Sc300 Clutch/pressure Plate Problems

SC300Drifter · June 14, 2008

Ok guys I need help! Recently my flywheel came loose and started vibrating so I called my mechanic and ordered a new clutch to install while the transmission was off. I ordered an XTD stage 3 clutch off of ebay and my mechanic installed it along with new flywheel bolts. I broke the clutch in for 500 miles and then started driving progressivly harder, I was on my way to work and I launched from a red light and went to shift into 2nd gear and the clutch wouldnt disengage and I could feel a vibration. I attempted to drive the car home and found out that it would shift below 2k rpms but not above... I thought this was very odd so I took it to my mechanic and he suggested it was probobly the slave or master and I should replace both of them so we ordered the parts up and installed them with no change in the clutch behavior.

Then he pulled the tranmission and we found that the pressure plate looked like hell and a clip had broken off and caused it to fail, you can see there are 2 clips and 1 missing in the pictures. I figured thats what I get for ordering an Ebay clutch & didnt even bother with the 1 year man. warranty and I had my mechanic order a new OEM clutch. He inspected the shaft on the transmission and said it looked fine along with the flywheel and he installed the new clutch. Once again I broke it in the first 500 miles and then started driving normal... after 1100 miles I was driving and everything seemed fine, I revved my engine with the clutch pedal pressed in and released it once the rpms fell back down and the car acted the same way as when the first clutch broke. So my mechanic pulled my transmission once again and the same piece on the pressure plate has broken! what is causing this and what can I do to prevent this? So far I have gotten about 1800 miles out of 2 clutches and I have a hard time beleiving both had manufactur defects. I cannot afford to have my car in the shop any more and I definatly cant afford buying clutches every 800 miles... what is the problem?

UCF3 · June 17, 2008

It might be the aftermarket clutch itself. I dropped a Clutchmaster street version on my SC and it failed after a year. I ended up buying a toyota clutch and installed it with a new rear-main steal and Toyota transmission fluid, haven't had a problem for the past 2 years.

What's the condition of your Flywheel?