Soo, thought Id post on here and see if anyone has seen anything like this.

First off the car is using an ACT 6 Puck Sprung hub clutch with Xtreme Pressure Plate (Rated at like 600ftlbs - yeah its a heavy clutch). Heres where the problems begin...

The other night the car was driving normally, I stopped at a car wash, than when getting back in the car, after starting, couldn't put it in any gear. I got the car home (Ive driven cars with stuck clutches a few times haha), and started diagnosing it. I pulled the starter to do an inspection of the pressure plate/clutch. When pressing the clutch, everything appears normal, the diaphragm moves normally and appears to have normal travel. Also the pedal feels normal, it just seems it's not moving enough to completely disengage. I also could not see any visible damage to the clutch or PP. Randomly however, after pushing the clutch several times while I was watching it, it disengaged. I drove the car last night and everything was normal again. At the time I was suspecting somehow maybe some air worked its way into the system, so I fully bled the slave cylinder and topped off the reservoir. After this the engagement point was perfect - better than it had ever been - i was actually getting used to it almost being on the floor. Today I went out to move it into the garage before I left for work and it did it again! At this point my theory is a failed master or slave cylinder. Anyone else agree/disagree?

 

Yeah, I have heard of this exact thing, its the 6 Puck, they are full of problems. My buddy N-Rigged his with a steel rod, hasn't had any problems since, but you shouldn't have to do that to any clutch, especially to a name like ACT. Good luck man.

 

Are you talking about extending the clutch slave cylinder rod? Someone suggested putting a socket on the end of it to test lol - may try that tonight after I check the master cyl for leaks

 

you got it son. hundred bucks says your master cylinder is just fine. try extending it, just like you have been suggested before and like i have heard. those 6 pucks suck it up something big, i don't know why. i'd get something rated for like 550 instead and save the problems, 600 isn't even necessary. trust me, i looked into the 6 puck too because it seemed to be the best until i asked around... nothing but problems.

 

Yeah 600 def inst necessary because at 550+whp gears like to blow themselves into tiny pieces - I know from experience ;)

 

What Im wondering though - what would cause the sudden change, why would it be fine one day, than not the next?

 

Clutches can do that. They change on a daily basis, even stock clutches. Things like humidity and shish like that effect it.

 

Mine did the same thing recently, but after I pushed started the vehicle because I was too lazy to find someone with jumper cables. The first time we push started it, it wasn't going fast enough, I heard a loud clunk noise. We backed it up and did it again and everything was fine. My wife drove the car to work(5miles away from home) with no problem. As she was coming back home the car wouldn't go into gear at a light(1mile from home). She forced it into gear and everything was fine.

I got in the vehicle to test it as the car was off. Clutch went into every gear fine. After I started the vehicle it would not go into any of the gears. Called my mechanic over. I tried to show him what was happening and the car drove perfectly. After he left, I tried to put it into first gear and heard a loud grinding noise. I decided to have him pull everything out. We identified that I busted one of the springs on the clutch. Had to replace the whole thing.

Not sure if this helps any.

 

I have a repeated failure of CMC's it seems like, ive replace it 4 times in 6 months. Whats up with the extended push rod?

 

I made my own extended push rod out of 1/4" round stock - no change. Ive now replaced the master cyl, slave cyl, and tried various length pushrods with no change. Its gotta be the clutch itself. Im trying to just sell the car as is, but I doubt itll happen. Prob end up tearing it apart in the next couple days and fixing it.