md-rebel

I (w/friends) put a S-B ConFe clutch in back in early 2009, mods in my sig, nothing major. Running 400- 450 hp est. Smarty on Economy. The last couple days starting slipping at times.
Last fall had major work done; 2 bad injectors>> #5 and #1 Piston, Turbo (stock), and had the head done @ 230K miles. So I don't want to do a clutch, the S-B seemed beefy, I don't pull heavy, 25' TT 7K lbs and all highway miles. Adjustment I missed? Do they glaze over? I do drive 100 a day on highway (500 / week).
Any Thoughts?? Thanks

carl48

we run a fleet of them at 425 hp and 900 ftlbs torque. it will not glaze over. we have had two of them where the pilot bearing came out and disk moving around caused a slip smell, wore the pads and sheared the rivits in the hub after about 750 miles. we now locktite them and stake them it. you might have oil on it.

dogger

carl48 may have the answer; how many miles on the truck?

Below is from the Daimler Chrysler service manual for an '03 RAM truck 1500 - 3500:

"Fluid contamination is a frequent cause of clutch malfunctions. Oil, water or clutch fluid on the clutch disc and pressure plate surfaces will cause chatter, slip and grab. Inspect components for oil, hydraulic fluid or water/road splash contamination. Oil contamination indicates a leak at either the rear main seal or transmission input shaft. Clutch fluid leaks are usually from damaged slave cylinder push rod seals. Heat buildup caused by slippage between the pressure plate, disc and flywheel can bake the oil residue onto the components. The glazelike residue ranges in color from amber to black. Road splash contamination is dirt/water entering the clutch housing due to loose bolts, housing cracks. Driving through deep water puddles can force water/road splash into the housing through such openings."

"Clutch disc facing contaminated with oil, grease, or clutch fluid.
1. Leak at rear main engine seal or transmission input shaft seal. - Replace appropriate seal.
2. Excessive amount of grease applied to the input shaft splines. - Remove grease and apply the correct amount of grease.
3. Road splash, water entering housing. - Replace clutch disc. Clean clutch cover and reuse if in good condition.
4. Slave cylinder leaking. - Replace hydraulic clutch linkage."

One other option may be to re-torque all the bolts around the transmission and engine to the clutch housing.

I presume you have a little free movement of the clutch pedal before you feel pedal pressure and the hydraulic fluid level in the reservoir is correct.

L8r,...........dogger

j

Mine is doing the same thing. Slips under heavy acceleration on high performance setting, but not on setting 2 with hypertech. I have about 85k miles on it and no evidence of any fluids making it to the clutch.

md-rebel

Approx 150K on clutch, no sign of fluids, but NO play. Clutch pedal is high.

dogger

Could just be wear and tear with 150K on the clutch. I would be very happy with that amount of use.

L8r,.......dogger

Jona Gold

I would have loved to get 150k out my South Bend- but sadly, I got about 10% of that.

Below is what mine looked like at less than 15K miles (was pulled due to pedal vibration). I've done plenty of clutches in cars- but I let a trusted diesel tech do this work on my truck. I've never seen anything like it- smooth on one side (with hot spots even) and chewed up normally on the other. My tech said the clutch material in the bell housing was like coffee grounds. He is a diesel guy through and through- one of the best in my area.

It looks abused, but I'm the only one driving it, and my driving style didn't change with the new clutch. My stock set up with the dual mass flywheel lasted 105k miles (I've owned the truck since new- 16 miles on it when I bought it). So it's pretty hard for me to believe my driving style destroyed a clutch that should have exceeded the stock performance.

South Bend Clutch

That clutch obviously got very hot and that can only be done by slipping the clutch. Funny thing is we had one of the worst winters in decades and have seen a lot of this this year but everyone keeps insisting nothing happened. Our OFE series clutch has held up well through time but obviously did not do well for you.

Peter