New clutch no grabbing

[yaddamean]

I just had a new exedy clutch and new fidanze flywheel installed. So far I have about 300 miles on the clutch. In the beginning, clutch would grab at a low point but grabbed well. Now the clutch is starting to grab at the very top when I release the pedal. Its fine when I first drive it but after 15-20 mins, it just starts to not grab at all. Ill be in gear and ill give gas and the car will rev but barely move. Possible it wasnt installed correctly? I I just had the master and slave cylinder replaced before this happened.

[robomatic12]

Was the clutch pedal adjusted properly when the new clutch was installed?

Was the clutch system properly bled with the installment of new master+slave cylinders?

Did you use OEM replacement master and slave cylinders?

Did you do the install yourself?

[yaddamean]

Was the clutch pedal adjusted properly when the new clutch was installed?

Was the clutch system properly bled with the installment of new master+slave cylinders?

Did you use OEM replacement master and slave cylinders?

Did you do the install yourself?

The clutch was installed by my good friend who is a master tech at a local toyota dealership so I'm pretty confident in his abilities. He wont be able to look at it till Sunday. The master and slave cylinder was installed at the same time but they were parts from autozone. As far as I can tell, there are no leaks. As far as the pedal, I'm not even sure.

When I first drive the car, the pedal is a bit soft but still grabs at the top and grabs well. When it starts to not grab, the pedal gets a lot stiffer.

[sydwyZ32]

I had a similar problem about 2 years ago, i had a clutch in my car that wasn't installed properly.. a month and a half later it was gone...and so was another 800 bones for a new clutch and flywheel.

But exactly what you are describing with pedal feel is what I went through.

[robomatic12]

One quick check is to watch the clutch slave cylinder extend when somone pushes on the clutch pedal, aslong as your car isnt dumped you can see this without a hoist.

If it moves a fair ways...I can't remember what it should be but somewhere around 1/2" to an 1"? This means the hydraulic system is working okay.

[Ace2cool]

It's not a hydraulic system problem. If that were the problem, the clutch wouldn't disengage. He has a problem with it staying engaged.

Did you properly break in the clutch (no hard pulls, keep it under 3000 rpm for the first 300 miles, ect)? Or did you just drive it as you normally would have? If you drove it hard at all, there is a very good chance you glazed the friction disc, and it didn't properly mate to the flywheel/pressure plate, nor will it ever. The only solution in that case is that you replace your friction plate and resurface the mating points.

Also, if your friend installed the friction plate backwards, or misaligned anything, or even did something like forget to replace the pilot bushing, the friction plate could be done.

[es.biggs]

I'm pretty sure you can't put the clutch in backwards. Maybe on some cars but not this one iirc. The shape splines on the disc would make it impossible to bolt the pressure plate onto the flywheel. The transmission side sticks out a lot.

My guess would be check the free play in the clutch pedal - that is the amount of room you can move the pedal before it starts to disengage the clutch. The Service Manual (available online, google it) tells you how much is okay and how much is too much or too little...your buddy should know about this so just tell him to check that out.

You might have a problem with the clutch not disengaging all the way when you are in neutral. Rather than completely disengaging, it could stay touching the flywheel just slightly, causing hot spots which will make the clutch slip until it cools down.

Other possibilities that come to mind first...the clutch/pressure plate/flywheel surfaces could have been dirty or contaminated with oil/grease before installation. It's always a good idea to clean the new parts especially on the mating surfaces. If he forgot to clean them, that could be a possibility. Also if your rear main seal is leaking it might have dirtied up the friction surfaces as well.

Check out that free play before doing anything - and the obvious things like look for leaks and make sure the clutch fluid is filled up.