be my guest.

 

your laughing but what clutch are you going with since your thinking of possibly getting a blower?

Look at the pic above of that dudes clutch. Thats amazing how a NA Max did that to a clutch. Maybe it was defective stillen should reimburst you for that or replace it w/another name brand clutch. I have a ACT and I slam the pedal to the metal on the track on streets and my ACT is holding up pretty strong.

 

1. He should pull the flywheel for resurfacing anyway, if he's going to do the job right.

2. ACT uses Exedy disks.

 

It was PUT IN WRONG !!!

If you have hundreds of guys online thats are satisfied with the clutch and I mean 100's, and your one of the only ones that had yours SHRED within the first few hudred miles, sounds a bit fishy...had to have been the installation, either adjusted wrong or maybe he forgot to put something back ??

-matt

 

DEFIN! defective clutch disc! My disc looked exactly the same after 2000 miles after I broke it in for 800 miles. ACT sent me a new and improved "lined" disc and a resurfaced pressure plate and just cleaned everything up. ACT are great clutches but any company's gonna have a defective part here and there. Just admit it thats all. After all , I am still using an ACT, so far so good. I am getting my transmission rebuilt too under warranty. My car is a 98 and has 44,000 miles on it. Might be selling it within the next 3 months(99% sure), PM if interested in 5 speed 98 maxima se with leather!

 

If I go with the blower, I will see how long my stock clutch lasts. My stock clutch has handled a ton of abuse and almost 100K miles. There is no way I will go with anything from ACT because there is definately a problem with clutch in terms of putting large shock loads on the gears, chatter, strange failures (ie the pic above), etc. If anything I will go with the Exedy or even the stock one again. Either way, I will break the clutch in for quite a while and won't slam the gears for quite a while (2000 miles probably).


Dave

 

Dave honestly? Don't expect to be able to harness the power of the SC or turbo w/ a stock clutch. In fact, if you are putting down some serious power, I'd expect the clutch to slip IN GEAR sometimes.

 

I think the ACT pressure plate may be too agressive for the exedy disc that is included in the HD-MM kit