Clutch goin...

In the past few months my clutch has gotten really soft. There is more play in the pedal than before. And, also, it doesn't "grab" when it engages.....it's like when u have a lot of people in your car and due to the extra weight the car "eases" into gear rather than when u r alone and it just grabs rite away(u know what i'm talking about?) Does this sound like i'm gonna need a new clutch soon?

have you tried to adjust it?

Not sure, but your description definately sounds like your clutch is slipping to me. If that's what it is, plan to make a new clutch purchase soon. Basically, is it like your engine revs up, but your clutch is slow to engage? Or if you're driving along with the clutch engaged and lets say you downshift and then press the gas down, does the engine rev up without the car accelerating? If it does that, then it's DEFINATELY clutch slippage. If you figure out that the clutch is failing, make the decision to purchase a performance clutch, and not just a stock replacement.

my clutch is doing similar things. the engagement point has moved to mid clutch, form what used to be full pedal engagement, and once it hits engagement point it grabs. sometimes the car jerks, i am also gringing gears more often and its getting harder to get it in gear. what type of clutch would you recomend, single or multi plate, stage 1, 2, or 3. I plan on doing extensive mods down the road, right now my car is stock. i plan on eventually going turbo. Oh yeah, i beleive i have an aftermarket clutch in the car. i got it used, the car not the clutch. so i dont know what brand or stage it has. but i really like the way that it engaged. the pedal was more stiff than a stock civic clutch. and well, it just felt good.

usually, the first stage is for plain stock cars no mods whatsoever. stage 2 is for lightly modify cars like exhaust, cai, headers, etc. and stage 3 continue on depending on your mods.

Originally posted by rockerdude
usually, the first stage is for plain stock cars no mods whatsoever. stage 2 is for lightly modify cars like exhaust, cai, headers, etc. and stage 3 continue on depending on your mods. The girl i sold my GSR to has i/e, she got a stage three and it sucks to drive, i'd go w/stage 2 unless you enjoy a really grabby hard clutch

Originally posted by slowANDfurious
The girl i sold my GSR to has i/e, she got a stage three and it sucks to drive, i'd go w/stage 2 unless you enjoy a really grabby hard clutch Maybe 3 for turbo, im not 2 sure

Originally posted by rockerdude
usually, the first stage is for plain stock cars no mods whatsoever. stage 2 is for lightly modify cars like exhaust, cai, headers, etc. and stage 3 continue on depending on your mods.
I think you're one off. :)

In technical specs, clutch capacity is usually rated in ft-lbs of torque that they can reliably and safely hold. The clutch undergoes the most stress at the peak torque point, not the peak hp point. There is absolutely no reason to get a clutch that can hold substantially more torque than your engine can possibly produce. Generally, as the cluch capacity increases, so does the harshness of engagement and the pedal effort required. Really high capacity clutches are nearly impossible to drive on the street - they require enormous force on the pedal, and pretty much have two modes - on and off - no slipping whatsoever. Which makes coming off a stoplight a series of stalls and wheelspins. :( There is no glamor in having an oversized clutch, it's a waste of money, it'll wear the linkage and throwout assembly really fast, and it makes you look stupid behind the wheel of a bucking car. ;)

Clutchmaster is the company that sells clutches in "stages". And generally, they're a pretty good choice for performance Hondas. The 'stages' make clutch selection easy, since you don't have to know what the ft-lbs number is - they're all normalized to the stock clutch capacity.

Stage Zero is pretty much the stock replacement.
Stage One is for up to 70% more torque than stock
Stage Two is for up to 70% more torque than stock, and has a longer life than stage one.
Stage Three is for up to 110% more torque over stock.
Stage Four is for up to 170% more torque over stock.
Stage Five is custom, from 200-400% more torque over stock.

The 1997 Honda Civic EX is rated at 107 ft*lbs @ 5500 RPM. So the stock clutch can probably hold about 20-30% over that (when new) so probably around 130 ft*lbs.

So, for that specific car,
stage zero will hold you to about 130 ft*lbs of engine.
Stage one or two will get you all the way up to 221 ft*lbs.
Stage three takes it to 273 ft*lbs.
Stage four will hold 351 ft*lbs.
And stage five can be built for 390-650 ft*lbs!!!

If you turbo your EX to a whopping 16 psi, :eek: you might see around 260 peak hp at the flywheel and 200 ft*lbs at around 6kRPM. A stage ONE clutch will still give you a 20% excess margin. There is no need to go higher.

IMHO, if you're building a hi-po street car, there's probably not reason to get anything higher than stage one (or two for a longer life). An all-out build might require a stage three, but that would be one heck of an engine. Stage four and above are truly race-only.

The best way to choose a clutch is to make an educated guess as to what your ultimate peak torque is, add about 20%, and pick a quality clutch with that specific holding capacity.
:cool:

That's just the way hydraulic clutches are. there is no way to adjust them like cable trannies. They get soft and really playful after even 30K miles. It's just something i guess you just have to deal with. I personally like trannies that are cable because you can adjust the clutch much better.

Fritz said everything useful to say on this situation, so I won't bother adding anything else. I have an ACT heavy duty pressure plate and street disc. It feels nice. I like to feel exactly when the clutch engages.

Also, wouldnt a clutch that has a harsher engagement do more wear on a transmission?

yes, it will put more stress on the driveline. since a more stiff clutch dumps, causeing the car to jerk, it puts more of a strain on the half-shafts and the transmission

As long as you're getting a new clutch, have you thought about a lightened flywheel? You were talking about doing mods on your car, now is the time to do the flywheel as long as the tranny is coming off.