moosestang

My spec stage 2 clutch made a god awful sound today as I was pulling away from a stop. Sounded like metal on metal. I've got 13,000 miles on this clutch with lots of down shifting(I know that's unecessary wear, but I love the sound the exhaust makes when engine breaking.).

Could I need a new clutch all ready?

JIM5.0

Hard to say without actual seeing the clutch itself. The only thing I can say is you would have to have a peek in there to look at the clutch.

Does your clutch feel like it is slipping any?

VistaBlue

Did it happen just the one time, or is it every time you leave from a stop? Every time you shift?

Any number of things can cause a bad noise like that. Something as severe as the clutch plate bolts backing out, missing spring, or as simple as the flywheel needing to be resurfaced.

If it only happened once, I would just be aware of the sounds your car is making as you pull from a stop, but not worry about it too much. If it's happening every time, or often..get that transmission pulled and take a closer look.

daredevil95

13,000 miles driving some-what normal is low......if you hammer the crap out of it.....it's probably getting ready to go. Does the clutch pedal grab high....that's when I noticed mine was going. If not....just monitor it....persistant sounds or vibrations says it time to change.

Blacksmoke

Oh goodness another SPEC problem thread.

My SPEC 2+ did this even before the break in period was over.
Ditch that friggin clutch and go with a Mcleod or an Exedy.

SPEC is crap for these cars and if you get one that works you
are LUCKY as shat.

moosestang

No, I tried to make it slip in 5th, but I didn't give it full throttle, because I hate boosting in 5th gear.

It has done it a few days ago, but it wasn't as loud. No noises when shifting.

There's plenty of horror stories with Exedy clutches. You probably wouldn't buy any clutch if you read everything on the net.

Wish i had a little window to look at the clutch.

Diabolical!

I can tell you this much, don't bother calling SPEC with any concerns. I've had good luck with my SPEC, but I will NEVER buy one again after speaking to their tech department shortly after install. The guy was on the defensive before I even asked a question. That tells me they're used to people having issues with their product.

Doc Hawk

I had a SPEC clutch and pressure plate that came unbalanced from the factory. Spent $80 to have it balanced and it works great, but it would have tore the car apart if I'd dropped it in without balancing. It was that far off.

Blacksmoke

What I am trying to get at is this.
Your clutch is making a noise.
It is a noise that people that have had SPEC's in their cars have had
when their clutches were trash.

Now... the 2+ does have a mix of metal/another substance that can lead
to more noise BUT the 2 is NOT supposed to do this.
I was told on the phone by SPEC before hand that the 2+ was completely streetable even when I asked them about noise and I was lied to.

It's obvious you cannot trust SPEC to tell you the truth about ANYTHING.
I went through 4 agents before one told me they were having a lot of problems (I kinda tricked him into it.)
Like I said they tried to blame me for EVERYTHING.
Even after I got it out of him they were having problems they STILL refused to replace my parts or refund my money.

They simply said "you can mail it back to us and if we find any problems we will fix the problem on the clutch and send you back the same part".

That was all I needed to hear. I jerked it out and threw it in the garbage.
Do you REALLY think I would have got a good working clutch back when
they would not replace the parts? I doubt those bastards would even LOOK at it. I would not have put it past them to mail it back the same way it was.

I'm not trying to scare you. I'm just telling you my story.
It was after my story that I found SO many others.
Most were with the 2 and 2+
Obviously this clutch is not great for our cars and like I said if you get a good one I think you are lucky.

Yes there are horror stories with every clutch. But take the time
to see how many there are about SPEC comparatively and you will see
SPECs are overwhelming compared to the others.

The stories on the net about the Exedy clutches are mostly mistaken stories. People thought they used them in the ROUSH cars that had the clutch problems but in fact they did not.
I had this confirmed from ROUSH. Also many of the stories include people that had bought other flywheels.
Exedy says to use either your stock flywheel and resurface it, or use their flywheel.
Gotta pay attention to instructions ya know.

Ford Racing uses Exedy.

In my opinion Exedy and Mcleod are the best clutches you can buy.

Blacksmoke

EXACTLY.
I have NEVER been treated so bad by a rep than I have with the SPEC customer reps.
One word to describe it.

HORRIBLE.