Anatomy of a failure, clutch goes out in a 88 Turbo Coupe June 08, 2007, 09:06:41 PM Background:1988 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe2.3T/5-Speed177,000 milesThis is John's primered TC "Deuce". It always made funny "noises" since he bought it 6 months ago. We took it drag racing and the trans decided to stop shifting smooth. We knew there was a problem, but not exactly what. Well, John took the train down to drive the car home (Bellingham, 240 miles north) and made it 20' from the driveway before the clutch gave out. We got it changed in under 2.5 hours with handtools and jackstands in the driveway. Here's what went wrong. Quote Selected
Anatomy of a failure, clutch goes out in a 88 Turbo Coupe Reply #1 – June 08, 2007, 09:12:10 PM This is a Valeo replacement clutch that was in the car when John bought it. The pilot bearing failed because only 5 of the 8 bolts were still holding the transmission onto the engine. That in turn allowed the clutch disc to contact the outside edges of the pressure plate shredding the facing entirely off of one side in under 10 seconds. We replaced the clutch kit entirely with a Zoom manufactured replacement set, including the pilot bearing and throwout bearing. Luckily I have a "tub" of TC bolts and we were able to replace all of the bolts with the correct ones. We had the flywheel turned ($32), bought the clutch set ($136), and added 3 qts of Dexron to the T5 ($12). Total work time was 2:23. Please take this as advice, and make sure all of your engine to trans bolts are in and correct.Deuce now drives perfectly and the tranny makes hardly any noise at all. The synchros engage perfectly and shifting is smooth. So problem solved 100%. Quote Selected
Anatomy of a failure, clutch goes out in a 88 Turbo Coupe Reply #2 – June 08, 2007, 09:12:24 PM 2 and a half hours my god my car was on jackstands for a week... granted i think we swapped out steering racks while changing the clutch, and it was my first clutch swap....but. Quote Selected
Anatomy of a failure, clutch goes out in a 88 Turbo Coupe Reply #3 – June 08, 2007, 09:14:32 PM I am the master TC mechanic :D Quote Selected
Anatomy of a failure, clutch goes out in a 88 Turbo Coupe Reply #4 – June 08, 2007, 09:53:08 PM The clutch material itches like CRAZY!!!I had to take 3 showers to get it all off :( Quote Selected
Anatomy of a failure, clutch goes out in a 88 Turbo Coupe Reply #5 – June 08, 2007, 11:57:19 PM *Just a clarification, this *could* be Valeo's fault. Either it was a 170K mile pilot bearing (who knows what mileage it had, the clutch was toast regardless) or else the replacement was of poor quality. At any rate, I still feel the *main* culprit was the lack of mounting bolts (all on 1 side) causing side-to-side movement. Quote Selected
Anatomy of a failure, clutch goes out in a 88 Turbo Coupe Reply #6 – June 09, 2007, 01:50:43 AM Which zoom clutch did you use? I got the kevlar one from napa for like $300. Had some slipping problems at first but it seems really good now.The pressure plate came all painted up fancy... looked closer and it said Valeo.Only problem is the #%^#Y^T#@$% throwout bearing chirp, brand new. Quote Selected
Anatomy of a failure, clutch goes out in a 88 Turbo Coupe Reply #7 – June 09, 2007, 03:11:13 AM Just the plain-jane $130 OEM replacement one. It's a Zoom disc and a Valeo PP. Sucks, but that was our only choice.Layla has a RAM Powergrip HD 6-puck carbon/kevlar clutch that's rated for 600 Ft/Lbs. $379 from Summit. If we didn't HAVE to have the car done today, I would have ordered the RAM OEM clutch. I shy away from Valeo stuff due to quality issues. At least the Zoom OEM came with a no-name throwout bearing that didn't squeak. Quote Selected
Anatomy of a failure, clutch goes out in a 88 Turbo Coupe Reply #8 – June 09, 2007, 09:27:14 AM My TC only has 5 bolts holding the bellhousing to the engine. I havnt had much problem, but i also made sure that the bolt placement was just opposite of eachother.Anyways, most clutches are made by Valeo, my spec clutch had Valeo on the disk. Quote Selected
Anatomy of a failure, clutch goes out in a 88 Turbo Coupe Reply #9 – June 09, 2007, 09:41:36 AM solution to this problem? automatic tranny. :hick: HAHA im literally crying with laughter typing this dont mean to on the thread but i just HAD to. Quote Selected
Anatomy of a failure, clutch goes out in a 88 Turbo Coupe Reply #10 – June 09, 2007, 11:22:43 AM Automatic tranny? Why would we want to go slow Quote Selected
Anatomy of a failure, clutch goes out in a 88 Turbo Coupe Reply #11 – June 09, 2007, 12:37:02 PM Quote from: Tbird232ci;152855My TC only has 5 bolts holding the bellhousing to the engine. I haven't had much problem, but i also made sure that the bolt placement was just opposite of eachother.Anyways, most clutches are made by Valeo, my spec clutch had Valeo on the disk.It was 100% because the missing bolts were all on one side. I'd still be hesitant to leave any out, but if you spaced them I don't see a major issue.And the whole Spec/Valeo thing is absolute . That's why I only use quality clutch manufacturers (RAM, McLeod). Quote Selected
Anatomy of a failure, clutch goes out in a 88 Turbo Coupe Reply #12 – June 10, 2007, 05:20:22 PM sucks, missing bolts play havoc on moving parts Quote Selected
Anatomy of a failure, clutch goes out in a 88 Turbo Coupe Reply #13 – June 14, 2007, 10:50:55 AM Since I'm up here visiting John I took it around the block a few times. Still drives excellent. NO movement in trans. I'm happy it gone done correctly, even if the clutch itself is a tastic Valeo. It's got ~300 miles on it now, nicely broken in. I was kinda worried after the hell it took to get the shell of the old pilot out... (think dremel tool...) Quote Selected
Anatomy of a failure, clutch goes out in a 88 Turbo Coupe Reply #14 – June 14, 2007, 02:59:51 PM You guys have to stop breaking your Turbo Coupes Quote Selected
HAHA im literally crying with laughter typing this dont mean to on the thread but i just HAD to.
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