Long time lurker, first time owner. Long story short, I usually buy project cars. Austin healey, MGBs, a 240z or two, some of you have seen my 7 year restoration of a Plymouth GTX and are completely shocked where I started. I bought the craigslist car from BT. Rossa Corsa over Nero, 20k miles, a noise in the clutch. It has a folder full of receipts, all its books, most of its tool kit (missing the ratchet and the flat screwdriver). Gothspeed test pipes and muffler. missing the debris panel from in front of the battery, no heat shield above the muffler. Frankly, it'll be a great driver. The clutch problem: Hill bearing update already done, dual plate clutch is dry, a little oil leaking into the flywheel, grease in the bellhousing. I'm wondering if there's any grease left in there at all. (especially if it's been apart once)...it looks like triple seals and a flywheel repack are in order. Other thoughts? here's the symptom. you can hear the clack on start up. it's quiet while all momentum is equalized. the moment you go to push the clutch in there's a loud clacking sound that really says "don't push the clutch in". release the little bit of pressure, and the sound disappears.with the car off, clutch operation feels normal. before I go further, I may toss it back together and diagnose again or get a video. I'm looking forward to the adventure. sjd Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Congrats on the purchase. Seemed like a good deal for someone to turn their own wrenches on. I spoke with the previous owner and he seemed very knowledgeable and forthcoming with the condition of the car. Providing the noise is in the clutch, I think you did well and the seller was able to recoup what the car needed to bring him. Looking forward to the rest of the story behind the noise.
Reading in the receipts and service from the original owner, he had the interior pulled and cleaned and painted black (explains why it's NOT sticky). I put them in chronological order, but didn't have time to transcribe the details. It looks like the last major was done in 2004. It'll be a fun fall. sjd
Thanks! I'm learning a ton. re: grease. That's the general thought. i'm pretty sure there's no grease, or it's just past its useable life. I've received a couple of PMs "while you're in there" to build a tool and slide hammer out the clutch shaft to be able to inspect the ring nut on the back side of it. I'll likely be doing some measuring this weekend to do that. In the meanwhile i'll have to take some pictures about some of the paint correction and scuffing i've found on it that i've wet-sanded and polished out. i'm about 90% sure the rear bumper has been re-sprayed. Engine lid struts arrived yesterday. I also received the leather restoration cleaner and rejuvenator from a place called color plus. I think the passenger side was toward a garage window as its in much worse shape than the driver's side seat. (I have yet to peek under the seats) sjd
I'm hoping the problem is just flywheel grease, that would make this the best Ferrari buy that I have heard of. The passenger seat is definitely 'harder' leather than the driver side. My truck is enjoying its rightful place back in the garage. I thought of the little springs on the clutch plates that maybe one of those could have broken off if nothing else seems weird. I would recommend replacing the triple seals if you have it all apart. I think the PO had a major service done sometime in 2010 or 2011 at Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale. BT
Now that i'm the owner, i'll have to call Ft. Lauderdale again and hit them up. I wouldn't feel like i was on as much borrowed time if it's been done that recently. All the fingers on the pressure plate are even and not askew. I won't really know until i get it apart. Thanks BT! sjd
Congratulations on the purchase. Enjoy the adventures. I'm sure you will have it perfect in no time. Robb
My bet is on the fly wheel requiring a rebuild with new kluber grease. Once the grease breaks down the car will start fine when cold, but on hot starts the flywheel sounds like a coffee can filled with loose bolts. https://www.ricambiamerica.com/collections/fluids-and-greases/70000789-kluber-grease.html
it did make some noise on startup, but also just as you lightly set your foot on the clutch pedal. my first thought was bad throwout bearing, but the HE bearing is already in place. the noise is quite like the shuddering clack of the flywheel, and the triples are leaking AND there's grease in the bellhousing. i'll know when I get it apart. grease and rebuild kit on the way. special nut tool arrived today. sjd
found it. Went to a Meineke car repair to bang that big nut off the flywheel. I clearly need to buy a real impact gun. I called before I went, he says "come by we can give it a shot" I take the assembly over there, I carry it into the shop and set it on the floor, he looks an says "ummmmm, that says ferrari on it." i'm like, "yep." he says "i'm going to hand you the impact, and let you do it, becasue i want no responsibility for tearing it up." I laughed...by then we had a crowd of the other techs wondering what we were doing. Bang, 10 seconds, nut was off. back home to press out the subassembly. boom it's out. no biggie. take the housing off the flywheel assembly...and.... 5 of 6 torx plus on the flywheel have backed themselves out enough to machine a 1/32" groove in the bellhousing. hm! wasn't expecting that. more to come.... sjd Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
OUCH!!!! That is not good at all! I think you figured out what was causing all the racket in the clutch. Once you get the flywheel apart make sure all the plastic bits are in good shape. If they aren't you may want to consider using the MadDog Clutches flywheel rebuild kit. Looking forward to seeing the rebuild pics.
Dumb question: Will the flywheel now be unbalanced and require replacement because of the missing material?
Not likely because there will be 200+g of grease in there that will be thrown around and help balance.
Yes, the missing material is on the (non-rotating) housing so the flywheel is not affected, unless I missed some damage to the flywheel on the picture.
Thanks everyone. I pulled the clutch apart and checked it over. Friction surfaces are nice, no hot spots, a tiny amount of dish on the flywheel side and the pressure plate side. Pressure plate is in great shape. There's no damage to the flywheel case itself, only to the bellhousing. The bolts themselves are a little worse for wear. I'm searching for the flywheel bolts, (not the big one, the torx plus ones...they don't seem to be sold separately) because they seem to be pretty specific. it's an M8x1.25, it's a torx plus cap screw, it's a low head cap screw, and the non-threaded area is critical to sealing the flywheel, as the o-rings in the flywheel will ride on the non-threaded area. Other stuff. I had the bellhousing welded up yesterday, as it seems one or two previous owners had a steep exit to their garage, or liked backing into parking blocks...the area where it says "Ferrari" at the bottom of the bellhousing was pretty wrecked, and full of asphalt. The welding did the trick, we checked the bellhousing for warp, everything stayed straight. I haven't done any of the finishing work on it yet. more to come: sjd Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The dishes are part of the clutch design, do not flatten them. The picture shows what I measured on my 12k miles clutch. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks M! I saw those, and I wish I'd known the problem before i ordered their grease/rebuild kit. I'd have added them to the order. I found a set through Fastenal here in America, but I think they might be fully threaded. my dish measurements are about like that. .010 or so. sjd
