Clutch questions?

[JoeDaleyN98]

H guys,

New to forum, and just purchased an 01' Liberty RX 2.5 manual. Incredibly happy with it, and having been brought up and only owned falcon sixes, thought I would be left wanting more on power side, but it's a very satisfying drive.

Anyways, enough of that. My clutch feels slightly unusual. When changing gears sometimes is feels like the clutch isn't disengaging properly as it crunches a little and holds the revs up, also the pedal has very little feel until about half way down the travel, where it goes super hard until the floor. As the clutch heats up, the pressure point moves further and further down, and the lack of feeling at the first part of travel becomes completely unresponsive.

Clutch master? On firewall is full of fluid in the reservoir, I assume there is a slave under the dash? Can that be inspected?

Thanks in advance for your help

Joe.

[Kody.B]

How many k's has the car done? Is it the original clutch? If it's done some decent mileage and is the original, it sounds like clutch issues.
Next thing is the cost.
I know this part well because my car was on a tow truck this morning... I am not sure whether the Gen3's had the dual mass flywheel set up but I got quoted $990 for a single mass flywheel conversion kit, genuine parts. You possibly could go cheaper through Excedy or other aftermarket kits, but my genuine parts will come with the clutch forks, flywheel etc etc, it's a full replacement, hence why I agreed to go genuine.

[JoeDaleyN98]

Definitely not original, done 250000 Kms. Has no slipping through any gears including 4th and 5th and the clutch itself feels really good! Just the pedal is horrid. If I replace it I will do the lots also...

How do they work, because my falcons all had cable clutches which are very simple.

Off the pedal there is a cable and at first i thought it was a cable clutch, but then I saw master on the firewall.

Anyone know if gen3 has duel mass flywheel?

[JoeDaleyN98]

Definitely not original, done 250000 Kms. Has no slipping through any gears including 4th and 5th and the clutch itself feels really good! Just the pedal is horrid. If I replace it I will do the lots also...

How do they work, because my falcons all had cable clutches which are very simple.

Off the pedal there is a cable and at first i thought it was a cable clutch, but then I saw master on the firewall.

Anyone know if gen3 has duel mass flywheel?

[Kody.B]

Hmm, depending on when the clutch was replaced it could be fine, it could be stuffed.
First try is to lubricate the pedal to eliminate that doubt.
Sometimes the feelings through the pedal can be caused by the throw out bearing. When my clutch died this morning, it was pulsing and doing all kinds of wierd things.
To be completely honest, I am unsure about how these clutches work.
As for testing for slip, I'm told that it's most noticeable on a power pull in 4-5th gear.

An easy way to check if it's dual mass - if you ride the clutch or give it too much revs, does it squeal at all? It's possible that if it did originally have a dual mass, it was converted to a single when replaced.
The moving friction point is wierd though.
You mentioned the clutch fluid is full, what condition is it in? When was it last changed?

[JoeDaleyN98]

I have only had the car for a couple days so I'm going off what I know from experience. Their is definitely no slipping with the clutch as I have done power pulls up and down the blue mountains to give it a good work out and it definitely doesn't slip or lose any performance. It never makes any noises or vibrations, so from experience, as I have had a couple of clutches let go, this is in very good condition. I will Wd 40 the pedal and visible linkages, and see how it goes. It definitely feels like more then that, namely because of the changing pressure point. The throw bearing is a possibility isn't it.

It doesn't squeal so I can assume its single mass

[Kody.B]

Hmm, well if you've only just got the car, you definitely would have found that if it was dual mass because of the terrible squeal.
The clutch does sound fine then, and I'd bet it's a single mass.
Throw bearing is a possibility. It's fairly common in all Liberty's apparently.
Hit the linkages with some WD40 and change your fluid + bleed it. That will cancel out any maintenance issues.

[C-Shell]

Hmm, well if you've only just got the car, you definitely would have found that if it was dual mass because of the terrible squeal.
The clutch does sound fine then, and I'd bet it's a single mass.
Throw bearing is a possibility. It's fairly common in all Liberty's apparently.
Hit the linkages with some WD40 and change your fluid + bleed it. That will cancel out any maintenance issues.

It will be a Dual Flywheel if its OEM. As for making noise, it doesn't happen to everyone. Riding the clutch or giving it high revs won't always show the noise either. I have given my Gen 3 a couple higher RPM launches/ clutch rides and it never makes any unusual noises.

Single Mass Flywheels tend to give a little more vibration compared to dual mass, but i guess you would only be able to tell if you drive another Gen 3 5 speed haha. As for the feel... I find if i do some spirited driving (i.e through some twisties, mountain areas etc.) the clutch tends to give less and less feel throughout driving. If the clutch isn't disengaging properly you can usually tell as sometimes it won't want to go into to 1st or reverse, but these gearboxes are prone to not liking selecting reverse gear. To improve shifter feel i highly recommend the Nulon G70 additive, will smooth out shifts and help the syncro's if you give it a hard time changing gears etc. Also try not to do big changes from like 2 to 5 haha. I always used to go change into second stay in it until 60/80 then change into 5th. 5th gear syncro now hates selecting 5 above 3.5 grand haha
If previous owner has been lazy on the clutch and not pushing it all the way to the floor when changing gears, it can get a little stiff, I've also found first won't go into gear unless the clutch is all the way to the floor. Don't try and force it into 1st as well. I have to pretty much stationary before 1st will go it, otherwise it crunches even with attempted rev matching.

Have a look through the service book aswell and see when the gearbox and clutch fluid was last changed? Maybe it's sure for a freshen up haha

[JoeDaleyN98]

Thanks mate, my girlfriend has a 2L gen 3 and when it's cold they are both the same albeit my clutch is a little heavier, and when I give both of them a good thrash her clutch maintains the same feel where as mine does exactly the same as yours.

Might service it and go from there. The g70 additive goes in with tranny oil?

Thanks again for your help and info

[C-Shell]

Thanks mate, my girlfriend has a 2L gen 3 and when it's cold they are both the same albeit my clutch is a little heavier, and when I give both of them a good thrash her clutch maintains the same feel where as mine does exactly the same as yours.

Might service it and go from there. The g70 additive goes in with tranny oil?

Thanks again for your help and info

Ahh sweet! I've only driven a B4 (twin turbo) gen 3 which although teu have a 5 speed, it's a little stronger than ours. It also has a HD clutch which meet really fades. These gearbox cold.... So shit haha mine never wants to go into gear and I hate how it holds the rpm for a couple seconds when you throw the clutch until its warmed up!

Chuck some semi/full synthetic oil on the tranny, drive aroun for a couple days, then put the additive in. So you can tell if the oil change actually made any difference. Good luck though mate!!

[JoeDaleyN98]

Hi guys, I have established that my gen3 rx has a dual mass flywheel which after this month has passed is now slipping like a bitch.

What I want to know, and if your in Sydney your help would be greatl y appreciated,

How much will it cost me and where do I get the parts for:

Single mass conversion kit with new clutch

Dual mass replacement kit with new clutch

And the part I dread the most, being an AWD this number could be horrific, but labour costs to replace it.

[Da4sti3]

I just got my clutch replaced in my lib but I drive a gen 4 and I'm in Adelaide but a rough guide for u to consider
My car has a dual mass flywheel I got it changed to single mass for $1300 incl new clutch I dont think there was any difference in price for keeping the dual mass but I would change to a single mass clutch response is better plus u don't have the horrid noise on hillstarts !

[joeyE]

little late to the game, I just replaced the clutch in my 01 lib. as for the clutch travel you could try bleeding the fluid? there is a nipple on the slave cylinder on top of the bell housing (under the airbox), fairly simple compared to bleeding brakes. luckily exedy put out a standard single mass replacement for the dual mass flywheel which I believe you can get for under 1K (fly, plate, cover, bearing, the works) you will notice a remarkable difference between the exedy clutch and fly and the OEM dual mass.