Hi all, I just had my 98 R serviced recently. Car currently has 270K miles on it. Had a 90K service done, replaced all drive belts, new p/s pump and reservoir, and got a new clutch put in. I did replace all components, got a new OEM pressure plate, new OEM disc, OEM pilot bearing and OEM throw out bearing, and a SPEC flywheel (not lightened), the OEM flywheels are discontinued. Also replaced a few other things.

The new clutch has only about 300-320 miles on it now. And today, when reversing there is a rotational vibration happening when the clutch is trying to grab, almost feels like the flywheel is warped. I also started to feel the vibration when leaving a red light in first gear. But its a new flywheel. I have not driven the car hard at all, I'm shifting like normal, not doing anything out of the ordinary.

When I feel this happening I give the car more gas and ease off the pedal more slowly and the vibration goes away and the car accelerates like normal. Maybe I'm letting the clutch grab too early and not giving it enough gas to get the car moving? I've owned this car since brand new so I'm not new to driving it or driving a manual transmission, lol. But maybe I'm driving it wrong?! Maybe I've just become accustomed to my old clutch and just not treating this new one properly?

I hope I haven't jacked up anything, or maybe the flywheel is defective? Either way my buddy did the work and he lives 3 hours away, so bring it back to him to troubleshoot is too much. I'm sure he installed everything correctly he has been one of the few people to ever do any major work on my car, he is an honest and trustworthy tech, which are hard to come by these days.

Any suggestions for me?

TIA!

 

Has the rear motor mount been replaced?

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Or you can remove the old one, clean it, and fill it with windshield adhesive. Let it dry, for a week and reuse it.

 

I'm fairly sure all motor mounts are good. I just had them replace in the summer of last year. Thanks for the idea though.

I think I'll just have to give it more gas and ease off the pedal more slowly...is reverse supposed to be a harder gear to start moving in from a dead stop compared to moving forward from a dead stop in 1st gear? which makes sense why I would have to give it more gas to get the car moving. I'm not too knowledgeable about this. I remember years ago someone told me first gear and reverse are the same gear? I'm not sure what that means exactly.
I'm hoping it still needs some breaking in. Its just been about 8 years since I had a new clutch in this car, and I may have developed some bad habits that are good for a new clutch. I'll keep this updated.

 

Try bleeding the clutch again could still have air in the line and while your at it replace the clutch line with a ss line the old clutch line is old. and double check the slave cylinder is inserted in the clutch fork.

 

I suspect this is what's happening, the new clutch is probably grabbing lower than the old one so when you go to start moving your brains timing between clutch out and gas in is slightly off still. I'm experiencing something similar with my NSX, just had the clutch changed and the new one grabs lower, so I'm having to "relearn" the clutch.

I'd give it a bit more time, if you can't get used to it and something still feels wrong after a few more weeks then I'd say have it looked at.

1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th gears all work very similarly, reverse is the exception. In a B-series transmission, reverse is handled by straight cut teeth on both the input and output shaft, and a straight cut gear on a separate shaft that drops down to engage with those teeth as seen in the photo below. Once a gear is engaged though, how difficult it is to start is based purely on gear ratios, reverse vs. forward doesn't make a difference but obviously 5th gear is much more difficult to start in than 1st gear.


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Thanks for the suggestion, I will look into this if my problem persists. But I think its just like MotorMouth suggests, I have to relearn the grabbing point of this new clutch.

 

Thanks for the info and suggestions Motormouth! I learned something new, I appreciate you taking the time to post up a pic and explanation.

I agree with you and feel like its a muscle memory relearn of the new clutch as well. I really paid attention to when I feel the vibration and its when the engine is about to shut off b/c I'm not giving enough gas. I think since its a new disc that this disc is of course going to grab much stronger than my old disc would, which in turn is why I feel the vibration more now than with the old clutch, when I don't give the engine enough gas and it is about to shut off.

 

You can also adjust the engagement point on the clutch master cylinder.