Hard acceleration 1-2 from a roll rwd- clutch feel

[bde]

Did anyone notice at times that after shifting under heavy acceleration the clutch seems to have been engaging much more smoothly during the regular driving.

It is almost as it wore off a bit but still pulls in all gears just fine. I didn't smell any clutch whatsoever. Shifting 1-2 is very smooth.

Any ideas?

Thanks)

[theholycow]

Are you saying that it's more smooth under hard acceleration, or that it's more smooth in normal driving ever since you did one hard pull?

It's normal to be more smooth under hard acceleration, especially if you aren't operating the clutch faster to compensate. The clutch is made to grab beyond the maximum power your engine makes. In normal driving you might use 10-20% of that, which means the clutch will be quite grabby. In hard acceleration when you're using 100% of your power and maybe 70-80% of your clutch's ability, it will slip more, as well as avoiding winding up and unwinding any lash in the drivetrain and the clutch torsion damper springs (instead it'll all wind up as soon as the clutch starts to grab and it will stay wound up).

If it's more smooth in normal driving since a hard pull, you might have had a little glazing and wore it off.

[bde]

Thanks Holycow.

It is smoother under normal acceleration although I still have good pull in all gears 1-6 at various rpm without going WOT.

Might have to work through it a little to unglaze if that's the case, but I don't have any slippage under any circumstances)

[ClutchFork]

It's normal to be more smooth under hard acceleration, especially if you aren't operating the clutch faster to compensate. The clutch is made to grab beyond the maximum power your engine makes. In normal driving you might use 10-20% of that, which means the clutch will be quite grabby. In hard acceleration when you're using 100% of your power and maybe 70-80% of your clutch's ability, it will slip more, as well as avoiding winding up and unwinding any lash in the drivetrain and the clutch torsion damper springs (instead it'll all wind up as soon as the clutch starts to grab and it will stay wound up).

This seems to explain why the clutch is easier to work when pulling a trailer or carrying a load in a pickup.

[theholycow]

A few things...

Keep in mind that what I've posted in this thread is educated guesswork; do NOT take it as gospel. I could be totally wrong.

It could be possible that the clutch got glazed and is slipping more now, rather than having been glazed before and the glaze having worn off.

Usually when we talk about clutch and power we're talking about torque, but in this case RPM is important too because it affects how long the friction happened.

Last night I used my Buick as a pulling tractor. My stone-and-gravel driveway is steep and time/heavy rain washes it out into the road. I have to haul thousands of pounds of it back up the hill. I dragged a plastic bedliner down to the bottom and raked/shoveled material into it, then hooked it to the car's frame and dragged it uphill. The first run I estimate at 800-1000 pounds and was really tough...I made the second run lighter. My clutch made some serious stink, but luckily today it doesn't feel any different...I was very happy with it the way it already felt.

[bde]

Yuck, that's a pretty heavy load you got there)

Happy to report that clutch feel is back to normal. Primarily due to slight glazing like you've mentioned.

I think the culprit was the DSC which I forgot to turn off and it made some work on the clutch when modulating tire spin.

[theholycow]

..and I am happy to report that my clutch definitely did not suffer any damage (except of course the potential reduction in lifespan, but I never expected it to last this long to begin with).

[Rope-Pusher]

A few things...

Keep in mind that what I've posted in this thread is junkfood; do NOT take it as healthfood. I could be totally wrong.

It could be possible that the clutch got glazed and is slipping more now,

rather than having been glazed before and the glaze having worn off.

Fickset

[Roger]

Just a quick hijack Q.

Have you guys heard of a pressure plate getting glazed?



How would you "unglaze" a flywheel, pressure plate, and the clutch? My clutch had super soft engagement after spending 6hrs at a race track (2hrs track time total), a 2nd gear clutch kick in the wet would do absolutely nothing. Even after about 500km it was still the same so I replaced the PP, clutch, and resurfaced the FW and it's back to normal.

[ClutchFork]

I would think that if the clutch disc has a lot of material left, that just sanding the flywheel, pressure plate and the clutch disc to rough them up a bit should do it. Or course I have never tried it, so really don't know.