what does it mean when im letting out my clutch and it seems to shudder or shake the whole car?? the clutch and flywheel is new and only does it sometimes other than that its a little jerky sometimes but works fine. anysuggestions?

 

what clutch?

 

I was going to ask if you resufaced your flywheel. But now I see that it is new. I don't have much experience with new parts. I have heard that if the alignment of your bellhousing if off it can cause clutch chatter.

 

its a zoom clutch.

 

Mine shudders occasionally as well. I've been assuming that it's worn out center springs, since it's still the original clutch since 1986...

 

Just curious, what would make it be out of line (given that it has those dowel pins)? Would it be dirt or something between the housing and engine maybe?

 

I have zoom clutch aswelll and mine shudders but I did not resurface flywheel and my car only does it when the engine is cold or the clutch is warm.

 

mine too...must be the clutch.

 

Due to the manufacturing process for the bellhousing, the centerline of the bellhousing bore may not be aligned with the centerline of the crank. Lakewood recommends that you check this alignment and make any corrections if necessary. Installing a bellhousing that is not centered with the crank can result in poor shifting, clutch engagement problems, worn pilot bearing, as well as accelerated wear on the transmission bearings and gears.

 

how do you check for alignment??

 

cut and pasted from another site........Unfortunately checking the alignment is a major pain in the neck... literally if you're working with the engine in the car. The procedure for checking the alignment is to mount a dial-indicator on the flywheel so that the plunger contacts the lip of the bellhousing bore. With the bellhousing securely mounted to the block, rotate the crank 360 degrees and observe the gauge. The total travel of the needle, divided by two, is the amount of misalignment between the crank centerline and the bellhousing bore. Lakewood specifies no more than 0.005" misalignment. Any more than this and you should correct it using offset alignment dowels in the block or welding offset washers over the dowel holes in the bellhousing.

 

how would it become misaligned in the first place??? would there be any noticable drivability problems or would it just wear out the trans faster??

 

do a google search on bellhousing alignment. Here's a link also http://go.mrgasket.com/pdf/97140222.pdf

misalignment is casused by sloppy manufacturing tolerences

The more the tolerence is off the worse the condition.