Clutch Failure

[MEP]

29,900 miles, stock engine, never plowed snow, never towed anythig. Just a victum of a P.O.S GM dual mass flywheel and clutch!!
While getting ready to take off at a stop light,I stepped on the clutch to shift into 2nd. Pedal felt a little hard but I could not shift tranny into gear! Shut off engine, shifted into 1st, stepped on clutch and cranked engine to start. While starter was pulling truck forward (because clutch would not release), engine started and I was able to pull into a safe location were I could have it towed.
Two or three weeks ago I knew I was having problems with the clutch because it started slipping when passing people on the highway. I also still have a rough idle problem. On another post (rough idle) "CRAFTY" had his idle problem solved by having the flywheel replaced.
Some of you people have posted replies to the "hard clutch pedal..." subject and mentioned slipping clutches. Well it isn't because due to tires breaking loose.
Question? Who make a good after market flywheel and clutch that is reliable. Also, If I replace the flywheel with a non GM part, will I void the 5yr/100,000 engine warranty? The flywheel is considered part of the engine.

[CPMac632]

I don't know of anyone that has a replacement flywheel yet. The only company I know that is beefing up existing clutches is South Bend clutch. They will upgrade your existing pressure plate and disc. Someone once mentioned a company that would upgrade dual mass flywheels with better quality hardware but I don't remember who that was.

[DieselDennis]

If you do decide to go with an aftermarket flywheel, I've heard lots of people have good experiences with a LUK clutch. And I know SouthBend does good work too. You might try snooping around on the Ford boards as they have the same DMFW and ZF6. But if warranty is going to cover it I'd probably just pay the deductable and let them fix it.

[crafty]

MEP,
Sorry to hear that your clutch let go! Ever since I had the flywheel replaced I have had no problems at all. I towed 9500 lbs over 500 miles on highways this fall and never experienced any slipage or anything. (I have pics of the trailer & load setup at the link below) I think the new flywheel that GM is putting in should be okay and you should still get warranty for it.
Good Luck! :D :D :D

[MEP]

I found a web site that has a 2 page tech bulletin on Dual Mass Flywheels.

http://www.standardtransmission.com/dmf/html

[rberner]

For someones info MEP'S posted url address needs to be www.standardtransmission.com/dmf.html ;)

[a5150nut]

Try driveline.com or drivetrain.com they are out of Las Vegas. Same duel mass flywheel as stock and same as the Fords use. Sounds like clutch fork/ball went south on you.

[MEP]

Got my truck back yesterday. At first they replaced the clutch master cylinder, but that did not fix the problem, so they ended up replacing the flywheel, pressure plate, clutch disk and throw-out bearing. The problem was with the flywheel. The friction ring btwn the two flywheel masses was slipping and when I inspected the damper springs inside the flywheel, some were relaxed. That explains why the truck had a roudh idle.
The new clutch is a lot firmer then the old one which is the way I like it. The engine also runs a lot smoother and when I shut it off it does not shake and rattle like it did before. This is the best this truck has ever run and all this work was under warranty.

[1822]

When I bought my 2002 the salesman would not sell me a stick because of cluth problems they have had in the past. This dealer only sells trucks And I think that makes for a more knowledgabe sales and service staff when dealing with these vehicles.

[crafty]

If anyone else out there with the 6 speed is experiencing the "rough idle" that MEP and I had with our trucks I highly reccomend that you go and get a new flywheel sooner than later before that flywheel damages other things. I have no regrets with my standard and I would never even think about the automatic just because of this little problem.
I'm very happy shifting gears.

:D :D :D

[MaxRock]

I'm getting ready to turn 32k miles on my '02. I have not experienced any of the problems ya'll are speaking about. It doesn't give me the warm fuzzies, if it is going to fail, I would rather it be sooner than later (i.e. warranty). If I'm correct, the drivetrain warranty is on good for 36k...right? I know that F#$d had the same problem with their dual mass flywheel.

I will keep a close eye/ear out to look for the tell tale signs of failure.

Thanks for the information.

MaxRock

[spctr13]

The flywheel is considered part of the engine and is covered to 100,000 , after 36,000 - plus deductable . Mine failed at 35,900+ , got new flywheel and transmission , again at 52,000 , got new flywheel , paid $100.00 deductable . Now at 57,500 .

Mac

[Colorado Kid]

That's very good news to me...maybe by the time I'm out of warranty there will be a real solution to the not so heavy duty flywheel.

On the other hand, not so good news if the flywheel is going to be and every 20,000 mile maintenance item :eek:

[needbigtruck]

Crafty. I just had the master/slave cylinder replaced for my clutch (see hard clutch....). I'm pretty sure it fixed my "hard clutch" problem. To replace the slave cylinder they had to tear the entire xmission apart. The mechanic said everything looked good. I didn't know about this dual mass flywheel thing, but I did ask him about how the flywheel and clutch parts looked. He said they looked fine, but then he wasn't taking it apart for that reason, so who knows how closely he looked at things (difference between me doing the work and a dealer, they only see what they want to see). I would like to know more about the rough idle. Actually the question is was the rough idle all the time? Mine idles rough when I start it on these cold winter days. However I usually give a little throttle to around 1500 rpm for abouit a minute (until the voltage comes up). After that it idles very smooth. Guess I'd like to know if I need to worry. I would hope that any good mechanic would notice a problem with the all the components that they have to take apart. It would save money and time for all involved, GM and the costumer. Guess if my clutch fails I could argue that they***ut had it appart, why didn't they fix it then? Oh well I'm dreaming.

[a5150nut]

needbigtruck

When my old 94 flywheel went, it would get rough sitting at a light. Sometimes I would stop and it would run smooth, then out of no where it would start the herky jerky. Tried loading with the clutch, no change. Some times adding a few hundred rpm would smooth things out, not always. New flywheel fixed it! Pivot ball and fork were bad but the clutch and disc looked good enough to save for a spare.

Wish I could slip in one of those 6 speeds......