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Clutch questions

LMN8R

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 5, 2002
Messages
214
Location
Kansas City, Mo, USA
Corvette
1998 Black Coupe
I now have a 1998 6-speed coupe with 41,000 miles on it. I have put about 1,500 miles on the car myself, the rest was from the previous owner. During my brief ownership of the car, I have noticed a couple of things that concern me. My questions are:

1. At about 1,400 RPM, there is a squeal while the car is in gear, and this occurs in any gear, comes from the front of the car, and does not occur at any other engine speed. Any clue what this is?

2. On occasion (particularly when the engine is lugging due to me not giving a lot of gas), the car will "skip" or jerk. I can tell that it is not coming from the engine, and it feels like the clutch disengages for a fraction of a second. Any clue what this is?

3. Under heavy acceleration, I can smell the clutch burning for a few seconds afterwards. Is the clutch gone? Am I hosed?

4. Worst case scenario, what does a new clutch cost (installed)?

Thanks for any input.

Greg
 
With 41K and an unknown driving record for the first 40K, it could be time to look at clutches.

Under heavy accelleration it should NOT burn. Alot of the C5's will jerk a little when inching along like in stop n go traffic.

I don,t think it should squeal at 1400 rpm either. You shoul hear the syncro comming out of first only.

New clutch 500-600 part + Labor.

Put in a Z06 clutch while u r at it

Good Luck

SCS
 
Thanks

That sounds pretty reasonable.

Is the first gear synchronizer that rattle-type sound after a start in first gear? I've heard that on so many Vettes (including my friend's old ZR-1) that I haven't paid attention to it.

Was the $500-$600 approximation on clutch price total (that's what it looked like when you wrote "part+labor")?

Thanks again,

Greg
 
I kinda like the sound of the synco now that I am used to it. I have driven one C5 that did not make that noise, and it needed a clutch.

I think the parts run 500-600. I am not sure what is labor but would guess you would be looking at 1,100 +- total. MAke sure someone that is vette savey does your work

Good Luck

SCS
 
Now I definitely need a new clutch.

A few more questions:

1. How long have your clutches lasted?

2. If I put a Z06 clutch and flywheel on this thing, does the engine need to be balanced in a different way or anything?

3. Any more estimates on how much it should cost me?

Thanks.

Greg
 
Hi there,
First, does the squeal go away when you depress the clutch pedal???????
Second, the skip or jerk, can be any of 100 things, so that would be diagnosed using a Tech 2 to make sure that there are no misfires.
Third, heavy acceleration could be that your clutch is worn, however, you could remove the inspection plate to see how much the clutch is worn.
Fourth, I have clutches that are burned up after 20k, and others that have lasted over 100000.
Driving style has everything to do with it.
As for the Z clutch, standard replacements are Z clutches back to 97. ALWAYS REPLACE THE SLAVE CYLINDER.
Some people do NOT, and develop problems later.
Pricing, it takes about 8 hours to correctly do a clutch, and realign the vehicle afterwards.
Parts will cost you about $600.
Allthebest, c4c5:hb
 
C4C5-

Thanks a million. Since I first posted the question some time back I figured out the jerking and squealing. Bad gas, bad belt. At that time, the clutch was fine.

However, I tried a pretty rapid launch the other day on an entrance ramp and the clutch failed pretty bad. Slipped bigtime, burning, stinking the whole thing. I eased into it to get it home, and it limped home alright, although the smell was still there.

So, what's the deal with the Z06 clutch? Will it be different than the one that came on my car? I guess I don't understand if there is a difference between the two models' clutches or not. Did they come with different clutches, but all of the replacement clutches are Z06? :confused

Thanks again.

Greg
 
FYI,
My 97 went 80,000 before I had to replace the clutch. It was still ok on the freeway but I like to occasionally take it to the track and after 1 or 2 passes and it was really heated up it would slip badly. I got the Z06 clutch replacement kit and Z06 slave. The parts cost $460.00, but there is a dealership where I get a 25% discount with my car club, so the $500-$600 sounds reasonable.
The mechanic I had do the work charged me a flat $500 to do the install. He is a local F-body guy, and after it was all done, told me he wouldn’t do a C5 for that again. (You have to drop the read-end).
This clutch now has 55,000 miles and still hooks well. With 135,000 miles I’m taking it a lot easier these days.
Good luck with yours.
J

Edit: Oh yeah, somewhere around $80.00 to have all 4 wheels aligned.
 
HI there,
Since the Z clutch is stronger, with more pressure exerted by the pressure plate, and better friction material, GM decided it a better move to stop speculation.
As for the rest, it is different from your car, and will give you great reliability.
At first, Z had its own clutch specifications in 01, then 02 they improved it again. Finally, since everyone was buying the Z clutch, GM just updated all the parts catalogs with the Z part number, and deleted the others.
INSTALLATION IS THE MOST CRITICAL PART.
If the technician is not patient, and install it exactly per GM guidelines, there will be problems.
Just keep this in mind, all thebest, c4c5:hb
 
With all this clutch talk going on. Here is another question. In my 01 6sp when I take off in 1st, I hear a slight "rattle" then it goes away. Kinda like a vibration. I assume clutches are a normal ware item not under warrentee......


Bill
 
Hi there,
You are talking about a neutral gear rattle. this is normal in c5, as built in tolerancing creates this.
I would be more worried if I did NOT hear it.
Allthebest, c4c5:hb
 
Well that puts my mind at ease! I was getting ready to purchase about $600.00 worth of performance clutch parts from WCC...

Thanks,

Bill
 
the rattle is the "synchro" noise referenced in earlier posts at the top of this page.
 

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