Clutch & Flywheel Diagnosis Help

[WilsonSwift]

Afternoon all,

I'm after some advice regarding the clutch and flywheel on my Integra. The previous owner had a replacement clutch and flywheel carried out by a garage around 3000 miles ago. The clutch is an OEM replacement and the flywheel is a Fidanza lightened item. The car tends to judder very badly whilst traveling at low speeds and when approaching the car's biting point. I initially put this down to the reduced weight of the flywheel, but it got worse.

I decided to find out myself what the problem was. So this weekend I started to remove the gearbox, clutch and flywheel for inspection. Both the clutch and flywheel look like new, however there appear to be hotspots on both the surface of the clutch and the flywheel. I also found traces of oil on the rear of the flywheel so I confirmed this was due to a crank seal leak, albeit very minor it seems - replacement ordered.

However I'm still not sure weather or not the clutch and flywheel need replacing due to their very low mileage. It seems a shame to replace something that's seen so little use! It would be great to get a second (and more knowledgeable) opinion on what's causing the judder. I assume the clutch needs changing but what about the flywheel?


The clutch:



Flywheel:







Oil seal:



Any advice would be very much appreciated

Edited by WilsonSwift on Sunday 17th April 19:22

[mighty kitten]

I would get a steel flywheel and have it lightened , I don't trust those ally ones at all , a mate had one rip it's centre out on a track day luckily the outer part stayed in one piece , who knows what the heat transfer from the metal inserts does to the strength of the ally part .

[stevieturbo]

No doubt there are some very good alloy flywheels out there....I'd still go for steel. Even more so as it's a small high revving engine.

But the juddery clutch could be down to the friction surface, or the friction material itself.

[227bhp]

Stick it on ebay and put the OE back on, some clown will buy it.
Aluminium isn't a good material for a FW, it isn't strong enough and cracks when it's been flexed too many times.
I seem to remember Mr Puma considering it mathematically and writing about what little there is to be gained from fitting a lightened FW.

[Pumaracing]

The flywheel steel insert plate appears to be contaminated with clutch friction material, possibly from oil fouling. I'd check the flywheel for runout with a dial gauge and then clean up both the flywheel and pressure plate with 80 grit abrasive paper or an oilstone and replace the clutch friction plate. Also check engine and gearbox mounts as these can cause judder if worn or broken.

As for what I've posted about lightened flywheels the full article is here.

https://web.archive.org/web/20110918114916/http://...

The effects can be significant, in the lower gears especially.

[CarsOrBikes]

227bhp said:

I seem to remember Mr Puma considering it mathematically and writing about what little there is to be gained from fitting a lightened FW.

You might want to read his report again, alloy aside, it is an advantage, not a disadvantage. I also believe there is confusion in the report over the term high/low gearing, but good info otherwise. I am glad to see whilst he says the light flywheel does not create power, he also doesn't say the heavy flywheel creates torque which of course it doesn't as some profess.

Keep the light flywheel, have it checked maybe, but use another maybe if not that one? Only my2p