A clutch question that I bet many of you can answer.
 

Hi guys,

I had my clutch and flywheel replaced (and converted to single mass) about 2 years and 25K miles ago. The car was at 250,000 miles. It didn't need replacing, but I wasn't sure how old it was, so I had it replaced with a "Stage 1 kit". Not to race, but to have longer life.

The old clutch that came out ended up being the original dual mass clutch the car came with and it wasn't anywhere near in need of replacing (after 14 years and a quarter million miles).

Over the past two days I've been feeling the clutch slip at the peak of the power-band (I'm pushing 22psi, so I'm sure that doesn't help), but it's only been in 3rd and sometimes 4th gears.

I've always hated how ridiculously high the clutch engages, but I've learned to adjust my seating position to accommodate it.......but I also noticed that sometimes I'll be resting my foot on the clutch pedal - very lightly and usually in traffic (I use the foot rest on the highway and when I'm not in traffic).

I typically like to get to the front of the pack once a light turns green, so I'm obviously putting at least some power down and the other day I noticed what felt like the clutch slipping after I took my foot off of the clutch pedal (after shifting). After playing with it a little, I noticed that the clutch is engaging wayyy too high. I have to completely remove my foot from the pedal to be sure I'm not disengaging it.

Do I need a new clutch even though I have no problems in 1st and 2nd gears? Could it be something else? And if I do need a new clutch, do you think it would be okay to re-use my flywheel if I get the exact same clutch?

Thnaks

Clutch slipping is amplified in higher gears due to greater load on the engine/clutch in higher gears. Does it slip in 5th also if you go WOT?

Not yet. I know I've caught it early, because I can still WOT in all 5 gears w/o slippage when it's cold, but I was hoping that a "HD Stage 1" clutch would last longer than 20K miles-ish.

This weekend, I'm putting on a new K03 and a new front mount inter-cooler. I already have a 22psi tune, so I guess it's pretty safe to say that my clutch is a dead man walking at this point, right?

I guess I'm going to bump it up to a "Stage 2" kit. I'd like to keep my current flywheel, because I bought it with my current clutch, so I know how old it is - and when I first had it installed, I broke everything in proper.

Thoughts?

Is there a Stage 2 clutch kit compatible with your flywheel?

That's a very good question. I'm not sure, but the clutch is made by the same company and is the same "line" (marketing style) of clutches, so I assume it should be fine. I suppose I should ask them....which I'll do now.