Hello all, Without taking my clutch housing all apart and JUST WITH THE VIN #/MODEL/YEAR can anyone tell me if I can figure out what type of clutch I have in my 1994 348 Spider? I have seen photos of two types...maybe there are more. Basically I have seen the traditional pressure plate, clutch disc type and then I have seen photos of some other type of complicated clutch that seems to be made up of plates of steel, packed full of a grey grease and housing all together in some sort of contained aluminum housing. I sure hope I have the simple dry type single element clutch disc in my Spider. The dealership recently did a major service and upon reassembly (although they did NOT remove the clutch housing and separate the engine from the transaxle) they did of course depressurize the clutch as the major service is an engine-out procedure. When they bled the clutch servo, they noticed and active leak and said I need to replace the release bearing (and all the seals and o-rings). They told me that since they have to R&R the release bearing housing to get at the o-rings and seals, they might as well replace the whole bearing assembly and I didn't argue. But they were concerned that the clutch itself might have become contaminated with brake fluid. I still haven't pulled the trigger on that replacement....read on. Before the major service, and for a couple of years I would notice an occasion 'drip' and I mean single drop of brake fluid from that little plate in the bottom of the clutch housing, that little plate with a hundred holes in it held on the the housing with four little nuts. The brake fluid reservoir NEVER went down in level and since I routinely replaced and flushed the brake fluid every season, I never noticed a steady leak and I suspect it was an intermediate drip from time to time. After I got the car back from the dealership, that "active leak' they told me about had completely disappeared and magically repaired itself (stopped altogether) and the clutch works fine. My concern is if the clutch was contaminated and it is the dry clutch disc, over the years it might have become contaminated with brake fluid from an occasional drip -drip drip. So, if it is the dry clutch single element type, then a new clutch disc is easy to change and source, and the pressure plate too, and even the flywheel can be skimmed if need be. But that other type of clutch.....that looks expensive and complicated! Can anyone point me in the right direction to find out which type of clutch I have just from my VIN number? Thanks
Your clutch plate should be part n.138979. But I searched by model/year not by vin. Gtb/Gts and Spider use the same part (I think..). Dual disk clutch was used on early model of the 348.
You have the single plate clutch system. Replace the whole pack, so many problems occur when people just replace a clutch plate on an old system. Chances are very good your flywheel is scorched as well from triple seal leak is the cars past. There are also Italian mfg of clutch assembly's you can buy for about 1/2 the cost but the AP unit is just the cats meow. https://www.ricambiamerica.com/146407-348-single-disc-clutch.html
I think you are confusing the Kluber grease packed flywheel (which all 348's have) and the clutch itself. As stated , early models had an AP racing twin plate clutch while yours has a single plate clutch. The clutch, surprisingly is one of the easiest and most accessible components to service on the 348 as it's right under the round cast aluminum cover under the rear bumper. Less than an hour to remove
On the single plate on the top half, #4 is the Flywheel attached to the Voith which is packed with grease and probably has issues as many people wont pay to service it, they just buy the car, drive it, take selfies, do clutch drops and burn outs, wring out the engine with dirty oil then sell it along to the next neglectful owner, wash rinse repeat. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Exactly, rhis is the history of 90% of the Ferrari vehicles I've seen so far.....wash, rinse, repeat. And if you, as a potential buyer ask two questions about mechanical history....you are a troublemaker. If I remeber correctly signs of flywhell "wear" (grease decay) is a rattle in certain condition and a problematic start procedure with hot engine (348 and Mondial T, not sure about F355).
Op you have knowledge gap. Clutch = flywheel, pressure plate, clutch disc FW is not solid. It is Voight dampen flywheel. These have springs, plastic parts, kluber grease. No need to repack FW unless you hear rattling when you shutdown engine or have difficulty starting car when hot but easy when cold. FW is not serviced by FNA. Some indys and all us diy guys service them. So clutch replacement is really replace of clutch disc and pressure plate. Throw out bearing sits on slave cylinder. The seals of slave and t/o bearing are typically replaced with the clutch disc and pressure plate. Use the hill bearing and seals from ricambi America. They know what to sell you. Other vendors might not so if you buy from others you better know more than you do today. 348s are generally low mile so FW surface is rarely worn enough to warrant replacement or resurfacing. If you resurface and if you just replace or rebuild the clutch disc you will greatly save money but you need more knowledge. That knowledge minimum is knowing your set up height and be able to measure to check that vendors did the job right. They rarely do the job right. I think breathing clutch dust makes them stupid. That's why best to just buy a clutch pack which is disc and pressure plate , t/o bearing and slave cylinder seals. Hope this helps.
