DESTROYED my clutch tonight. 4cyl trans. in a 3cyl

[ssybert]

Tried to pull my metro up a 20% grade from a dead stop in my hosue lot tonight. Car couldn't pull itself up. Brought the RPMs up and slid off the clutch a little... started to slip... like an idiot I kept on it to get the pig out and she REALLY slipped. Finally got it out.

Stunk to high hell like burnt clutch. Drove off and was very soft. This has happened before. Not good but I was familiar with it. heading down the road changing gears was very hard and the clutch didn't disengage... then all of a sudden the clutch came all the way up to the top and now has about 3x the spring behind it. Clutch works terrible, disengages right at the TIP of the pedal and shudders like crazy.

Tried adjusting, nothing. Still right at the top??!

18k miles ago I replaced the transmission with a 4cyl (I have a 3cyl) and a new clutch. The car never seemed to have enough power to really pull itself from a stop with that 4cyl tranny. I got the car with a bad 3cyl trans so I dont know what it SHOULD do.

Looks like I've completly ruined this clutch and probably the flywheel. Before I put another clutch on this car and have it slowly happen again should I be considering a 3cyl tranny with a higher final drive?

Ideas? comments?

Scott

[Crvett69]

the 89-94 metro has a 4.10 drive ratio except for the convertible, it has a 4.39 and the XFI, it has a 3.89. depending on what you got the tranny out of it could have as high as a 3.50 final drive. thats probably why you have no power. you can also bolt in a swift GT flywheel. its a direct interchange but uses a larger clutch and is also a little lighter

[ssybert]

This tranny came out of a 95 4cyl. At least thats what the yard told me. It's a horrible dog and is now costing me a clutch @ 18k miles.

So I should be looking for a 3cyl transmission from a 3cyl Metro 89-94 right? Sounds like thats my best bet. The convertable one would be hard to find and probably kill my fuel economy being that low of a final drive. Stay AWAY from the 95+ tranny's, correct? Even though my car is a 96?

Also I'll look for a swift GT flywheel and replace the clutch with a swift clutch. they're probably going to ask for the engine size of the swift... do I say 3 or 4 cyl on this one? Do I want the flywheel off a 3 or a 4?

Scott.

[Crvett69]

or if you want a little better mileage and slightly better power than you have now you can look for a XF! tranny. on the swift clutch you want a swift gt 4 cyl flywheel. i have a spare but would cost a lot to ship cause of weight

[ssybert]

If I went with a 94 base tranny what should I expect to see? currently I can do 45-48. should I still be in the high 40's? not worth the extra couple mpg if I'm replacing clutches and flywheels :-/

[geozukigti]

A 95 4cyl w/o A/C has a 3.83:1 final drive. On a 3cyl, it's horrid. I put that trans on my 1.3L DOHC GT engine, and it ran very noticably slower. Sounds like something is wrong with your clutch, or it was horribly abused if it went in 18k. I've driven metros with 90k on the clutch and they were fine. The swift GT flywheel is acutally lighter than the metro flywheel. And it has a larger surface area. This clutch/flywheel combo should last 100k easy. They can handle ~150hp with no slippage. Transmission-wise, I'd just find a 89-94 3cyl metro trans. Anything bigger than 4.11:1 will give very very un-desirable RPM's on the freeway. Mine@70mph on 15" rims, does 3900RPM's with the convertible 4.39:1 trans.

[ssybert]

It's not that it was slipping when I drove it was getting the car rolling took very high RPMs because of the tranny (I think). Under heavy load and 3k+ RPM on partially engaged clutch it started slipping... engage more, slipped more until it was completely engaged and completely slipping. this was common under severe hill starts.. 20% grade. Nothing you'd ever encounter on the road but my driveway, yes.

I"m betting based on opinions here it was the 4cyl transmission causing me the grief. Too long of a gear and no power to turn it.

I got a price from a yard on a USED flywheel for a swift GT -- $75? That sounds steep. VIP quoted me $50 new I think but dont know if it's a safe bet to buy it from them. Buy the used one or the new one?