car shaking when going from a start (3.2 swap)

[89SHOduff]

I was an idiot the other day and decided to peel out alot. so now I'm payin' for it. I have SHOtimes old 93 with the 3.2 swap. the car (well engine I should say) is shaking more from a start than normal. before it was normal, I think, due to the clutch(stage IV) but now it is starting to shake alot more noticibly. Even when I downshift from 3rd to 2nd I can feel it shake (just a little). the clutch clicks when It is in neutral, but when it is engaged it stops. This also did this before this new problem occured. Any clue to what this could be. I know it is vague but thats all I know. frown

 

[qiksho]

first thing would be to get it in the air and look at cv's, tierods, ball joints, etc... If everything looks good and tight I would go get an alignment/balance...you might have just lost a wheel weight. shrug

 

[RStalveyARFF]

it's the clutch. I've heard about this problem from a few Stage IV owners.

 

[89SHOduff]

do you think it is safe to drive for this week to work? When its on the highway it runs fine just when I come to a stop is when I get worried.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

Another sad example of how expensive it can be to abuse a SHO... cry These cars can be driven pretty ******* a regular basis with few ill effects, but start doing pointless things like burnouts and it won't be long before the repair bills put the owner in the poor house...

 

[AutoSHO]

89SHOduff:
the clutch clicks when It is in neutral, but when it is engaged it stops. This also did this before this new problem occured. Any clue to what this could be. I know it is vague but thats all I know.

It clicks until you step on the clutch pedal? That would be the throw-out bearing rattling on its shaft. Its probably nothing to worry about.

The "shaking" you are experiencing is called Chatter. It happens on some high performance clutches, others it does not. Shawn at IPT could probably give you some info on how to minimize the problem.

 

[RStalveyARFF]

well, the thing is, I see that chatter continue out the cv axles, and actually vibrate the wheel.

 

[89SHOduff]

I hope its nothin to worry about. I would hate to have replace a new clutch. headbang

 

[Mark W]

I had a problem like this that turned out to be a bent half shaft. My mechanic had to put it on a lift and run the engine / spin the wheels to diagnose it. We never did figure out how it got bent. I can't imagine being able to bend one of those shafts, even with a sledge hammer, but it was.

 

[SHOSIG]

You may have warped your flywheel. That will give youa shudder.

 

[sdpatt]

Try adjusting the clutch cable tension with a lift of the clutch pedal (about 10 pounds of force). If you are hearing chatter from the throwout bearing then the bearing is not in complete contact with the pressure plate when the pedal is released. The throwout bearing needs to be in constant contact to prevent accelerated wear of the pressure plate fingertips. If the throwout bearing is not pressed against teh pressure plate, the bearing stays stationary until contact. The "spin up" causes wear and noise.

 

[twr]

If you have the Stage 4 from IPTech it will chatter a bit. Mine would chatter in varing degrees. The hotter it got the more it would chatter.

 

[89SHOduff]

Its not the chattering I'm too worried about, it's the feeling like my engine is gonna jump out of the hood when I let out the clutch(from a start). If I rev the engine to around 2500 and let out the clutch the shaking will go away. weird....

I'm pretty sure that it has to be the clutch because it never shakes when I am in gear and it only really seems to do it when I start to go. It does it in reverse too. Also when I am downshifting the dash will chatter.

Do these stage IV clutches suck or what? I had a normal clutch in my 89 and it never acted up on me. This sucks .
Any clue if it is the Stage IV??

 

[AutoSHO]

89SHOduff:
Its not the chattering I'm too worried about, it's the feeling like my engine is gonna jump out of the hood when I let out the clutch(from a start). If I rev the engine to around 2500 and let out the clutch the shaking will go away. weird....

I'm pretty sure that it has to be the clutch because it never shakes when I am in gear and it only really seems to do it when I start to go. It does it in reverse too. Also when I am downshifting the dash will chatter.

Do these stage IV clutches suck or what? I had a normal clutch in my 89 and it never acted up on me. This sucks .
Any clue if it is the Stage IV??

That shaking is chattering. It is the disc grabbing and slipping against the flywheel. It makes the whole engine/drivetrain feel like its jumping. If it continues, you risk breaking motor mounts, engine roll dampers, or suspension bushings.

I know sometimes you can aggressively slip the clutch to get it to wear in a little bit and stop chattering so badly. It sounds bad, but try (in a no-traffic area such as a parking lot) starting from 2nd gear and really slipping the clutch some. It might help to wear in better, or wear away whatever is on the contact surfaces causing the clutch to chatter.

Edit: It seems to be a pretty common problem with very aggressive, segmented disc clutches that get abused, even just once, to chatter upon engagement.

<small>[ May 05, 2003, 05:53 PM: Message edited by: AutoSHO ]</small>

 

[89 black SHO mtx]

it sounds like cluth chatter to me as well. the disk can be sanded lightly to help in reseating it. the fly wheel probably has stress/heat cracks(tiny cracks in the fklywheel to disk mating area). depending on how bad it is you might be able to get it resurfaced or you might have to replace the flywheel. as for the clutch disk if the springs are ok then you can take a piece of sand paper and lightly scuff the disk.

 

[MYSHO1]

Mine did a little chatter but it went away shrug