Excel91CiViCsi

UPDATE:
Issue is solved, problems fixed and have myself now a good working CC. Dan has helped with through everything and has made my expirience a good one again. If any of you are having issues with your Competition clutches, please contact them and Im sure they will be more then willing to help you.

So Im making this thread to post my experience with Competition clutches, and why I will not be buying anymore of them.

I recently sold the engine swap out of my 95' civic coupe which consisted on a b17a. I used a b16 trans on it with an Exedy stage 1 clutch and it grabbed great! I literally beat the **** out of that car for 2 years and never once did my clutch slip, nor not grab like I knew it should.

Last month I sold the swap, and drove to Jersey and picked up a 96 spec ITR. While putting it into the car I figured I would replace the clutch since I didnt know the condition of the stock one. I knew I would probably get another Exedy stage 1, but wanted to look around a little and compare reviews and prices. I read a lot of good things about a couple companys and came across Competition. I figured, for a type r swap with the minor bolt on's, the Competition stage 2 looked like a really good choice. The description states smooth engagement, and entended life. Both good things so far, I read on, and it also stated for aggressive street use, and can basically take some abuse during its life and not fail. Well like anyone who has a some decent power, your going to beat on it, so I figured it was perfect for what I wanted.

I ordered it and had it installed the day I got it. Put the swap in, and the engine fired right up. The only problem is when I went to reverse out of my garage the car hopped like crazy. It almost felt like a horrible case of wheel hop but I was barely moving yet. I figured maybe I still had some air in the clutch line and rebled it. It was perfect and no air came out. I thought, well it is a stage 2, and Im sure it has some bite, maybe I just need to put the break in miles on it. I drove the car for about 200 miles before I really started getting worried. When I let the clutch out, the clutch grabs strong, but not right.

Now, I have newer ball joints and tie rod ends, and all of the suspension bolts are tight. I checked them at least twice. My one friend rebuilds transmissions for honda's, and actually has a huge rebuild thread a few posts down. He said there isnt anythign in the trans that does what it causes mine to do. I recently also left my friend who is also a tuner drive it who also stated it grabbed weird and something was not right. I have taken out all of my motor mounts and they are all perfect, no dry rotting or cracks. My mounts consist of the stock 3 mains, and the 2 stock new torque mounts. It only does it when taking off, and down shifting, while upshifting it shifts smooth like butter but anyways, the problem consists of my wheels shaking like crazy, the car hopping around and the dash sounding like its going to break off. It feels like excessive wheel hope, or like your about to stall a stage 4 6 puck. I figured there probably wouldnt be a slip point with it, when it grabs it grabs, which isnt a bad thing, but even when trying to ride it a little to make it smooth the car jumps like a bat out of hell. Sometimes it pops my hood even. All my bolts are tight, I have brand new axles, and my motor is solid. You can stand on it and it barely moves, if any.

Well I figured maybe I did something wrong. Or possibly my flywheel was warped. I took the entire trans off, and took the flywheel once again to get checked. It was perfect. I checked everything out and everything looks to be correct but I also am not very sure what I would be looking for to be incorrect. I put it all back together and the car drives exactly the same. I tightened the bolts up in basically a triangle pattern, and made sure not to tighten one bolt up too much before the others. Like Ive said, this isnt my first clutch.

I put about 500 miles on it before I broke down and called Competition. I talked to a guy named Kyle, who told me it is a stage 2 and is going to be a little agressive, put another 100-200 miles on it and call him back if it doesnt work out and we could figure something out with it. He seemed to be very helpful, so I drove it a little more over 200 more miles and nothing is getting better. I was told by my friend who does the trans work that if it bucks like that alot I could cause damage to my diff, and final drive.

I called Kyle again yesterday, and told him it is not getting any better and Im really not trying to hurt my Type r tranny, seeing how they arent very cheap. He told me to hang on and put me on hold for a few minutes. He got back on and told me there really isnt anything he can do, and if I would like, he can give me a number to send it back to him and to have checked. If there was an issue with the plate he would send me another. So I thought great! I told him alright thats fine, and asked for the number. He then changed what he had just told me and said to just put some more miles on it and he wasnt going to give me the number. He told me to put another 100 on it. Now, Im over 700 miles and it does the same shitty problem it has since day 1. The car is not even fun to drive anymore. I realize yes, its a Stage 2, and is going to grab a little agressively, but when there seems to be an issue with how it engages, and your description says smooth engage something is wrong. I have a friend who has the stage 4 in a turbo setup, and one with a stage 4 in his ls vtec. Both of there clutches grab smoother, and they are experiencing none of my issues. Its almost obvious I may have a faulty clutch, and if I do, was only asking for it to get checked out or for them to help me fix the issue.

I am not driving the car anymore until something gets done and obviously they arent doing **** to help me. So the clutch will be coming out, the stickers off my car, and this thread posted on how there customer service is nothing but bullshit. I also will take my business right back to Exedy and will be buying another Stage 1, because at least I know they will help me out if anything goes wrong, and there clutch will always be what I need, when I need it to be.

ken9

Thank for sharing and it quite a long story you wrote there..

Excel91CiViCsi

Yea, sorry I just didnt want to leave out any details.

As pissed off as I am, I still dont like talking down about people or companies, expecially ones trying to help the car scene or community. But when it comes to poor customer services, and being told repeatedly the same thing which isnt fixing or sovling the problem and just to put it off, I start getting agitated.

fly_high_gsr

WOW i was going to buy cc for my type r but damn, it is sucks for your dd... g/l man i 've always used ACT clutch in my set up but this time i wanted it something different untill i read your sad story no more cc for me going back with ACT again. Hopefully they solve your problem.

newtype_33

send it back to them they should be able to help you.i return mine in and they sent me a new one.

Excel91CiViCsi

Yea, My one buddy uses a ACT in his h22 prelude and loves it. It grabs really nice.


I tried. I told him I would pull it out and send it back since He said he would give me a return number, and when I said alright that works he said no, put more miles on it. Im going to try one more time Monday because I really wouldnt like to be out over $300 so hopefully something gets done.

unusual71

did you baby the hell out of it for the first few hundred miles?
my Comp clutch was a nightmare until about 500 miles then it finally started to smooth out, i think CCs are just more sensitive to break in than average.

Excel91CiViCsi

I drove it regulary. Never beat the hell out of it but drove it agressively like Kyle from competition told me to. Alot of stop and go in town, and shifting at like 4.

DOHCDX94

i love my CC

Excel91CiViCsi

What stage are you using, and ever have any issues?

L2Louie

Wow, thanks for the warning. I wondered about competition clutches, sorry you had to learn the hard way.

Honda Bull

Agreed. That's all we use at the shop for the most part. CC Stage 4's take up to 650whp, grab smoothly, and have very little pedal pressure. Which clutch do you have, btw?

Sucks about the shitty service though, Derek. We've never had an issue with any of ours minus one 6-puck for a K-series having a spring come out to have a reason to call for customer service. Shame how you told me about Kyle saying to take it out and send it back, then once you say "okay", goes back on what he wants you to do. :S

Excel91CiViCsi

Yea, Im still confused on what I should do Shaun. Im not sure if I wanna stick with them and send it out, which will take a week, then have them test it and send me another which will probably take al said and done 2 weeks to get it back once ive sent it out. Or buy an Exedy and not have to worry about down time.

You say the stage 4's grab smoothly? And how long do they last give or take? Hell, maybe Ill upgrade if they want to work something out yet.

Honda Bull

I don't necessarily recommend the Stage 4 for what you're going to need it for, but it'll work. I have ~28,000 miles on mine but 380 whp and 24.5" slicks do damage, especially the slicks. It's about on its way out in terms of pad thickness and I need another here shortly but it still works like new.

I'd say you have complete grounds to not deal with the **** you have in terms of service and just switch to Exedy if you have the money to do so. You'll certainly find out if it's the exact clutch you received or with the swap/chassis. lol

Excel91CiViCsi

And to me Shaun, is the scariest part haha. I think Im going to order an Exedy. Send mine back and when they ship me a new one just sell it.

If the issues continues. Then.. well then the cars just for sale haha But honestly I dont know what else it could possibly be. Nothing motor internal, and you said nothing trans, so I have no clue.

Weel

Yes I have run my competiton clutch and flyhweel kit stage 4 on my circuit car for 4 years now. I didnt break it in, installed and went racing. It is in perfect condition today. This is a 200hp car. So it has only done race km's. I would buy again

Excel91CiViCsi

EDIT: Problem fixed!

So competition sent me another bad clutch.

I pulled the first bad one out last night to install the new one, and got to really check it over. The clutch disk is warped. Wear on one side kinda heavily, and on the other side barely any scratches at all on the pads.

The new one i put in, the one they just straight shipped me from the factory wont even let my car go into gear. The teeth on the pressure plate stick way to far in and wont disengage my flywheel.

F*** competition clutch. This will be my 4th time pulling this transmission off. Im going to try and mix the two together and see if I cant get somewhere. But seriously, how the F*** do you send someone two bad clutches?

I ordered an Exedy from inlinefour.com and there operations manager emailed me asking me to change my mind and possibly consider the comp. stage 2. I told him my sotry and he was of great help. He called the president of Competition and is and did really help me out and is a great guy. So i went with another comp. He overnighted it to me and i had it friday.

Now I am working 7 day weeks, 1 weekend off a month. My weekend off for this month is this one, so i tore the trans out, installed the clutch and when to start the car. Yea, it wont even go into gear now. The teeth on the pressure plate are perfectly flush and the slave cylinder does not push the rod far enough to make the throw out bearing it them.

I looked over my first clutch and the disk is warped bad. The one section has hard bite marks, and the other side barely scratched the pads at all. When you spin it on a flat table over a little stack of pennies, one side catches them, the other side goes right over with a mm or so of clearance.

I guess im going to try and mix and match the two kits, use the ones disk, and the others pressure plate and see if it doesnt help. I really hate to tear it all apart again and waste another whole day. Im really glad Competition is across the U.S. because both of these would be threw there window. Im not a very happy camper right now having spent over $700 and my only weekend off to put in nothing but junk.

mouab18c1

iTrader: (5)

Ask for a refund and go with something else. I think thats your best choice as of right now.

viper_boy403

iTrader: (1)

Your pressure plate is obviously f'd up and you kept putting new discs in there...? Of course it's going to keep warping the discs and wearing them all wrong! I vote user install error on this one...

I'm on my 2nd Competition Clutch (first a stage 3, now a stage 4) and have never been anything but extremely pleased with the quality of the product, as well as their customer service.

Excel91CiViCsi

Why dont you reread all I have posted.

I have bought two clutch kits.

The first one had a warped disk, it took off roughly but shifted fine while driving. I bought another, and on this one the pressure plate wont even disengage my car at all so it does not even allow it to get into gear to move.

Kyle R

iTrader: (1)

Sorry to hear that. I hope everything works out. (not the Kyle you spoke with )

bemanuel

I have never had a problem with Competition Clutches. I always get smooth engagement and great pedal feel.

I have installed the stages 1-5 and never had an issue. I believe there is probably something else to blame here, it is just hard for me to thing you would have gotten two bad ones in a row.

Have you ever resurfaced your flywheel?

Turbogixxer

Get another clutch.

I have used CC for a long time. Their clutches have been getting shitty the last few years. It is a hit or miss. I wish it was something to do with install, but it is not.

B16Civic93

well i'm sorry to hear your having such a hard time with competition clutch but i've got to say i believe you because i have one that is giving me a hard time... i've done quite a few clutches. so i dont believe its an installation problem, i had the flywheel resurfaced.

i've got a competition stage 4 sprung, and i put the 500 miles on it city/town driving not reving above 4k usually 3k tops. i'm very **** about my break-in process with clutches to make sure i maxamize the life-span of the clutch.. when i was putting the breakin miles on it i noticed it was a little rough shifting it, going in and out of gear but didnt think much of it since i was breaking it in. once i finally was able to lay on it a little i realized it was hard to get it in and out of gear. its like the pressure plate isnt releasing. i had the transmission gone through and had third gear, fourth gear, both synchros and sleeve replaced. i previously had a clutchmaster stg3 and it was slipping a little bit so i replaced it and wanted to try something new but i'm not too happy at all. i was going to try and check the slave cylinder to see how far it was moving the arm and compare it to my stock gsr and see if it moved it the same distance to rule out a faulty master/slave cylinder or a rubber clutch line flexing/bulging. i'm about to get shoulder surgery in 2 weeks so pulling the transmission is really not on the top of my priorities right now as i'm tryin to get everything situated because i'm told i'll be in a sling for a month... hopefullly i will have the luck others did and it will start getting better as i drive it more...

4g hatch

just break down and get the exedy stage 1. i luved mine and my bro now loves his. ever so slighty stiffer than stock but grabs like a **** when you need it to!!!!