Clutch recommendations for stock b3?

[gauge_half_inch]

I just had a flywheel resufased last week at the coat of $35 from a very reputable machine shop on the area.

[TorqueEffect]

My '93 had an Exedy in it when I replaced the original clutch at 120K.

Well the guy I bought the car off of said the engine had 125K miles on it, but the body had over 300k miles on it (It really shows lol), if they didn't swap the transmission with the engine, then this clutch has over 300k miles on it which would be crazy, that or more likely the 89 Festy they swapped the motor from was an LX and just swapped it with the tranny still attached.

[TorqueEffect]

Ok what is this I hear about the spider gears falling out of place when both axles are out? What is the likelihood of these gears falling into the case?

[Tommychu]

It usually takes a fair bit of force to knock 'em out. hasn't happened to me yet after 3 tranny pulls. If you want to be super cautious just leave the passenger axle in the trans when you pull it, it's a little more maneuvering to get the tranny out that way but not too bad.

[blkfordsedan]

Yes, it takes a fair amount of force to knock them out. All you need is a piece of rolled up cardboard to stick in the axle hole if you pull both axles.

[georgeb]

If you're cheap like me there's a used clutch with flywheel on Ebay for $40 shipped. I was thinking of getting it myself because my backup motor is without them. Also the side gears shouldn't fall unless you turn any of the three rotating assemblies. Old CV cases work best for added protection.

[TorqueEffect]

Still not 100% sure what the clutch is doing, it is like a combination of slipping and chattering, but just to test if it really was slipping they say to throw it in a high gear and let off the clutch with the parking brake on, and if it is slipping it will not stall immediately, mine did stall immediately.

Also chattering clutches from all the videos I have seen on youtube are pretty violent, and there is nothing violent about what the clutch is doing. Only thing I notice is the shuddering/vibration like sound from the engine exhaust, and the lack of acceleration when the engine speed increases, and there is some slight jumping when I back off the throttle enough like the clutch is grabbing then letting go.

I can't seem to recreate the problem with the car sitting still with the parking brake on and slowly engaging the clutch while revving the engine, it only does it when the car is in motion.

If you're cheap like me there's a used clutch with flywheel on Ebay for $40 shipped. I was thinking of getting it myself because my backup motor is without them. Also the side gears shouldn't fall unless you turn any of the three rotating assemblies. Old CV cases work best for added protection.

Yeah, I am not going to be cheap if I have to put this much work into it. lol

Plus I have no idea how many miles are on that used clutch/flywheel anyway.

[JPT]

Still not 100% sure what the clutch is doing, it is like a combination of slipping and chattering, but just to test if it really was slipping they say to throw it in a high gear and let off the clutch with the parking brake on, and if it is slipping it will not stall immediately, mine did stall immediately.

Both are signs of a slipping clutch. My car did this when I first got it. Putting in a new clutch (Exedy) solved this problem.

My new clutch (the Bahnhöf BS) slips when ever I floor it in 3rd or higher.

Try this. Get to 5th gear at say 40 - 50 mph and floor it. If it doesn't accelerate, but the RPM goes up and/or it chatters, it is slipping.

[TorqueEffect]

Both are signs of a slipping clutch. My car did this when I first got it. Putting in a new clutch (Exedy) solved this problem.

My new clutch (the Bahnhöf BS) slips when ever I floor it in 3rd or higher.

Try this. Get to 5th gear at say 40 - 50 mph and floor it. If it doesn't accelerate, but the RPM goes up and/or it chatters, it is slipping.

K just got back from trying that. The car does accelerate, but very slowly, RPMS don't rise like it is slipping, but the vibration sound in the exhaust note is there.

Yesterday I did try and take it on the highway, but I couldn't even get it to do 65, barely 60.

[TorqueEffect]

Now a few days later with a little bit of driving, and now the problem has cleared up almost completely. Rainy day clutch chatter I am guessing? Took a while to clear up.

Only indication it is there anymore is what sounds like a miss every once in a while with an almost unnoticeable lurch, but that could be since I put in those garbage Bosch +4s in a few weeks ago without even knowing they were garbage.

[MasterTec]

I'm not convinced you have a clutch issue. What you describe sounds more like a miss. Get rid of those junk spark plugs, put the right ones in and see what happens.

[TorqueEffect]

I'm not convinced you have a clutch issue. What you describe sounds more like a miss. Get rid of those junk spark plugs, put the right ones in and see what happens.

Alright, I will throw the Champion plugs that were in there before back in tomorrow and see if anything changes.

What makes me think it is the clutch and not the engine, is because I can have the car in neutral and rev the engine all day and not get anything like what it does when in gear and the clutch is engaged.

[TorqueEffect]

You have got to be kidding me....
I swapped the old plugs back in, now it runs like a top.

I will give it a few more days before I am 100% certain that the Bosch plugs were the problem, because it was running much much better yesterday even when the Bosch plugs were still installed.
Could just be a coincidence that whatever was on the clutch could have dried up before I changed the plugs.

Still going to go back to oreilys and get my money back for these pieces of junk.

[blkfordsedan]

I would think even the Bosch plugs are better than Champions. My B3 runs better on. Bosch +2's than any other plugs. You might try a set of plain old Autolite or Motorcraft copper cores.

[TorqueEffect]

I would think even the Bosch plugs are better than Champions. My B3 runs better on. Bosch +2's than any other plugs. You might try a set of plain old Autolite or Motorcraft copper cores.

People have had better luck with Bosch +2s than the +4s in their Festiva. Something about the +4s shrouding the spark, so the spark isn't as exposed to the air/fuel mixture because of the extra ground pins.

But yeah, I picked up and installed a set of Autolite coppers, they run just as well as the Champions did. (No clue if they were platinum, or copper.)

I've been told platinum plugs are harder on older cars that came from the factory with copper plugs, something about more stress on the coil since platinum isn't as conductive as copper, so it takes more energy to create the spark.

That could be complete nonsense for all I know.