The worst clutch ever...?

[racerrad8]

I received a phone call this morning from one of my customers. He said he was trying to head out to race tonight but noticed when he tried to load the car it would not move. I told him to bring it over and we could take a look and hopefully get him headed to the track.

When he got there I put the car in gear in it rolled. I inquired about the event(s) leading up to today. He told me last weekend he noticed the engine seemed to be "revving" more than "normal" going down the straights. He said he did spin out on the last lap but he was able to drive back to the pits.

Well,
       I pulled the clutch cover and the smell of burnt clutch was obvious, plus the fact everything was black...

I pulled it down and I think this is the worst clutch I have ever seen, let alone it allowed him to get back to the pits last Saturday night. I tossed everything in the trash, install the new clutch unit, second spring and changed the oil and everything is good.

This is a car that only had one clutch spring in it and the customer had just bought the car used this year. He said he didn't think the revving was the clutch since it only did on the mid/top-end and not exiting the corner.

By looking at the steels they are obviously black & burned, but they appear to be flat. It has peaked my interest to check them and I will after I wash them up. If they are flat I just wonder what it does take to warp them...

Randy - RPM

[Flyover Country Joe]

WOWWWWWW! That is toasted........

[Pat Conlon]

Legends Racing: That has to be *the* absolute worst torture test for FJ clutch packs.
What do those cars weigh 1,300 lbs? Night in and night out, around the track at WFO 10k rpm....amazing.

[racerman_27410]

smoked... literally!


lots of Kookaloo been thru that clutch!   

[weymouth399]

Randy

I had this happen to a customers car, pretty colors of blue, but the dimples had worn totally away.
I have not really ever seen the steels wear out in 30 plus years of working on bikes, the fibers of course but never the steels. This clutch had the upgraded pressure plate.
Yes these cars can be hard on clutches, rods, cases, but you would be trying really hard to blow one up in a bike.

Bob W

[andyb]

Wouldn't think the cars would hurt the clutch much, if it wasn't slipping in the first place, or are you guys using the clutch to shift?  Worst thing I can think of is a drag launch (WOT at high revs while feeding clutch out).  That's pretty awful condition though....  Warped steels don't happen much even with drag clutch setups, but lockups can be particularly hard on them when you're running uneven static springs (one side gets hotter than the other).

[RichBaker]

Pulled a clutch pack out of my WR450 that looked just like that one, the bike wouldn't move...... I was stuck in a sandwash with 25-30 foot banks. Took 5 of us to get it out...... 

[tqmx1]

Randy, I know you know best but on the FZ1 website a guy cooked his clutch. When he replaced it he decided to pull the oil pan. When he did he found the pickup screen packed full of clutch material.

[Mark Olson]

worst one I've ever seen.