Ahh yup, she works. Drove it around the block a few times.

I can definitely feel chatter while taking off, although it's not *too* bad, only when you're really digging in while taking off. That sucks. It could have been an installation error on my part, eg that "vibration" I felt when the engine first started could've been related... oh well. Too late now. Or, it might've been the fault of the SPEC components, who knows.

Either way, it rides smooth. The clutch pedal is WAY too soft for my liking, but I'll get used to it. The engagement seems to happen pretty suddenly. For some reason, the clutch pedal is so soft that it actually comes back up kinda slowly. I think that might be something with the clutch master cylinder or hydraulic line; the fluid has *never* been changed. I have an SS clutch hose from that one GD ready to install, so maybe I'll tackle that sometime soon.

Anyway, time to go drive somewhere, I haven't driven all week

 

congrats man.

 

The chatter is probably exaggerated by the fact that the motor mounts are oil-filled pieces of junk, so if it's a stick-slip-stick-slip type of chatter, it might cause the engine to rock back and forth fast during takeoff. I have Energy Suspension polyurethane mounts here, although I still need to cut out the metal shell from the old rear mount I'm using for them. Once I've established everything's good I'll try those out and see if they smooth out the chatter a bit.

 

The chatter seems to be pretty common with aftermarket clutches. I'm running with a clutchmaster stage 3 kevlar disk with stock flywheel and pressure plate and still getting some chatter after around 2000 miles. I already have the motor mounts.

I'm hoping it has to do with the stock dual mass flywheel and a sprung disk. hopefully when I go back to the solid flywheel and stronger clutch it will go away. It does seem to be getting a little better though.

The chatter should eventualy go away.

 

anything that doesn't have a organic full face clutch will chatter a bit. Try breaking it in for a period and then see how it is (sometimes it worsens and sometimes it gets better

 

Yeah, I'll see about it. It's not that bad either way.

Overall, I like the clutch. The pressure plate is noticeably better, I can feel it if I get hasty and pull out the clutch pedal a tad too fast... plus it seems to want to spin the tires easier on wet pavement than the old one did. Makes it a little tricky navigating wet pavement actually. I'd imagine the effects will be accented by the ES polyurethane motor mounts that I'll be installing soon.

The clutch pedal is so light it's taking some adjustment on my part to get used to it. But one thing is for certain--the shifter's action is a LOT lighter now. It's probably a combination of the new pressure plate/throwout bearing being better than the old one I guess, and the fact that I'm using Redline MT-90 in the tranny. I used MT-90 once before though, and the shift action wasn't as easy as it is now. The new clutch is definitely doing something for it. I have a suspicion that the old clutch had something wrong with it, maybe the PP was overtorqued or faulty or something. Shifting was always a little notchy with it. The now-lightened shift action definitely accents the light clutch pedal--makes for a very light, feathery smooth overall shifting experience

 

Hmm. I do have a little bit of vibration at the top end. Thing is though, I had a little of that before, kept meaning to do a health check on the engine, so I won't blame it on the new clutch until I've resolved that. Sometimes I feel it, sometimes I don't. So it might not be the clutch, but I don't know for certain.

 

thats good, my chatter shakes teh whole car....... and people are disgusted by it, but its going away a lil bit i think. yeah, the pedal IS pretty light. i thought something was wrong at first.... but im not lliking the spec clutch. next cluatch is oem, if i can stand this spec clutch. the spec clutch feels like its starting to slip a lil bit once in awhile because of teh chattering..... when it tries to grab when im changing gears, sometimes it likes to slip, causing me to ride the clutch.... i actually rode the clutch to 6k rpm when i gunned it in 1st gear.... the clutch burn smell is crazy too.... i notice it SO much when im at 2k rpm on a hill. on the stock clutch, you can barely notice a smell.... yeah, i dont like the spec clutch. hopefully you will have better luck with it then me.

 

The chatter does shake the car a bit when it happens, but for me it only happens when I'm digging in deep at low RPM. If I launch at >1200RPM, it's significantly smoothed out, or maybe it's just because the car gets going REALLY fast

I've had some more highway driving on it... not too bad. I'm going to do an oil change tomorrow and maybe check on those spark plugs soon, and see how it goes.

AnDyMaN- Is it possible your clutch was installed incorrectly, and/or the clutch disc was bent? I was thinking, if the chattering was caused by a bent clutch disc, it's possible that's why it's slipping too (not as much clutch disc surface area contacting the flywheel/pressure plate so there's less area to distribute the heat...)

 

the vibration at top end could be your tires. Rev the engine in neutral with clutch pedal out and if there is no vibration then your clutch is aligned properly.

 

If you are getting vibration from the clutch (other than chatter) it means some part of the unit is out of balance. There is no adjusting or aligning to do on a clutch to make it seat properly. It's perfectly centered by the splined shaft going through the center of it.

If the vibration is from the clutch it will be way more noticeable in neutral with the car standing still. If it idles smoothly and you can hold it at different RPMs smoothly then your clutch is not causing the vibration.

I agree with MaxOctane about the tires. Also go back and check the torque on your wheel bolts. Between the fatigue of a long job and the excitement of having your car on the ground it can be easy to forget to do the final torque on the wheels.

 

I definitely did the final torque on the wheels... I am damned diligent about that (I do it like my local mechanic; torque them in a star pattern, then go around in a circle) One time I forgot to do the final torque on the front left wheel and it almost came off on the highway while I was carpooling with a coworker. That taught me really well

It's more noticeable while moving. I'd guess either the flywheel or the pressure plate.

The flywheel was resurfaced by a local machinist. The whole surface was machined, although the pins were in the proper location (guess he reinstalled them). I never thought to ask if he'd made sure it was balanced. The guy has a good local reputation though, so I'd hesitate to say it was lazy craftsmanwork.

Although to add to the mix, the engine had some vibration before the clutch job. I think a plug might be fouled or something else is going on. I am going to finish diagnosing that before coming to conclusions.

 

Beyond the vibration and chatter, the clutch does a great job though. I can hear the wheels start to break loose a little (on their own) the moment the tires hit wet pavement and I'm busy accelerating, whereas before I rarely heard that.

The car seems to pull hard more consistently now. I'd assume the old clutch was slipping a little under just-above-normal load, even though it was rather subtle to tell. In either case, it makes me feel a bit more confident on the highway.

 

spirillis, did you have any problems with your clutch engagement?

I just got my new clutch/pp/flywheel in last night and my engagement point keeps changing from - lot of free play and really low catch point to no free play and very high catch point. And I didn't do anything to the clutch line either

 

If the vibration is more noticeable while moving it's most likely not the pressure plate or flywheel. If they were out of balance it would be more apparent when in neutral.

I'd check the torque on all the suspension and mounting bolts you worked on. Also the plugs as you mentioned. After that I'd take it to an under car shop for a wheel balancing and have them diognose the vibration. I really doubt it's coming from any part of the clutch/flywheel based on what you are saying about the vibration.

 

Ah !@#$. New problem: There's a rather large puddle of gear oil on the garage floor. It's coming from the driver side of the tranny, dripping nice and steady. Damnit.

I filled her up with all the gear oil I had left. I'm gonna have to take it into the local shop tomorrow and see what they can do. GRRR

 

I guess they'll have to either replace the axle seal (which I did when I did the clutch job, maybe I mangled it in my many attempts to get the driver side axle in there...) or shove the axle in there further or something. I thought I got it in there all the way, maybe I didn't.

gaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh. I'm starting to hate that whole car.

 

Wow, that sucks. Looks like you may have found the vibration problem as well. If the axle isn't seated properly that would cause a vibration while driving that isn't there at idle.

Hopefully it can be dealt with easily.

 

dam bro, sorry u going through this. I hate it when i attempt an install and it ends with something going wrong. But that could be the problem to all this chatter bs.

 

thanks for the support guys

I got an appt at the local mechanic at 10:00, hopefully it won't take too long. If all it takes is a nice swift whack of a hammer to seat the axle, I'll be much happier.

update-
nah, they said it looks like it's in there. they're gonna replace the seal and said it should be done by the end of the day.

 

Yeah, I made the mistake of messing with the seal (i.e. replacing it) when I changed my clutch too. That was one of the biggest pia of the whole job. I ultimately had to do it twice. Next time I buy the dang tool.

Good luck

 

haha, good call. I didn't realize their was a special tool, I just used a very large 3/4" drive socket (dunno what the size was, it was just wide enough to drive in the seal with the outer lip of the socket striking the trans. case so it wouldn't drive the seal in further than that)

 

Shoot, they got the right seal from Nissan but it doesn't fit right--it slides through the driver side hole too easily. I had to get a rental car for tomorrow while they ***** out Nissan for another seal.

 

lmao, i'm telling u, these local dealers are no good good luck, seems like the project is almost over.

 

now where is this actually taking place?

 

the seal's being replaced by my local mechanic up the street

 

Ohhh, I just figured out what happened. Until today, my dumb-*** didn't realize that the passenger vs. driver side axle seals are different parts. The driver side has a much wider inner diameter. D'oh
DAVEB sent me one of each, which of course makes sense. As it turns out, I first tried hammering in a driver side seal into the passenger side. The socket I used was smaller than the opening and I accidentally hammered it all the way through, making it fall between the lip and the carrier bearing. I got that out and went to Nissan to get a new one. I didn't realize they were different, and Nissan didn't ask me, so they gave me a passenger side seal. I drove that into the passenger side using a much larger socket this time, one that ensures I can't hammer it further than flush against the housing, and that's worked great so far.
Then I took the other seal and hammered it into the driver side, unknowing that it wasn't the right type (since it was the original PASSENGER-side seal DAVEB sent me).

This also explains why I had such a b**ch of a time getting that driver-side axle in. It was trying to push on the seal (which, meant for the passenger side, had a much smaller inner diameter). When I hammered it with enough force, it ripped the inner circle of the seal off and left it spinning around on the shaft. The jagged rubber edges allowed oil to leak out.
I'm gonna leave off this large socket (1+13/16") at the shop tomorrow morning and tell them to use that when they do the job to ensure they don't push the seal too far in. That might've been the problem they had yesterday with the one Nissan sent them.

Moral of the story: Don't be a dumbass, and look closer at details

 

Update-

The local shop fixed the leak once and for all yesterday. They attempted it early last week but it still leaked, turns out the guy installed the new seal with too small a socket and it went in all the way into the hole, so he removed it... then later I handed him the oversized socket I used and he got it in there right, but the seal was already bad from when he had inserted and removed it. I drove on that for a little over a week and then took it back.

He installed a new seal the right way, with the socket I provided, and I also had him replace the circular clip at the end of the axle. No leaks.

I'm currently changing the gear oil back to Redline MT-90 (he had topped it off with some GL-5 crap I think, 'cause the shifting went to ****)

Also some funniness-

I had an alignment done to the car tonight (different shop than the one where I had the leak fixed), and just a few minutes ago when I jacked up the car I noticed they left some kind of wrench (looks specially made for turning tie-rods) on the left tie rod. LOL. I recalled hearing some faint clunk when I turned the wheel all the way to the left. I don't think it hurt anything though, maybe scraped the tie-rod a little.

 

I remember confusing the seals when I first did a tranny job on a 4th gen. I usually lube the seals with white lithium grease on the outside and hammer in the edges with a flat piece of wood and a mallet (so it doesn't go further than the tranny)

 

Ah yeah, not a bad idea. I used a 1+13/64" 12-point socket (3/4" drive) from Sears, probably cost me $20, lol. It's just small enough to push at the outer edge of the seal, yet big enough that it cannot go further into the tranny. Hammer it in, then go around in a slight circle tapping it in that last bit.

Ah well, it did the job right

 

So, did that fix the vibration you were getting at speed?
How's the new clutsh feel now that everything is straight?

 

I couldn't hammer them in with a flat piece of wood on the drivers side - there's not enough room to fit it in there because of the shape of the tranny.

Honestly, I'd recommend to anyone changing the clutch to LEAVE THE SEALS ALONE if they aren't leaking. If you are going to change the seals, whatever it costs for the proper tool is probably worthwhile - just in the amount of time and aggravation spent trying to get the thing in there.

Unquestionably, the worst part of changing my clutch was the seal on the driver's side. I spent half a day searching for something to hammer it in with - ended up using a piece of pipe that just about matched the size of the seal. But the lip was very small so it was a pain. I wish I had the same size socket.

 

I still feel a little vibration occasionally, especially when I rev it up beyond 4000RPM. I haven't done that tuneup yet so we'll see. It doesn't vibrate much on the highway.

The new clutch is pretty good. It still chatters like it did originally, but it's not too big an annoyance. The clutch clamps and performs wonderfully though.

 

Yeah. If it ain't broke, certainly don't fix it
Those seals are easy enough to change with the tranny in the car and the right size socket that it's not worth the hassle to do while the tranny is removed.
(although the passenger side would be a b**ch since you'd have to remove the crossmember and maybe the Y-pipe to have a good amount of clearance...)

 

The chatter in my clutch is finally getting better. I did a lot of stop and go driving over the holidays and that seems to have helped it along. Hopefully yours will get better too.