What brand clutch is this? (on Ebay)

[DavidPartay]

Hey all,

I may be needing a new clutch, but I'm broke and stingey and therefore trying to save as much money as possible.

I've found this on eBay but it doesn't say want brand it is. Honestly, I don't care about brand, and I'm sure it's a perfectly good clutch + flywheel but for something that's so much effort to install I want to be sure I won't just be throwing my money away.

I'm not interested in getting the dual-mass flywheel kit again.

COMMODORE S2 VS VT VU VX 6 CYL CLUTCH KIT & FLYWHEEL | eBay

[Cameron P]

i actually came across this aswell cause i need a new clutch soon too :P

not to sure if its dodgy or not.. but i suggest giving them a call

[DavidPartay]

I just noticed it says this in the description ".Some pictures may even be generic pictures we have used for a number of sales ..So again if in doubt..ring or email.. Thankyou.. Rob Mills" so yeah, I might get in touch with them... They seem to be genuinely interested in doing the right thing, and 99.9% positive feedback out of nearly 20,000 is pretty good

[Cameron P]

yeah that is good!

how expensive are clutches for the getrag huh??!!!!!!

[DavidPartay]

Minimum $1,100 for the Exedy heavy duty or OEM clutch is just too much so I really hope that a) it's not a clutch problem and b) that if it is, these clutches are just as good as the Exedy ones

[Cameron P]

its only a little bit cheaper so i would save up for the HD exedy kit

whats your issue mate??

[DavidPartay]

Ok - just got a reply back from Rob!

David.These are Valeo kits with the flywheel made here in Melbourne.
Best clutch manufacturer in my view. I have sold over 100 of them with no dramas at all.In fact I have heard nothing from anyone..Which means all is good.
Cheers
Rob Mills

Sounds good to me

Also found this thread after doing a search for Valeo

Valeo Clutch????

[Cameron P]

hmm interesting.. so apparently there not that bad huh, might buy this!

[DavidPartay]

Cameron - It's either the clutch is going, or pressure plate bolts have sheared. I had to tighten them after doing the manual conversion and not torquing them correctly, and I may have overstretched one or two of them. I did shear one by accident at this time, however now I have a torque wrench on order and will be replacing all the bolts.

I am about 90% confident that it's just the bolts.

But, honestly the car is already out of action (still driveable, but I'm not taking any chances) and my pregnant wife tends to get a lot of pain when driving the MX-5 because of the firm suspension and vibrations instead so I'd rather buy the cheaper one (which turns out is quite a good one) when we have the money instead of waiting another week or two for one that may or may not be any better...

[Cameron P]

ahhk but what is the clutch doing whilst driving?

[DavidPartay]

It slips if the clutch is fully engaged and doesn't pick up until a fair bit later in the stroke.

The change happened suddenly, not gradually, which is why I'm thinking bolts...

[DavidPartay]

Well, turns out that it didn't *seem* to be the bolts (they did kind of seem a little loose though, maybe).

But, the clutch has worn unevenly and there is a small 'chunk' sticking out of the pressure plate, which had gouged the clutchplate.

So, we're buying one of those Valeo flywheel + clutches, and we'll see how it compares to the standard dual-mass flywheel + clutch. I will of course, provide feedback for everyone interested .

Thank goodness we bought a second car in January to keep the wife mobile while the VX is off the road

[DavidPartay]

First impressions are VERY good

I had to look up the torque figures for the bolts which came with the flywheel. They are (after I learned how to read the markings) SAE grade 5, 8mm bolts, and therefore the lubricated torque reading is 19.1 Nm. I used Loctite on them so followed the lubricated reading, took them up to probably closer to 21 Nm though.

The flywheel physically feels much lighter than the standard dual-mass one, the pressure plate was also a little lighter.

Getting the thrust bearing onto the thrust um... thing required the use of a rubber mallet, but it wasn't impossible.

The clutch pedal has a bit more 'pop' to it now, and feels quite nice to use.

AND, contrary to everything I've been reading, the gearbox is no noisier and the engine is not running any rougher with the single-mass flywheel. I didn't do any so-called 'mirror balancing', just put it in straight out of the box after giving it a wipe down with a rag and metho to clean off the oil they used to protect the surface.

In short: If you want to replace your dual-mass flywheel and clutch with a standard-quality single-mass flywheel + clutch, then this one is just fine .

Oh, one thing - it came with (for some bizarre reason) allen-head bolts for the pressure plate to flywheel. These are, however, the exact same thread as those provided by Holden for the standard one, just a little shorter. I used the standard bolts and torqued them up to around 22 Nm (the service manual recommends 18 - 25, but doesn't say whether lubed or dry so I assumed dry).

I also replaced the spigot bush as the other one had been worn out due to seizing onto the end of the gearbox shaft - which I tidied off and greased up. I am fairly sure the loose spigot bush was the primary cause for the uneven wear on the clutchplate. I didn't apply any grease to the end of the gearbox shaft when I did the conversion, so only really have myself to blame

[markovr]

I also replaced the spigot bush as the other one had been worn out due to seizing onto the end of the gearbox shaft - which I tidied off and greased up. I am fairly sure the loose spigot bush was the primary cause for the uneven wear on the clutchplate. I didn't apply any grease to the end of the gearbox shaft when I did the conversion, so only really have myself to blame

Every t5 clutch I have pulled apart has had this bush spun and loose in back of crank ....I even bought a secondhand engine with flywheel and it had spun too so it looks pretty common...last time I bought a new bush from holden, it it came in a packet that was smeared inside with oil and then I soaked it for days in oil before installing and I used loctite to glue it in ...if the clutch has to come out again it will be interesting to see if it has spun again....I reckon my shudder problem that also seems common is because my bearing retainer is worn on one side and the throwout bearing doesnt push centrally on the pressure plate and you can feel the resistance at the pedal change when the engine is running as the throwout bearing is pushed to wear side with the rotation of the engine.