Early signs of slipping clutch. What is recommended for stage 2 performance tuning?

[garciapiano]

I just spoke to them on the phone. The clutch they sell to most VW guys is a 6-puck ceramic, which they say is good for around 450 HP. I asked about a full-face ceramic, and he said it might be a little easier to drive, but probably wouldn't hold as much power. He quoted me $400 for the clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel resurface. I'm gonna try to go up there tomorrow.

I would strongly advise against that clutch. Your TDI is not putting out 450hp, and those puck-type clutches are just not gonna drive as well for a street-oriented car.

TDIs use special diesel specific clutches because of the harmonic and NVH naturally present in the engine.

South Bend Stage 2 Endurance is the move for most cars. My car has .260s, 11mm and VNT17, it’s not slipping at all and is a 100% daily friendly clutch. It’s probably more than I need.

With clutches I always recommend buy once cry once… they’re not so easy to change

 

[thechoochlyman]

I'm not too worried about it. I've seen a lot of rave reviews from guys in the TDI facebook groups as well as on Google and just in general. They've been around for decades and build clutches and brakes for anything from passenger cars to semis, tractors, and heavy equipment. I'm sure they know what they're doing. I can handle it being a little picky for street driving as long as I don't have to worry about it ever slipping again.

 

[Starion_slider]

If you put a heavy one in there be prepared for the clutch rod to blast through the little box it sits inside on the pedal. Mines welded back together and I put a stock style “quiet clutch” from idparts in mine probably like 8yrs ago.

 

[thechoochlyman]

I know the part you're talking about. I wouldn't expect the pressure plate to be much heavier, but I'll ask.

 

[thechoochlyman]

Now considering reusing a Sachs pressure plate I just pulled out of parts car. Appears to be in great shape, and KY clutch asked if I'd rather have mine resurfaced. Anybody have opinions on that option?



Also re-sealed a lower-mileage transmission to swap into my car along with the clutch change. For some reason mine starts wanting to grind into gears if I've been driving for several hours, and with 360k miles on it I figured why not?

 

[dieseldonato]

Never heard of resurfacing a pressure plate. That's a new one to me.

 

[garciapiano]

Is the pressure plate from a TDI?
Can’t imagine why you wouldn’t be able to resurface it if you’re not wanting to spend the $$$ on a new clutch

 

[thechoochlyman]

Is the pressure plate from a TDI?
Can’t imagine why you wouldn’t be able to resurface it if you’re not wanting to spend the $$$ on a new clutch

Yep, identical to my car.

 

[garciapiano]

If it’s the stock one don’t you think it’s just goin to slip again? Playing devils advocate of course

 

[thechoochlyman]

Not necessarily, the VR6 clutch was organic material. I would think the ceramic puck style would hold a lot more even with a stock pressure plate. While I'm at the clutch shop I'll figure out if their pressure plate is heavier or not.

 

[thechoochlyman]

The Bentley manual seems to approve reusing pressure plates.

 

[thechoochlyman]

Hey @ToddA1 , a long time ago you mentioned something about shaving the ears on a pressure plate to significantly increase the clamping force. Do you recall anything about that?

 

[dieseldonato]

Something to think about, you may start running into stacking tolerance issues resurfacing the pressure plate. Possibly a non issue, and you may be able to take the litter step in the flywheel down a bit to compensate for the decrease in pressure plate thickness. As far as wear in the diaphragm spring fingers, if you're close to the wear limit, it's not worth reusing. Nothing would be worse then getting a few thousand miles on it and loosing a finger tip or worse, not being able to disengage the clutch.

 

[thechoochlyman]

Yesterday I went up to Kentucky Clutch and gave them my parts, and explained what I was looking for. According to them, a new pressure plate from them would be equal to a stock replacement as far as holding power. They also said that it would be perfectly fine to resurface the clutch and pressure plate I brought in, as they both still had factory machining marks and no visible damage. Whatever amount they remove during resurfacing would be compensated for with a slightly thicker clutch disc.

As for clutch material, I opted to go with a full-face ceramic disc. I told him I would probably not be pushing over 200 HP at absolute best, and I'm not making a crazy strong build. The full-face will engage a bit smoother (although still a little grabby) and have a longer life than a puck-style disc. They didn't have the material on-hand to build it while I was there, so I will be going back next week to pick it up. Reusing my flywheel and pressure plate, I wouldn't expect to pay over $300.

 

[dieseldonato]

I'd say you made the correct choice with a full face clutch. People don't realize how miserable it is to (try to) street/ daily drive a grabby heavy clutch. I made that mistake with my first gen 12v cummins. Bought the biggest twin disk clutch I could find for it. Never have to replace it again. Yeah right, was basically an on off switch if you weren't up over 3k rpm trying to build boost hooked to a sled. Ended up pulling it out a month or so later and going with a more moderate organic/ ceramic clutch. Friend if mine that bought it, is still running that clutch. Although that truck has been retired to farm use in the past few years, I don't he'll ever wear it out before the body finishes rotting off it.