How could my pressure plate warp... see picture. Hard to see but four or five of the spokes are lower than all the others, red ring in the pic. Interestingly the clutch has never felt as good as it does now. Like a new car! I am wondering if it was a bad plate from new. There was also possibly air in the system. This car has never been pulled apart engine/transmission wise.
clutch dumps?
I don't know but good that you found it so you can fix it.
Same thing happened to me @ ~18,500 miles. 2006 S. My throw-out bearing basically imploded, and I could not properly disengage the clutch. Dealer replaced PP, and throw-out bearing under warranty. They did not change the clutch disk.
Now at 23,500 miles, there is some clutch chatter on engagement, but otherwise works OK. Feels like **** tho.
Pressure Plate fingers being uneven, believe it or not, can occur at the factory. Most likely, however, it is the result of riding the clutch, as that causes frequent off and on depression of those fingers by the bearing. It is also possible that the return springs themselves are failing to return, due to losing some tension from overheating.
Usually, all premature clutch component failure is a result of driver induce/abuse.
At that time, were you given the option of paying for a new disc?
Having sold clutches for several years, it is generally less expensive in the long run to replace wearable parts when that area is exposed for repairs on the system effected.
Had it have been my car, I would have requested the disc also be changed.
If you ride the clutch, slip it on hills to hold position, or do any abusive engagements, then the disc will likely have indications of wear. And since the disc had wear, it isn't smart to use it with a new pressure plate.
BTW, if you are now getting chatter on engagement, it is possible that the new TOB or shaft seal is making some grease available for contamination of the disc. In very small quantities, that can cause chatter. But more than likely, it is just the old disc reacting to the new pressure plate. They should have replaced it (or at the miniumum, recommended it be replaced).
SharkWerks replaced the whole clutch assembly for me and added the LWFW…
My clutch has always felt weird. 1st and 2nd always a bitch to engage. Now it feels great! Alex told me he thought it was a factory bad plate as my clutch looked in good condition. I don’t ride the clutch. However, the only clutch I have ever dumped is the Corvette I once owned, in fact I think I dumped the car with the clutch at the same time. :hilarious:
BTW I LOVE the LWFW...
Knowing Marc's experience and the way he drives (well btw) I'm going to agree with you on the first part. Luckily he's not in SF so there's not really any slippage going on. I've seen this happen a couple of times but it's certainly rare... On the plus side a LWF got put in:banana:
Air in the system wouldn't cause this. This is likely caused by overheating of the plate.
Agreed
+1 on that. If you've got the car torn down to the cluthc, it's silly not to replace it. Also keep in mind that a clutch is just like a big doudle sided brake pad and the flywheel and PP are like the brake rotors. New parts need to bed in to each other, just like when you replace the brakes.
