I was getting onto the highway today and as i went to put the car into third gear it made a loud banging noise and it just revved out as if it were in neutral meanwhile it was in third. then fourth worked but there was no 1st or 2nd gear the stick would not go into first or second even with the car off. wow that sucked!!! where can i get a tranny for my car and how do i make it strong enough for the abuse that a Stage 3 ACT Clutch puts out?? please help i do not want to buy another tranny 2 months from now

 

ok man, i have deja voo. My black 4th gen tranny blew on me last friday, i was getting on the highway, 1st 2nd 3rd, BANG, Redline, back into 3rd nothing there, forced it but i did get it into 1st and 2nd. took it to my tranny shop, pulled the tranny, wow DESTOYED. funny thing is i just got the car 2 weeks ago, it is my 3rd max, and re did the suspension from Cattman Coilovers to tokiko illumina's and tokiko springs and all this happened during test drive 5 minutes after install. Anywhoo to make this long story short, I went with the Exedy stage 1, it has 33% rather than 36% and supposedly much less shock on the tranny. I am running 11psi with my V2, and cant go oem, wont even make it home. If you read on here 80% of the people that blew their 5-speeds up had ACT clutches, Including ME. The only way to beef up these tranny's is to slide some hardened gears in there, which would need to be made for you, and it gets real costly. My advise to you is get rid of the ACT, get an EXEDY and you will be good to go, just try not to bang gears as much. outcome= $1500 for rebuilt tranny with 6 month waranty, $290 for the clutch, $40 too cut the flywheel, and $350 labor, i will have her back tomorrow.

 

another ACT fatalty...can you people you doubt the clutch causes it see the problem with ACT now???

DAMN!

 

No they wont, they are stubborn. Most of them dont even run the ACT that doubt it so its all good. But believe me at 2400 bucks and having to drive a pos subaru with 190k on it I certainly learned a lesson, and my car had the clutch in it when i got it. Oh also to mention the clutch had 10,000 miles on it, and it is freaken SMOKED!!!!!!!! pressure plate burnt up and flywheel burnt too.no more ACT for me. I hope the exedy feels nice. not one person on here has confessed to losing a tranny with this clutch so i will see. the guy that looked at my tranny told me it was abused and abused hard. I wish cars had abuse meters on them so when you go to buy a car you know what your getting into, but I am just about all new now, so fngers are crossed.

 

1. you need to use paragraphs...much easier to read..

2. i am going back to OEM clutch...I aint replacing another tranny

 

sorry bro, see my name, i can ramble sometimes. Usually at night.....

Plus i am like blown away at the amount of tranny failure going on in here. Its like Nissan planned it, in the year 2003 cars from 95-99 transmision shall blow 3rd gear.

lol i dunno

 

my 3rd works fine...i blew first and my differential bearing....

i dont think Nissan planned for FI and Racing Clutches...hehe. but still!!!

 

Exedy clutchs may be good and all, but they really just came out...No-one on the board has had them on there car for that long. 36% to 33% isnt all that much different.

stay stock if you dont wanna run the risk of blowin trannys. Im on ACT and im about to go back to stock

-matt

 

Where do you possibly get that figure ??

-matt

 

i bet you thats a good estimate...**** there are 3 people with blow trannies posting RIGHT NOW....ALL ACT...

 

I got that figure on a thread a few days ago i will do a search and see if i can find it for you if you dont believe me.

As for going back to stock, I am running 11psi and 313whp i would smoke a stock clutch in the time it takes me to drive the 2 miles home from the shop.

 

The company, Keikin, that makes the exedy clutches has been around forever, they make the units for all of these companies, centerfoce, ACT, etc etc, thats what the rep from keikin told me anyway.

yes 33% to 36% doesnt seem like much, but that is gripping power, the pressure plate absorbs much more of the shock than the ACT thus giving less shock to the tranny.

 

excuse me.. get your facts straight..

any idiot who buys a ACT puck clutch will have their tranny blow.. its AUTOMATIC..

many of us have ACT Street Clutches and no problems and lots of these guys are running over 300 hp.

ACT Puck clutches have always killed transmissions.. its not secret.. the street disk is enough to handle more power than the car will put out

 

Well my ACT street disk, hd 10,000 miles on it and it is toast. I WAS NOT THE ONE DRIVING IT THOUGH. I bought the car with it in, and 2 weeks later the tranny went and clutch was almost metal on metal. I cant say how the last owner drove but thats nuts.

 

damn...you work for ACT????

i see what you are saying...puck clutch=automatic...but why does mardigras have a puck clutch and his is good?? ACT clamps way too hard for our trans.

i say: ACT street clutch+hard driving=automatic

therefore: no reason for the ACT...if you are in the market for a performance clutch than you want it to perform ...for all NA applications OEM is plenty!

Facts straight.

 

B/C Mardi babies his shifts, IIRC. He doesn't bang the hell out of the gears...

 

Matt doesn't have an ACT clutch..

All the people i have known who bought ACT Puck clutches.. their trannies went out in less than a week. Mehran, sx7r ... the list goes on.

I have had my ACT Street Clutch for over 30k miles and i beat on it constantly and my tranny is holding up fine. However i don't miss gears

 

Ok. I'm going 5 speed in spring and was getting an ACT clutch. Now my question is if I went with a stage 1 clutch instead of a stage 2 would I be safer from blowing my tranny?

 

you can go with a puck... but the underlying reason for tranny's blowing is just amplified with a puck clutch vs the street disc. The pressure plate sold with the clutch really grabs hard... and when you abuse the tranny with hard shifts, clutch drops etc.... something's gonna give... and if the clutch won't slip a little, it's either ur tires or your tranny.

I had the ACT when boosted, it's a damn good clutch. I have it now NA, it's still a damn good clutch, you just have to shift SMOOTHLY. I believe that's the key to not blowing your tranny. Just make sure that you're feathering the gas correctly, and rev matching correctly on downshifts.

IMHO, if you aren't hard on the tranny, and drive it like it should be driven, then the tranny won't just blow. It's all about the driver.

 

Did your tranny blow cause of the stage 3 clutch or because of your stage 2 turbo? Sarcasm.

 

How Much does a new TRANNY run for??

 

Question. If the Exedy is "33%" and the ACT is "39%", you guys really think 3% is gonna save your tranny??

Either the exedy is way over rated or you are probably going to tear your tranny with the exedy also. I've driven both, the ACT has a much stiffer PP than the exedy. I believe both have similar discs so I assume most if not all of the clamping power is from the PP.

 

matt doesnt bang gears quiksilver??? damn...11.9 taking long shifts....prolly woulda run 10s then huh??? dont think so ...i bet you alot hes a quick shifter....

i know matt doesnt have ACT...thats what i was saying...he has a puck clutch thats lasted for him....

i had my ACT for 15k miles....and i missed gears prolly 3 times throughout that time....

Because you havent experienced it yet doesnt mean its not going to happen...there was ZERO warning before mine went...it just went....

 

How many times must I say it???

If you are NA....DONT GET ACT!!! Not worth it! I think everyone can consent that OEM is PLENTY for NA applications....
fastest 2 on the board...Nealoc, Vqdriver...both on stock clutches....

I am willing to put money on the fact that ACT slowed my 1/4 times down....
watch...first time i go back to the track ...i bet i beat my current best by at least .05 with no different mods and in whatever conditions they might be.....

 

I just bought a '00 with 47k miles on it for 600 to my door...expect to pay the same or more in labor....

new tranny is 2400 ---->not worth it at all...

 

Exedy hasent been out long enough to see any significant bad things happening to trannys...No 3% of clampining power will make a difference on a tranny exploding !!

-matt

 

now i understand your frustration.. yours went out

 

yessir ..i have made about 5 different threads relating to how mine blew...figured you woulda seen...

my eyes are now open...when everything was peachy keen all i did was listen to those who said they drove on their ACT everyday and had no problems....

so did I ...until now...

i wish you well but as i said before...just because it hasnt happened yet...doesnt mean its not going to happen...

its been proven ACT and 5spd Max is not a good combo...why people still dont see this is beyond me...

 

IF the Exedy is within 3% of the ACT, I fail to see how that is gonna make you feel any safer. But good luck with whatever clutch you end up with.

 

The Presure Plate is what shocks the tranny, the ACT has a much stiffer PP, I was promised up and down bye the guy from Keikin Clutch that this would be less of a shock on my tranny, thats all im saying. We shall see what happens.

 

The more and more I read these blown tranny/Act threads....the more and more I need to get rid of mine!!!!Damn Act!!!

 

That's true. I can tell the ACT PP is stiffer and the Exedy is not nearly as stiff. Since both use similar discs, how can the ACT only hold 3% more??

 

not sure, its actually 33%vs 39% and that is the increased clamp load over stock., as for the diff between disk and PP one is clamp load and the other controlls the torque capacity. PP absorbs the shock, and the Exedy claims to absorb much more of that shock than the ACT. who knows, i will see what happens.

 

PP is what gives the clamping power also