What's new

New clutch slipping occasionally...

bangwhosnext

Members
Messages
8
Reaction score
1
Location
Somewhere
Car
Honda Accord i-DTEC
Hi all,

So here's the story...

I bought a 2010 Accord around November and the first thing I do with any new car I get is to get it tuned for performance and fuel efficiency.

After tuning the car (and having the dpf done) I found that it would occasionally slip in third gear when I gave it full throttle.

The car had 90k on it so I figured it was due a new clutch and flywheel.

So I got the clutch and flywheel changed just before Christmas 2015 and made sure not floor it at all for the first 6-8 weeks to let it settle in.

So all was fine up until a few days ago, when I noticed flooring it in 3rd gear up a hill (doing about 60mph) it lost power at 2k rpm and kicked back in at around 3k rpm.

I have tested this a few times in the last couple of days and it seems to do the same thing every time. I haven't noticed it any other gear except 3rd.

The car has been remapped (from standard 150bhp) to around 190bhp. The new clutch and DMF are Luk brand.

I don't floor it all the time (maybe a few times a week if I get a clear road) but as the area I live in is hilly, I normally floor it uphill.

Surely the clutch or flywheel cant be going already?

I've thought about contacting the tuner and asking him his opinion, but I don't really want to bother him after 7-8 months and I really like the way the car is driving (apart from the obvious) so I don't want to take the ECU back to standard.

Any ideas???
 
Either the torque curve is too aggressive in the map, or the clutch wasn't loaded correctly when fitting.

I've been through many Idtec's, very few have had clutch issues and even then they've tended be high milers where a clutch was due.

The previous 7th gen cars have had more widespread clutch issues.
 
Thanks fahad.

That leaves me with two problems though...

1. I like the way its tuned at the moment and don't really feel it's too aggressive so I'd like to leave the ECU the way it is (although maybe it could be smoothed out so idk).

2. I had the new clutch and flywheel fitted by a local garage, if I take it to a Honda dealer for a rebuild, it will likely cost a fortune.

What's the best option?
 
Get your tuner to smooth out the power curve.
 
Can you not go back to the guy who fitted your clutch. Could be a bad clutch to begin with?
 
bangwhosnext said:
Thanks F6had,

will try that first.
Got the tuner to re-tune the car... still slipping when full throttle. Have to keep it below 3k revs from now on unless I want to change the parts again.
I wouldn't mind if it was just the clutch, but the tuner reckons the flywheel is done (not sure how he knows this) Not sure who to blame, the tuner or myself.
I asked him to take it as high as it would go (safely) without risking damage to the clutch or flywheel.. 6 months after the re-map, the brand-new clutch and flywheel are slipping and he tells me the flywheel is done. I'll admit, my driving style partly contributed, as I frequently red-lined the car in 3rd and 4th gear around town, but I never thought I would wear out a brand new clutch and flywheel within 6 months?
I think the fact that he doesn't use a rolling road to test the car through all the gears is a factor. He just takes the car out for a drive to test it after tuning, and makes necessary adjustments if needed, but somehow I don't think that is sufficient.

Fahad, if you had to guess, what would you say has worn out? Clutch? Flywheel? Both?
TypeR said:
Can you not go back to the guy who fitted your clutch. Could be a bad clutch to begin with?
They were brand new LUK, clutch and flywheel that I bought myself from the local motor factors, so I don't think that is the issue, although I did find out that it is the same clutch that is used in the 7th gen accord, which is 140bhp and 200kgs lighter than the 8th gen I drive.

What to do?
 
A worn flywheel wouldn't cause the clutch to slip unless the face of the flywheel is badly worn. That's unlikely as the most common failure in a dual mass flywheel is the springs which cause it to start knocking..

I'm not sure what to advise really. As you say you asked your tuner to max it out and that's what he did..

Personally I would just return it to stock and prolong the life of your clutch.
 
As much as the clutch slip is caused by the amount of torque generated, it's having as much of a hard time fighting the rate at which the car build torque.

ie - the car feels fastest as it comes up on boost - this is where the torque curve is at its steepest.

Having a more linear delivery doesn't feel as fast, but can still generate the same peak torque and HP whilst giving the driveline an easier time.

If it was my car, I'd be fitting a fresh clutch and going for a less aggressive map.

I suspect that the slipping clutch may well have overheated the clutch friction plate.
You may get lucky and it's merely glazed it like you can brake pads, and it could bed back in with gentle use. I'm hoping this is the case and that it comes back over the next few thousand miles.
 
F6HAD said:
A worn flywheel wouldn't cause the clutch to slip unless the face of the flywheel is badly worn. That's unlikely as the most common failure in a dual mass flywheel is the springs which cause it to start knocking..

I'm not sure what to advise really. As you say you asked your tuner to max it out and that's what he did..

Personally I would just return it to stock and prolong the life of your clutch.

As much as the clutch slip is caused by the amount of torque generated, it's having as much of a hard time fighting the rate at which the car build torque.

ie - the car feels fastest as it comes up on boost - this is where the torque curve is at its steepest.

Having a more linear delivery doesn't feel as fast, but can still generate the same peak torque and HP whilst giving the driveline an easier time.

If it was my car, I'd be fitting a fresh clutch and going for a less aggressive map.

I suspect that the slipping clutch may well have overheated the clutch friction plate.
You may get lucky and it's merely glazed it like you can brake pads, and it could bed back in with gentle use. I'm hoping this is the case and that it comes back over the next few thousand miles.
Thanks for the replies...

I don't want to go back to the tuner again, I've been back to him 3 times already since he first mapped the car with engine management lights and clutch slip problems.
He lives out the back @rse of nowhere and not only is it a problem finding his place, but its a problem leaving the car with him as he's always busy, and I also have to arrange for someone to follow me out and bring me back and then vice versa when collecting the car... but after this, I will not be using him again.

The torque curve has already been reduced and it is safe enough to drive sensibly as long as I don't floor it.
I have hopes that the clutch may bed in again while driving it sensibly, but now I am just looking to flog the car on to someone else and go for a little hot hatch petrol so that I can have some fun and enjoyment while driving.

Thanks again...
 
I havnt read all these posts but there was one guy that had the same problem. He had a slipping clutch and after 3 attempts of the back street garage trying to fix it he took it to Honda to do and they just refitted the clutch using the honda pre tension tool and the slipping stopped.

If your recent clutch was fitted by honda then it's most likely the self adjustment mechanism that's the problem.

ACTUALLY if the clutch plate cover isn't fitted correctly the clutch pad or something can wear unevenly and not make full contact and slip. That happened to me.
 
I fitted mine with no special tools. 22k and going strong with a 192hp map from Premier Tuning.

I do have a habit of tightening things progressively and in sequence to ensure they sit flat though.
Even tighten wheel nuts as opposites.

Quite how you could get a clutch on squiffy though is beyond me?
 
Honda said the clutch plate cover was faulty and didn't sit right. If that's true or not I don't know. The just took my money and fitted a new one.

You've done well to fit the clutch yourself as as I keep hearing you need to use a special tool from Honda to do it properly. To be fare most people that havnt had Honda fit their 8th gen clutch have had problems.
 
Racy Jace said:
I havnt read all these posts but there was one guy that had the same problem. He had a slipping clutch and after 3 attempts of the back street garage trying to fix it he took it to Honda to do and they just refitted the clutch using the honda pre tension tool and the slipping stopped.

If your recent clutch was fitted by honda then it's most likely the self adjustment mechanism that's the problem.

ACTUALLY if the clutch plate cover isn't fitted correctly the clutch pad or something can wear unevenly and not make full contact and slip. That happened to me.
The guy that fitted the clutch has been a mechanic for 30 years and has changed plenty of Honda clutch and flywheels.
I have heard about that special tool thingy before but I'm fairly sure he knows about it too if I've been hearing about it for the last 10 years.
The thing is, the clutch was absolutely fine for 6 months and only started slipping because I was red-lining it everywhere (my mistake as I thought it could handle the abuse).

So I think it was part my fault and part the tuner's fault.
Also, the LUK clutch isn't the correct one for the 8th gen (they don't do one), it was only designed for the specifications of the 7th gen, so less scope for handling aggressive maps and abuse.
 
I don't need want to blame the tuner here as based on what you're saying you got what you asked for and you've hammered the hell out of it yourself.

A Type S clutch is a straight fit on the normal 148bhp model like yours, just swap for one of these. They can cope with additional torque.

I also used to believe in the special honda alignment tool and would regularly advocate its importance. However my mechanic has now done plenty of Ictdi clutches and also idtec clutches for me without the tool and we've had zero issue.
 
Top