My clutch "chatters". What parts to buy?

J

jeremy irons

Member
When I release the clutch, the last little bit of the slip chatters. So unless i rev my engine and slip the clutch only a very little bit(and accelerate kind of hard), i cannot accellerate smoothly. I'm getting different answers from different people as to what the problem likely is. One person suggested that a chattering clutch was "always" oil on the clutch leaking from a bad seal on the engine side. Others tell me it's probably just a hotspot on the flywheel and that I can get it turned Down. What do you guys think? The labour is the most expensive part of any job usually, so I guess I'd rather replace everything I might need to at once. I think I would rather replace the flywheel, since I have read that resurfacing can unbalance the flywheel.

I don't want a huge upgrade for the clutch or flywheel, since the car is DD and I will probably never increase the engine power much.

I know about the clutch chatter tsb, but I'm out of warranty, and this doesn't only happen when the cars is cold like in the tsb.


Thanks!
 
Last edited:
You'd pretty much have to take it apart to see what's up. If the throwout bearing is going bad, that plus a new clutch/pressure plate should fix it. If you've got oil, you're looking at a rear main seal, which is a huge pain in the ass, plus new clutch assembly. We can't really advise you on how much work is needed until you know what's bad.
 
could be 2 things:

clutch chatter caused by hotspots on the flywheel as you mentioned. thats what im betting it is. i had this problem. i have an oem exedy clutch and its so smooth now.
the other thing to look at would be the motor mounts. if they are torn the engine will shudder and rock around causing chatter as well.

good luck. i know how irritating that can be. i dealt with that for 4 long years.
 
Carlinator said:
You'd pretty much have to take it apart to see what's up. If the throwout bearing is going bad, that plus a new clutch/pressure plate should fix it. If you've got oil, you're looking at a rear main seal, which is a huge pain in the ass, plus new clutch assembly. We can't really advise you on how much work is needed until you know what's bad.
Click to expand...

If I've got oil, that should be obvious when everything is apart, right?

And would a bad throwout bearing really cause this?
 
Could be multiple things even the clutch being worn out, I would just replace everything in there if there was an oil leak it probly put hot spots on the fly wheel and absorbed into the clutch disk
 
I have clutch chatter sometimes but I had my trans out this summer when I was replacing my LSD and it looked just like it did with 20,000 miles on it when I broke the LSD the first time. You could still see the machine marks in the flywheel. I dont claim to know everything about the stock clutch but I think sometimes you will just get some mild chatter out of it. But if its doing it all the time then you prolly have something wrong more so than my occasional chatter.
 
At very low RPM, clutch engagement causes chatter on just about any car, especially if going up a ramp where there is extra force to deal with.

If it's to the point that it is bothering you, and you find yourself revving and slipping excessively to avoid it, it is time for a new clutch. Sometimes the flywheel can just be machined, other times, you'll need a new flywheel as well. They tend to last a very long time though. You typically replace the throw out bearing whenever you replace the clutch though, because it is such a small fraction of the cost of the labor.

I plan on doing this whole deal myself fairly soon. Hopefully before it gets too hot. My clutch feels fine, eats up first and second, but I can't help but think after 76k miles, a new one wouldn't make things better.
 
while cold only? mine does the same thing and is annoying (cold minnesota). I've always wondered if that chatter puts shock loads on the diff, leading to their premature demise?
anyway, when I was looking this up years ago I found a TSB that might be related, not sure if it applies to the Speed, but I've never followed thru and had mine fixed, since I figured I'd just wait until the diff blew or the clutch wore out. search for TSB MT000003848.

good luck, let us know what you do
 
I just did my first one it's a lot more work than I woulda thought just make sure you get a good clutch and no cheap eBay junk
 
It took 6 or 7 hours on a civic thanks to rusted bolts and some idiot cross threaded the bolts holding the rear mount to the trans. It's a good learning experience though
 
Check clutch pedal first and associated linkage, hydraulic lines and slave. See if anything is loose, tighten it down. That should be your first thing. Don't go spend a s*** ton on a clutch and fly wheel when it could be something simple
 
That wouldn't make it chatter... Chater usually comes from warped pressure plate or flywheel or hot spots or worn clutch
 
SOLVED:


the clutch is fine. the motor mounts (psgr and front) were absolutely shredded. when i installed AWR and corksport inserts, the problem disappeared.
 
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