Im on my 2nd t-5 tranny in a 270 hp 305 camaro and this thing is like eating through clutches..... Are these trannys notorious for doing this?..... I know how to drive a manual but 4 clutches in 2 years is ridiculous. All being installed "professionally" by a tranny shop. Anyone else have this problem or is it only my 5 speed that sucks?

 

Has nothing to do with a 5-speed. A clutch is a clutch no matter what the trans (until recently anyway). You could put a Chrysler hemi 4-speed in there, it wouldn't make any difference.

Either you're using inferior clutches, or you're abusing them. I typically get something in the 60-80,000 mile life out of mine; I thin kI've only had to replace one in my entire life because it was worn out, and it had about 85,000 on it. It was actually in my 83, behind a 400.

Allowing the clutch to slip any at all while under power is what eats them. Practice driving in such a way that the clutch is either fully engaged, or fully disengaged, as much of the time as possible. Also, keep your foot completele off the clutch pedal while driving. Imagine that there's a huge red light on your dash and an obnoxious buzzer, that come on whenever your foot touches the clutch, and practice keeping it turned off. It's a matter of driver habit.

I recall a taxi company some years ago that did exactly that (the light and buzzer thing) in their taxis; they went from a fleet average clutch life of less than 10,000 miles, to an average of 40,000 miles.

 

And also keep your hand off the stick. That can put stress on certain tranny parts when you are under load running down the road.

My 68 Camaro ATE clutches

Why?

We finally found out that one of the dowel alignment pins on the bellhousing was bent slightly and not allowing the block to mate to it completely.

Ohhhhhhh, did that ever cost me a lot of money in clutches

 

Yea i know what you mean i have all those habits.... But man the clutch that is in my car is only 1 month old and its shot... its a spec clutch too. Theres got to be a problem here because i dont see even the worst driver killing a clutch that fast..........
But anyway im getting a new one tomorrow or so... any suggestions on a good reliable kit?

 

get a centerforce DF. BTW how many times has your flywheel been cut. If you havent that could be a cause, and if you have too many times its possible that the pressure plate bolts are bottoming in the hole before they are completely tight, this would reduce the effective spring pressure enough to allow some slippage while driving.

Do you smell burning clutch often?

Also, as stated above. In normal driving a clutch is either engaged or disengaged. You should be able ( You do know how to drive a stick right??)to shift smoothly and quickly without slipping the clutch. its in and out. The only time to slip it is when you are dragracing and you need to keep the rpm up on a launch to prevent bogging or wheel spin.

oh yeah, check the operation of your slave cylinder, does it hang once you release the peddle? it might not be fully releasing. and if you have an aftermarket bellhousing did you check the run out?

 

As a matter of fact this clutch burned almost everytime you let it out......No matter how perfect you did it...... Is it possible i just got a bad clutch kit? I mean putting aside all bad driving possibilities is there any other reason a clutch could go bad so fast? BTW As far as i know the flywheel was cut 2-3 times tops. More than likely twice but 3 times is possible. What do you mean by the slave cylinder hanging?

 

replace the flywheel when you replace the clutch, that is too many times turning a flywheel, that I would suspect to be a big portion of your problem.