[Eric_S197]

Still waiting on my ticket out of the sandbox... But I got a few more questions.


So last night after a few Jack/Cokes, I watched my exhaust video and thought I heard the clutch slip when going into third gear (With shifting at 5500 RPM). Last year before my R&R, I had all intentions of installing a Spec Stage 2+ (Plus) clutch in preparation of frying the stock one while at the drags. After thinking about my 13.2 E/T (With running a 13.99 in N/A + bolt ons form in 2007... ) that perhaps the clutch was slipping?

So here's my two questions:

1.) How exactly do you diagnose clutch slippage? I could only assume that my car in it's current form is pushing 100+ ft/lbs of torque over what Ford had originally intended for the OEM clutch to handle..

2.) What should I go with, OEM Hydraulic slave cylinder or Aftermarket? I hear the RAM is pretty decent... but I know its practically the only one available at the time...


Speaking of that.. Ever since I owned my car, it sometimes had problems going into Reverse (had to pump the clutch twice to get it to engage the gear) and sometimes had a hard time releasing 3rd at the track too.... Hmmm. I'll take any thoughts and opinions on the matter.

[Eric_S197]

Speaking of clutch slipping, I hear the proper why to diagnose is put the vehicle in fourth and try to start it out, if the clutch is gone, you'll be able to roll from a dead stop in fourth gear... Sadly, I was able to do this on my 1997 Export model Cobra this morning... Lucky for me the car is to be given to its new owner in two weeks.

[05horse]

i jsut did mine.

go in first to get rolling then go to 4th and gun it and see if rpms rize and car dont pick up speed.


your slave cyl should be fine.

stage 2 is a hearty clutch... i jsut went 2 and its kinda over kill for me lol.

but thats how to check it.


pm me before u start ill give u a few pointers about some of the things i encountered....

[stkjock]

OEM slave

and my .02 go with the 3+, the 2+s have had issues with out cars. the 3+s have proven very stout, the weight of these cars seems to require the stronger clutch

[Eric_S197]

OEM or Aftermarket... it should be replaced with the clutch swap, right?

About 65k on the car, 15k of it being SC'ed

[05horse]

id go oem slave, but if yours isint leaking i wouldent worry about it, dontforget to resurface adn clean your flywheel with brake parts cleaner!

[stkjock]

Originally Posted by Eric_S197

OEM or Aftermarket... it should be replaced with the clutch swap, right?

About 65k on the car, 15k of it being SC'ed

With that mileage for sure, IMHO

[stlwagon]

The slave is generally good for 80K so definitely want to replace it.

[sqidd]

I am runing a 3+ and after some heat soak the slave works like crap. On an extended back road romp I ended up needing to up and downshift without the clutch for about 25 miles (good thing I could roll the few stop signs). When I was done beating on the car I pulled into a gas station, filled up and hung out about a half hour till it cooled down enough to start working again.

If you are planing on doing any drag starts get an aftermarket slave. Once heat soaked the OEM one is worthless.

[tbrock]

If you are replacing the clutch replace the slave unit. If you go with the Ram setup make sure your mechanic is up to date on how to set one up. I went with a zoom dual disc/ram set up last year and my mechanic set up the ram incorrectly and it toasted the clutch.

Heat soak is going to be a problem regardless what kind of slave unit you use. Their is a braided hose that runs from the master cylinder to the slave unit. It runs about $200 bucks but it should help with the heat soak issue. According to a very good source this is a problem on the FRC500 so FRP developed the hose to counter it. Pm me if you are going with a stock slave unit as I have one that I will make you a good deal on.

As some one else already stated I would look at the Spec 3 or 3+ since you are FI. I am running the same setup as you and my next clutch is going to be either dual disc or the Spec 3 + or equivalent.

Hope this helps as I went through 3 clutches last summer

[sqidd]

Originally Posted by tbrock

Heat soak is going to be a problem regardless what kind of slave unit you use. Their is a braided hose that runs from the master cylinder to the slave unit. It runs about $200 bucks but it should help with the heat soak issue. According to a very good source this is a problem on the FRC500 so FRP developed the hose to counter it. Pm me if you are going with a stock slave unit as I have one that I will make you a good deal on.

Braided lines are easy to make. I am wondering if it is a matter of getting heat out of the hose ASAP because the fluid is what gets hot or if it's a matter of shielding the hose from it's suroundings so it doesn't heat up that way. the latter would be a lot easier to deal with by a long shot. I have a to of heat barrier products to shield a hose, but trying to remove heat from the hose would be a lot bigger problem to solve. for example the brake caliper on my snowmobile has coolant runing through it to keep it from boiling the fluid. I know it sounds crazy, coolant isn't cool. but it's a lot cooler than the caliper gets.

[jaja6009]

Look into a P51 clutch disk from JDM or Stage 3 Motorsports. I am running one with stock flywheel, slave and pressure plate. Feels exactly like stock except for higher release point and holds well, although I have not taken it to the track yet. Soon. JDM recommends them. I have a similar engine combo as you except for the long tubes and I get on mine everytime I drive it.

[stkjock]

Originally Posted by sqidd

I am runing a 3+ and after some heat soak the slave works like crap. On an extended back road romp I ended up needing to up and downshift without the clutch for about 25 miles (good thing I could roll the few stop signs). When I was done beating on the car I pulled into a gas station, filled up and hung out about a half hour till it cooled down enough to start working again.

If you are planing on doing any drag starts get an aftermarket slave. Once heat soaked the OEM one is worthless.

never heard that one before....

[sqidd]

Originally Posted by stkjock

never heard that one before....

Of what?

[Eric_S197]

Thanks for the responses guys.

I talked to Seth at Brenspeed last year and he sold me on the Spec Stage 2 Plus. The Stage 2's rating up 599 ft/lbs while the Plus 2 is at 669 ft/lbs.

I should have researched it more... but who knows. What was the issue with Spec Stage 2 clutches? I'll ask, but I'll also research it more.


I'm convinced that it was slipping the whole time though.. it wasn't bad driving or the driver that made the car run a 13.2, it was the clutch