[s-cars] drivetrain whir / clatter upon CMG install

[Krasusky Paul (WQQ2PXK)]

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Super K guessed:

<<<My guess is that somehow the throwout bearing is perhaps not attached to
the clutch release fork correctly - when you depress the clutch, you're
holding it all together with foot forced, but then when the foot is off the
clutch the throwout bearing is supposed to be hanging on the release fork,
away from the spinning pressure plate.>>>

TB guessed:

<<<I'm betting that the TOB is no longer seated in the TOB fork.  That is
known to cause the noises you describe.  When pressed, the TOB body stops
spinning, then when released again, she spins again. >>>

Elijah added:

<<< sounds like normal LW flywheel noise to me. A little different from mine
but pretty much the same. Mine is loud from 2000 to 3000 rpm (like a penny
rolling around in a metal bowl) then it is quiet. At idle with the clutch
out it chatters a little and gets worse when its hot. SO, I keep my foot on
the clutch at all times and I shift at 5000 out of first to catch second at
3000 and so on and it keeps the noise down. I'm just glad to hear it does it
with the spec clutch as well, mine is a centerforce.>>>



Hmmmm...  Yup, yup, and yup, to all that.  And yes, it DOES get worse when
hot.

Odd that I'd only heard of these LWFW's being noisy while bogging them,
maybe a whir at idle, but not a clatter.  Until now?  Weird.  And Uncle
Bob's car doesn't sound this way.  So, it's a 'some do some don't' thang?
So bizarre.  Is it worth bothering "Mahoney-ing it" (servicemark) for the
Trifecta install and checking TOB issue?  Or just deal?  Man is it loud.  If
only I could say I didn't f'n DIG the LWFW improvement, but I can't.  It f'n
rocks.

I'm still only 1+, and boy do both the LWFW and new gearing sooooo much
better match the power characteristics now.  Spool up is great, no pinging
anymore due to less load (well so far, I haven't beat it that hard... yet),
gone is the "binary" 1+ power surge, the car simply launches instead.
Highway power is downright evil, the K24 seems to be happier with it's new
found 550 or so rpms, making the whole car much more driveable.  Always in
the sweet spot, not as much worry about running out of breath @ 5500 or so.
Just shift.  I'm very less tempted to RS2 at this point, how much faster
does it really need to be? (famous stupid question).  Methinks FMIC may be $
better spent for my needs (22fun-k / yr., occasional autox, driver events,
ice events, drags, etc.).

Oh, another Super K. question:

<<<I'm going to have to pick your brain (off list if you don't want to
share) about the short & weighted shifter setup >>>

Ah, this part is magical.  It's not so much in any ONE single improvement,
as in, "man this is the shortest throw shifter".  It ain't.  It's only
marginally shorter.  It IS however the sum of the changes that is nice, in
that, short throw, coupled with the lead filling, new box and Redline MT-90,
and RS4 alcantara knob (feels ohsonice), man oh man, the car just 'snicks'
into gear.  The weighting / throw perfectly utilize the amount of gear
disengagement energy and allow it to perfectly counter the resistance of
gear engagement.  Sounds goofy, have to feel it to picture what I'm saying.


I know Frank and Hap, etc., have commented on this, I'm just adding to the
sampling selection set.  In short, dunno if I'd bother with the reduction,
but if you can access your shift linkage and fill it with lead, DO IT.  It
went from about 1.6 lb. to 2.4 lb., or something like that, I think it was a
10 oz. difference based off my kitchen scale (wife thrilled).  It's very
VERY nice feeling.  I'll measure the reduction in shift throw Fri. when
Rossato, etc., come over Friday, and report back... again, it ain't much.

Thanks again for all the insight.  Hope this is useful info for those
considering this silly stuff.  Great differences, but there is a price.  I
may Mahoney it post turkey pre santa and check TOB status, will report back.
Until then, 150 more clutch break-in miles then beatings commence...

-Paul
CT
'95 //S6 one more step toward Mahoneyified-less-streetable