List,
I saw a wonderful example at work the other day of the damage possible
from riding the clutch, and thought you might enjoy this. It was in a newer
Camaro with a six speed and GM's nifty hydraulic clutch slave that mounts
inside the bell housing. It seems that as the slave cylinder exerts
prassure on the release bearing, an equal pressure is applied to the
crankshafts thrust bearing. Over time, (and 140k miles) this pressure wore
an .080" deep groove in the cranks thrust surface and allowed the cranks
counterweight to come into contact with the bearing cap. The poor customer
had the release bearing replaced twice to fix the noise when depressing the
clutch before the actual trouble was discovered.
My favorite part of this story came when the guy who installed the crank
kit test drove the car. He'd gone a few miles and was satisfied with the
fix, when just as he was waiting to make a left turn back into the
dealership (with the clutch depressed) he heard the same "thud, thud, thud"
noise he'd heard when the car came in. He nearly
blew a gasket before he realized that the noise wasn't from the car at all,
but from a low flying helocopter.
Chuck Rothfuss
Ridin' the clock, but not the clutch
Pole Cat Hollow, NC
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