Inverted clutch?? [SOLVED]

Well my clutch shat itself on way home from work last night. I'm thinking the pressure plate has popped itself inside-out. It was an Excedy installed less than 12 months ago.
Cant get on to the mechanic who installed it untill monday so I'll put some feelers out here in the meantime.

Symptoms were;

Since about a week ago, clutch pedal wasnt returning of its own accord everytime.
Still drove fine, was meaning to have a look and adjust the pedal height but was overpowered by CBFs and beer everynight after hard days work, and tryed to drive around it, but it was a fine line between pushing pedal to the floor and clutch not fully disengaging - maybe an inch, but that seemed to fluctuate for some reason.

Started making whirring noise when clutch pedal depressed.

Last night on way home, clutch started slipping a bit, whirring was worse, then got stuck in traffic, pushed the clutch in one last time and bang. No clutch, no pedal, sounds like my pressure plate is on a lathe even in neutral.

Just wondering if any of this sounds familiar, and if i have any recourse with Excedy or the mechanich who installed it?

Mate that doesn't sound like a good day.. I don't know what would could of caused that but from my experience with a new exceed clutch I don't think very highly of them any more. And was surprised that Nissan d40 standard clutch was made by exceed..
I don't know how many Km the warranty is for, but if you haven't done many km and its still in warranty I would be talking to them...
Let us know what you find when its removed....

I wouldn't be happy, but it might be a thrust bearing that's shot - broken lifter, that sort of thing. It wouldn't matter what gear you were in - the gearbox innards are further down the driveline, you'd hear something any time the engine was running.

You literally cant turn the engine on without grinding whatever is broken in there. Had to muscle-steer it pushing it around last night.

I would have thought minimum 12 month warranty... Time to get it pulled apart I guess..

12 month/ 20,000km warranty on their website. Hopefully you haven't run up too many km's.

Yeah thanks^, pretty sure its under that, the mechanic that did the install wont be beck from his Thailand sex holiday till tuesday week, the guy running the show till then is being a little bitch and doesnt want to play, reckons that excedy wont play, reckons he's under the pump - just went down there to talk in person, there were no spanners swinging. I told him to just charge me what its worth and then we'll get Kenny to chase excedy up when he gets back from his lady-boy holiday. He cant start 'till wednesday, im going to have to hire a 1 ton ute for a few days for work. Gonna skid the shit out of it.

having a look under the car, the slave is at full extension, and the fork is under no tension, but feels like the spring is still holding it on its ball. Unfortunately there does not seem to be an inspection cover.

Throw-out bearing shit itself. Didnt take pics, but was completely munted. Clutch was perfect except the "fingers" were ground down a fair bit from that so still have to fork out for a new one. Was out of warranty by three months.

The bearing cant of been changed when the clutch was.. id find a new mechanic..

4 naving said:

The bearing cant of been changed when the clutch was.. id find a new mechanic..

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That's exactly my thought -They need to be flogged these f'n rodent machanics !

ummm just an up date, got a new thrust bearing in a clutch kit that was fitted and that started screaming it's head of under a 1000k's .... it can happen- just a dodgy bearing off the production line..

Bit of an update on this; The throw out bearing shat itself again just now on the way home. Had to get a tow. Thats two, in what 20k? I think its excedy. Will hopefully find out tomorrow when i speak to the "mechanic" Needless to say if he doesnt help us out with this i wont be going back there.
This time of year too - and im working through. Its a work ute that i need to drag tons of gear around every day.
Thinking about getting a genuine one and doing it myself.

Is it possible it is an installation issue? or is it something I'm doing? I try not to sit around in gear with the clutch in when stuck in traffic. Usually put it in neutral.

Anyone else heard of dodgy throw out bearings? The original one outlasted the clutch. The next two got less than a year each.

Which exedy clutch did you have ?
I had the "pink" version put in a year ago but it's starting to get a shudder when I let the clutch out.
cheers

I think you'd have to start listing the possible reasons for throw-out bearing failures and try to determine which is the more likely.

1) Overheating the clutch (massively) causing the retaining clips in the side of the bearing surfaces to succumb and release the bearings. Chances: next to zero unless you can smell the clutch.

2) Incorrect installation causing misalignment of the thrust surface on the back of the rotating pressure plate surface causing uneven wear of the thrust bearing. I have my doubts about this because even a blind man would be able to seat the thing correctly.

3) Similar to 2), but it's one of the arms in the hydraulic lifter (that holds the thrust bearing) that isn't aligned properly. Either poor manufacture (not so likely) or it's been damaged (more likely) and now it's applying uneven pressure on the thrust bearing. This will of course apply uneven pressure to the pressure plate and the clutch, but since those two components rotate constantly, it won't be detrimental to them.

4) Poor quality thrust bearing. Is it possible that a less expensive component was chosen in order to meet a deadline, or budget constraint? What are the chances? I'd rate this one reasonably highly, BUT during the repair I'd be checking #3.

I dare say can rule out #1. Never cooked the clutch and flywheel. Never even slipped it. In fact, i can't imagine how a clutch could get hot enough to do that without failing first.

Its possible maybe the first throwout bearing munted the fork when it went, I can't remember if they changed the fork or not, but it worked fine until it didnt.

Im guessing its a cheap bearing. The same cheap bearing that went the first time.

In any case it's their fault. They've dicked me around every time ive been there - out of pocket $1000s in ute hire because they took too long to even start the job, had to readjust height and get wheel alignments done every time because they put the torsion rods back in arse about (both times) which meant more time off work equating to many more $100s out of pocket and wheel alignments (that took several goes to still be completely out but thats another story, grrr.). Something always ends up scratched or something. Couldnt even meet me halfway on price with the first throwout bearing. I feel like going down there and fire-bombing the joint.
Is there any legal recourse i can claim this far out of warranty? It was about 12 month ago (i think). I might just have to mention "my lawyer" a few time and see if that helps this bullshit merchant's attitude.

Oldie said:

Which exedy clutch did you have ?
I had the "pink" version put in a year ago but it's starting to get a shudder when I let the clutch out.
cheers

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Oldie, Due to my magpie tendencies, i happened to still have the old clutch in what appears to be the boxes the new clutch came in. It looks like an Excedy friction plate and a CBA pressure plate. So god knows what the bearing was. The clutch does work fine though (touch wood)

Sounds like the kind of place to avoid. With an attitude like that, I wonder if legal threats would have any impact at all? I would find someone else and tell them the story - it may not be the first time they'd heard that sort of thing either.

Had a bit of a blarney with him just now. Pretty much repeated above rant after he started making excuses. Will see if i can find another mechanic - not too hopeful. Any tips for one-man diy gearbox removal/installation?

Probably will need a new clutch if the fingers are damaged any one used one of these? http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/blusteel...en:D22&hash=item1c54166e65:g:80YAAOSweuxWTo3j

Prick of a job for one man and a trolley jack you realy need two people, and most mechanics would be booked out or on holidays. Why does everything shit itself in the week before Xmas?.