I just tore my whole bottom end apart to inspect all the bearings before I get the car on the dyno to make some real numbers. Everything looks ok, main and rods look awesome with minimal wear and no scoring, but the thrust bearing looks pretty worn. Only one bearing is worn, and its the side that takes all the abuse when you push in the clutch. Ill post some pics up later.
Only reason I can think of for the thrust bearing to wear so quickly is because the clutch was extremley stiff when new. Once broken in, the feel was alot softer, but i remember when new the clutch was so stiff I would need to readjust my cable after 50 kms of driving. Anyone else had any experience like this with stiff pressure plates messing up the thrust bearings? Its a Competition clutch 6 puck sprung with lightweight flywheel. Clevite main and thrust bearings with ACL race rod bearings.

Also, another question, while I have everything apart. Should I swap out the loose ACL race bearings for a set of OEM type ACL or Clevite? The race bearings look ok to me but Im not sure they will last as long as the regular ones. The car is currently a daily driver but will be a weekend only car very soon.

Anywasy, in goes a new set of thrust bearings and 20+psi of boost.

 

oops. shoudl have searched

 

what did you find in your search?

 

I have used some pretty heavy clutches and never seen any wear on the thrust bearings. I have always used hondathrust wahers though.

 

Please post the pic anyway.

 

ive had this problem twice so far wtih stiff pressure plates (2400 lbs clamp force+)

 

My competition clutch Stg 5 pressure plate did this to my thrust washers.
It was so bad it actually completely shredded the one thrust washer, couldmove the crank in and out back and forth it was so bad. The crank was also [freak]ed on my motor.

about $500 later...the dude who i soldthe motor to used the same bearings, different clutch and the motor still makes 489whp..

 

do you sit at stop lights with the clutch in the whole time? as this can lead to unnecessary wear to the thrust bearing

 

Clamp load and pedal effort are two different things. Clamp load has nothing to do with the thrust washers since the clutch pedal is not pressed in whe the clutch is "clamped". The amount it takes to press the pedal in is way less than the amount of clamping force. Just because a clutch has 3000 lb clamp load, doesn't mean it takes 3000 lb of pressure to release the clutch. Usually those numbers are more like 400-500 lb. I have always had clutches with rediculous clamp loads and never had an issue with thrust bearings

 

The explination I got from Tony on this issue was that heavy pressure plates only cause excessive wear on thrust washers during startup because of a lack of oil pressure. My neutral safety switch was bypassed to prevent this...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by boostismycrack &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The explination I got from Tony on this issue was that heavy pressure plates only cause excessive wear on thrust washers during startup because of a lack of oil pressure. My neutral safety switch was bypassed to prevent this...</TD></TR></TABLE>
And agree with him. One of the firt things I do to a car when I get it is bypass the clutch switch. Even if the clamp load had anything to do with it, Honda clutches(no matter the brand) don't have alot of clamp. They just aren't big enough. Some of the larger cluthces like Mustangs, Camaros, etc have almost twice the clamp load of a Honda.

 

Good info to know guys. If i would of known that 4 months ago, my car would still be together and driveable

Thanks for the input Danny.

 

Im goign to be bypassing my clutch switch for sure. Im also goign to avoid holding the clutch in when not necesary. I need a friggin daily driver LOL.

 

With heavy clutches, and more so with heavy pressure plates, you will see wear on your thrust bearings. However, this can greatly reduced or eliminated by bypassing the clutch switch so you start the car with it in nuetral and the clutch out. Also, NEVER sit at red lights with the clutch de-pressed. Put the car in nuetral and coast to a stop, and don't hold the clutch in like many people do. If you follow this, you should always be fine.