Major issues with ACT Clutch & Transmission Shop, need advice, please help! - SRT Forums

Spaceman · 11-11-2006, 10:02 PM

This might be lengthy, but I would appreciate it if someone took just 5-10min to read this and offer me some insight. Thank you so much in advance!

About 2 months ago the bolts on my flywheel came loose and because I don't have a warranty anymore, instead of going to the dealer I had to buy a new clutch. I chose to go with the ACT Street Clutch Kit since it is non-modular as opposed to the stock clutch with the flex plate.

I bough the clutch online from AGPTurbo.com along with solid motor mounts and tranny mount and I took the goods to a transmission shop to have it all installed. My friend knows the guys at the shop because he delivers parts to them and he recommended other guys to them before so I went there.

Anyhow, they installed the clutch and motor mounts for me and from the first day I had it back the car shook and vibrated like crazy and the clutch released pretty hard and fast. At first, I thought all the vibrations were from the motor mounts because I heard solid motor mounts will do that. The guy who installed it said the vibrations were probably from the mounts as well.

As weeks went by I got so frustrated with the vibrations that I decided to take off the motor mounts. After taking them off and putting the stock mounts back on I noticed that the car still would vibrate and now I had some real problems with the clutch. Going into 1st gear from a dead stop as I would release the clutch it would vibrate a ton and it?s as though the clutch is misaligned and does not want to grab correctly. If you look under the hood as the car is in 1st gear and you let off the clutch the motor shakes like crazy.

Talking to a few people they said that it could be that the clutch wasn't installed correctly or the clutch was defective. So I took the car back to the shop where it was installed and I showed them the car. They said that it probably is the clutch because it was like that from day one. But then again, they wouldn't want to blame themselves for not installing it correctly. But they will take it apart and make sure they installed it right, and then I will ship the clutch to ACT so they can do tests on it and see if it was defective. The car has been at the shop for 2 weeks now and they still have not looked at it, everytime I called he would say that they are busy and he will look at it the next day. So far he has not touched it, I don't know if its because they are really busy or if it's just not a priority for them.

My biggest concern is getting screwed! I paid $600 for the clutch and $400 for the labor. If it turns out that the clutch was defective, can I process some claim against ACT so I can be refunded the $400 that I had to pay for the shop to install a defective clutch? Because I know the shop won't want to reinstall another clutch for free because the one they had installed the first time turned out to be defective.

And if the shop takes the clutch off and says they installed it correctly and I send it out to ACT and they come back and tell me that nothing was wrong with the clutch, and that it was damaged because of improper installation (that's supposing it is damaged, which for my sake I hope not). And then I have a shop that says it didn't do anything wrong and a clutch company saying the clutch wasn't defective. Do I go to the BBB so I can get my money back for the damaged clutch and the $400 I paid for the labor?

Anyhow, I hope someone took their time to read this and understand it. I've been stressed the last couple days. I just feel like I spent a ton of money to have my clutch fixed and I feel like I'm going to be screwed soon one way or the other. Thanks guys.

JjkatxSRT4 · 11-11-2006, 10:17 PM

Did you buy a new throwout bearing?

leepen · 11-11-2006, 10:51 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by JjkatxSRT4

Did you buy a new throwout bearing?

it comes with the setup....are you sure it was the street disk and not the 6 puck..my 6 puck vibrates if I don't release the pedal fast enought, with the proper RPM's

Milkit18 · 11-11-2006, 10:57 PM

You main concern is the shop thats keeping ur car right now.

Pimpazzberetta · 11-11-2006, 11:08 PM

I'm going to be installing that same exact clutch next probally. If I find anything that is similair. I'll be sure and post it. Did you break the clutch in properly?

SRTVenom · 11-11-2006, 11:13 PM

I've noticed my ACT Clutch does the same thing but as bad as what your saying. Some times going into gear it will not slip in from a dead stop. I have to give it a little rev and it goes right in. I'm also on the street set up, but it will shake if you don't release the clutch and match the RPM's correctly. If you get a chance get your car back and play with the clutch pedal. Move it out so it gives it more play, if it's all the way in it will grab instantly or worse.....

Spaceman · 11-12-2006, 12:02 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by leepen

Quote: Originally Posted by JjkatxSRT4

Did you buy a new throwout bearing?

it comes with the setup....are you sure it was the street disk and not the 6 puck..my 6 puck vibrates if I don't release the pedal fast enought, with the proper RPM's

It's the street kit. How bad is it supposed to vibrate? From everyone that has seen it, they say it does not look normal. The engine shakes like a mother f***r.

Spaceman · 11-12-2006, 12:10 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by SRTVenom

I've noticed my ACT Clutch does the same thing but as bad as what your saying. Some times going into gear it will not slip in from a dead stop. I have to give it a little rev and it goes right in. I'm also on the street set up, but it will shake if you don't release the clutch and match the RPM's correctly. If you get a chance get your car back and play with the clutch pedal. Move it out so it gives it more play, if it's all the way in it will grab instantly or worse.....

I heard that with an aftermarket clutch there will be some vibrations but it does not look like it's supposed to be this bad. It would be nice if someone in the area that has the same clutch could take a look at it and compare it.

ptperformance · 11-12-2006, 02:16 PM

There should be no vibration at all when you install a clutch. I have had 2 that had this problem, they just get by you from time to time but we sent out new clutches on both occations so I would suspect that AGP will do the same.

Spaceman · 11-12-2006, 05:27 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by ptperformance

There should be no vibration at all when you install a clutch. I have had 2 that had this problem, they just get by you from time to time but we sent out new clutches on both occations so I would suspect that AGP will do the same.

I was told by AGP to contact ACT directly. So after the shop takes the clutch off, I will have to mail it to ACT so they can run their tests on the clutch and send out a replacement if it was defective.

SRT4NdMd · 11-12-2006, 09:57 PM

Did the shop re-surface your flywheel? With the installation of a new clutch (whether you burned the old one or not), it's encouraged to re-surface the flywheel. Since these guys are mechanics I'm gonna say it's pretty impossible to install a clutch wrong; you'd have to be pretty "absent" to screw that up. My friends EVO IX has the ACT street clutch that we just installed 4 days ago and it doesn't shake one bit.

Pimpazzberetta · 11-13-2006, 03:33 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by SRT4NdMd

Did the shop re-surface your flywheel? With the installation of a new clutch (whether you burned the old one or not), it's encouraged to re-surface the flywheel. Since these guys are mechanics I'm gonna say it's pretty impossible to install a clutch wrong; you'd have to be pretty "absent" to screw that up. My friends EVO IX has the ACT street clutch that we just installed 4 days ago and it doesn't shake one bit.

Cant use the old flywheel with the non modular ACT clutch so it must have been a brand new flywheel.

Spaceman · 11-13-2006, 08:26 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Pimpazzberetta

Quote: Originally Posted by SRT4NdMd

Did the shop re-surface your flywheel? With the installation of a new clutch (whether you burned the old one or not), it's encouraged to re-surface the flywheel. Since these guys are mechanics I'm gonna say it's pretty impossible to install a clutch wrong; you'd have to be pretty "absent" to screw that up. My friends EVO IX has the ACT street clutch that we just installed 4 days ago and it doesn't shake one bit.

Cant use the old flywheel with the non modular ACT clutch so it must have been a brand new flywheel.

Exactly, the ACT Street Kit came with a new flywheel.

Spaceman · 11-14-2006, 08:35 PM

I got the clutch back from the transmission shop. Take a look at it guys and let me know what you think. It looks like the clutch wasn't grabbing evenly and those marks appear to be from when the clutch would chirp. I spoke to the guys at the shop and they said that they did install it correctly. They've been in business a while and I can't see them not doing it right. But let me know what you guys think.

http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f215/spaceman838/

DrmCtchr · 11-14-2006, 09:02 PM

looks like the preasure plate wasnt tightened to the flywheel properly. ( Based on the blackness of the tabs nearest the burn marks ) I am by no means an expert on clutch forensics but I have screwed up and torqued a preasure plate on unevenly and well thats nearly exactly how it ended up looking. did you see it as it came out of the car?
-D