OK, so if you read my last post, https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=759484, you'll know that I was having all kinds of trouble with my ACT XTSS. After replacing the master cylinder and slave to no avail, we decided to go ahead and tear the tranny off today. Instantly found what appears to be the problem. It seems that the alighment pins on the Comptech flywheel backed out and tore the pressure plate all to hell, along with parts of my tranny casing. The clutch disc itself looks fine.

To put it mildly I'm not pleased. I never expected to have any trouble with a part from Comptech. Go figure that tomorrow is our 2 year anniversary, and she'll be chillin on jackstands while I write a huge English paper. Anyway here are the pics. Comptech will be getting a call tomorrow, and at the very least I expect them to replace the flywheel, pressure plate, and clutch mounting bolts, some of which seem slightly bent from the pressure plate moving slightly without its alignment pins. We'll just assume that all the time my father and myself spent was free and not what we would have had to pay to have somone else install and uninstall everything.

Tranny Casing


Flywheel


Missing alignment pin and fuxored hole on flywheel


Pin, which fell when the tranny case was removed


Gouged pressure plate


Again


Again


Disc



Modified by HondaRcB at 6:40 PM 2/15/2004

 

OH no, I have the same setup...

 

I don't understand how the alignment pins could "shear" off if the pressure plate was properly torqued to the flywheel?

The bolts (and friction between the two surfaces) should be supporting the force right? Now, I can understand if the bolts started backing out - then the pins would be subjected to forces they weren't supposed to see.

When you removed the tranny, were the bolts still torqued correctly?

 

I hate that this has happened but would like to throw in some advice. Comptech has been an acception to the rule for me when it comes to standing behind their product. I have worked with them on several different occassion such as the Expo and they are nice poeple who are eager to help.

That said there are 2 people I always talk to. Nate and Bob. I would say call them. Tell them the issue at hand and that since their part failure caused the damage of the other parts this is what you woudl like. I would also suggest reading the disclaimers on parts like the flywheel. It could be the case they have sort of race part disclaimer. Not saying it is right but just so you know what they have the right to say even if you don't like to hear it.

I suspect Comptech will make things right for you. Please feel free to Tell Nate or Bob I told you to ask for them.


Trey

 

Everything was torqued corectly, even when we removed the parts. I don't think they sheared off, I should have said they just backed out somehow.

 

dear god....

how are those alignment pins put on the flywheel to begin with? just pressure?

 

here's a shot I took of one of the pins on mine. on the back you can see where they hammer (punch) each screw, etc.

http://hogens.com/pics/flywheel2.jpg

 

Thanks for the advice Trey. My father and I will be talking with them tomorrow. Hopefully you're right, and I feel you will be as they have always seemed like a good company. Hopefully all goes well tomorrow, I'll keep you guys updated.

 

GL.

 

Wow! At least it looks like you did not do any serious damage to the tranny. Good luck resolving the problem.

 

any update on this? just curious what comptech had to say..

 

My dad, who had been dealing with all this mess, as he purchased most of it as a Christmas gift, talked to Nate at Comptech yesterday. He apparently was a great guy and asked us to ship the parts, flywheel, dislodged pin, pressure plate, and disc to them, assuring us that they would take care of it. I also sent them a picture of the damaged tranny case, and told them about this thread. We purchased the flywheel and clutch from Modacar, who apparently is located down the street from Comptech, and work in close relation with each other. Hopefully this will all be resolved soon.

 

How did it feel when you drove it, did you feel that it was messed up? B/c i think i might have the same problem and i was wondering the symptoms.

 

Nate is a good guy, friend of mine and H-T Member. I`m sure they will take care of you if the product was defective in any way.

Ryan

 

I have the comptech fw for over 2 years and no problems.

 

before this happened was your tranny making a loud clicking noise when you go from a dead stop and start rolling.. mine is doing this now"I am running the same flywheel with a excedy organic clutch" anyone know what this could be?

 

When driving the car the clutch engagement point seemed to get closer to the floor. Also when I would release the clutch in neutral you could hear a metaiil clicking sound which coincided with the RPM of the engine. I now assume that it was the alignment pin stuck on the pressure plate hitting against my transmission case.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mikestypeR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">before this happened was your tranny making a loud clicking noise when you go from a dead stop and start rolling.. mine is doing this now"I am running the same flywheel with a excedy organic clutch" anyone know what this could be?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Tons of ITR owners have this problem. Noone at acura seems to be able to figure it out. Mines been doing it for over a year.

After working on it for 3 hours, my acura dealer told me its normal, that all hondas make this clicking sound. I should probably write acura corporate headcourters and see if they realize that supposedly all honda make a clicking sound when taking off, and letting off the gas.

My guess is one of the motor mounts is shot.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jond &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Tons of ITR owners have this problem. Noone at acura seems to be able to figure it out. Mines been doing it for over a year.

After working on it for 3 hours, my acura dealer told me its normal, that all hondas make this clicking sound. I should probably write acura corporate headcourters and see if they realize that supposedly all honda make a clicking sound when taking off, and letting off the gas.

My guess is one of the motor mounts is shot.

</TD></TR></TABLE>


thanks for the reply well the mounts are fine the motor is stiff as a board but its like it will only make the noise if the car is moved to a roll with alittle force, if i slip it it doesnt do it .... but who knows

 

Any updates from Comptech?

I had one of their aluminum FW installed about 3 months ago w/o any issues. Last month, the dealer was replacing my pressure plate and for some reason, the new PP could not line up with the 3 dowel pins of the FW so I had to go back to the stock FW.

 

They've kind of been giving my father the run around talking to different people at Comptech. He talked to Nate on Monday and from what I understand they ofcourse keep pushing it as an install error. I KNOW it was not because everything was done by the Helms to the "t". Tightening patterns, torque specs etc. We're expecting a call today and hopefully everything will be worked out.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HondaRcB &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">They've kind of been giving my father the run around talking to different people at Comptech. He talked to Nate on Monday and from what I understand they ofcourse keep pushing it as an install error. I KNOW it was not because everything was done by the Helms to the "t". Tightening patterns, torque specs etc. We're expecting a call today and hopefully everything will be worked out. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Does not surprise me. "Install error" always seems to be the easy way out for these companies..

 

Just figured I'd reply to this thread in our defense. I am not going to point blame on anyone and we are working with our customer to find an agreeable resolve. We have received this flywheel and the customer was gracious enough to also send the pressure plate, bolts and clutch disc. Upon initial examination we have found a couple of things.
The pressure plate bolts have numerous indications of wear and abuse in the middle of the threads. The bolt holes on the flywheel have been severely damaged and are no longer parallel with each other. The alignment pin holes have elongated. The holes are out of round so much that the pins no longer would stay in. All these findings are concurrent with a loosely torque pressure plate. The pressure plate would move back and forth on the flywheel causing the wear on the bolts. The pressure plate was in such contact with the alignment pins that it forced them back and forth, elongating the holes until the pins fell out.
It is understandable that we would initially believe this is due entirely to mis-installation. Like I said, I do not want to point fingers, and I am more than happy to try and reach a peaceful resolve with our customer. I just wanted to get on here and clear the air in our defense.

Nate

 

My father just got off the phone with Nate and here is what's happening. Comptech agreed to send us a "refurbished" flywheel and are sending back the pressure plate and disc. We were told that they checked out the pressure plate and it seems to be in working order. Not sure how I feel putting it back in there with the gouge marks left by the alignment pin, but we will trust Comptech and go ahead and reuse it. Hopefully the parts will make it here by the weekend and the R will be running once again. This ofcourse has turned into much more of a headache than was intended when installing the parts, and did not come to the outcome I expected from such a reputable company. Whatever the cause of the problem, I will be glad to have everything done with and be able to drive the big white thing that has been collecting dust in the garage once again.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HondaRcB &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This ofcourse has turned into much more of a headache than was intended when installing the parts, and did not come to the outcome I expected from such a reputable company. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I would be satisfied if I was you. Most companies would have not gone this far to help you.