I need advice!

[dangerously_cool]

Alright, I've got a long story, but I need advice. This pertains to my car, which has been a hell-hole since I bought a new turbo for it two decembers ago.

I'll try and give a little background first. My friend backed into it last September, and since then it's only run for a cumulative total of three weeks. The last time it ran was in May, around the 14th.

The car is heavily modified, and my greatest fear is that it will sit in the garage while I'm away, which I will not accept.

Right now everything has been ironed out save one last hitch. The car will not shift gears, and when started in gear, it stalls out. The obvious problem is that the clutch is not disengaging. Now, normally I'd take this to a shop, but a friend of mine helps me out with the car. He knows what he's doing, but he's a flake.

This is the main reason the car's been down so long. Tomorrow the car is slated to have the tranny dropped and clutch taken out.

The clutch lines have been bled, bled, and the rebled. Today marked the fourth day that they've been bled. I've been under the impression that the problem is the clutch for a while now. He didn't believe me, and so the lines were bled.

He's got a good 30 years on me in age, and so he has work, but insists on being the one who does the work. His job and poor personal choices make him a flake. I have until mid-September to have this car finished, or my parents are considering forcing me to sell my car.

I can take it to a mechanic, but I would like him to do the work, and I don't know what to do. I've threatened to take it to a shop, but he intervenes with assertions that the shops will only charge a lot of money for nothing to be done. I have to be a man but I don't know how to do it. Tomorrow I plan on giving him an ultimatum; he either takes the car apart tomorrow and finishes it, or doesn't start at all and accepts that I take it to a shop. The reason I care about what he does is he is the only one I know who can help me work on/ maintain the aftermarket parts, because through my trials I've found that I just don't have what it takes to work on the car; taking it to the shop alienates him, and that could be a problem later on.

I'm sorry for the long rant, but I've been running this over in my head for hours and don't know whether or not I should let him take it apart tomorrow.

[exhausted mules]

its your car right?

[blinkmeat]

It's up to you dude. You know much more about the details than we do obviously. But I like the altimatum idea. Just tell him straight up. "I'd like you to do the work because I trust you etc. but I need the car now... So either you do the work now or I'm going to have to take it to a shop.... Will you please help me out?" If he's you friend, he'll understand.

That's my advice.

[dangerously_cool]

Yea I know what you mean. I guess I'll just have to make the ultimatum tomorrow.

I will never modify a car like this again. The past year and a half has been nothing but a nightmare, I wish I'd waited and gotten a better car when I had the money.

Part of the reason I've never made good on the threat is I had a bad experience with a purportedly reputable shop. They fucked the car up so badly that it took three months to fix. I'm petrified of that happening again.

[ZfrkS62]

how does the cluth pedal feel? does it feel like there is still air in the lines? If so your problem is as simple as a split clutch fork.

If you have a good feel to it, check the torque on the pressure plate bolts. If one or twoare loose it will cause the diaphragm to warp and not pin the friction disc to the flywheel.

If neither of those is the case, then you may have a weak pressure plate. Check that all the fingers on the pressure plate are intact.

good luck.

[blinkmeat]

Hope it all turns out alright. What kind of car is it? What have you done to it?

[dangerously_cool]

The pedal feels as it has; it feels like there is no air in the system, but it does have at the bottom of its throw a vibration as you depress it, as of something resisting, and clicking as it gives way.

The problem is not that the clutch doesn't grab, it's that it doesn't release. I've not much more to go on than that, save it's a SPEC clutch, and I've heard they're not terribly reliable. Wouldn't a disc not pinned to the flywheel make the clutch slip rather than not disengage?

Thanks for the advice, and I'll check on that tomorrow if it ends up coming apart.

Hope it all turns out alright. What kind of car is it? What have you done to it?

It's a Dodge SRT-4. I've added so much stuff it's hard to remember:

It's got an AGP Turbo big turbo kit with a T3/T4 3147 trim wheel, mopar stage 2 kit with a fuel return line and 1:1 rising rate regulator, mopar stage 3 coilover suspension, Perrin fuel rail (I might have to ditch this because my RC 750 CC injectors probably won't fit), Harder durometer motor mounts, a custom 3" catback exhaust with a modified magnaflow camaro SS style exhaust, a SPEC stage 3i clutch, 235 40 18 Michelin Pilot Sports, a CTI intercooler, Mopar short throw shifter, DC strut tower bars, front and rear, Perrin anti-roll bar rear, progress anti-roll bar front (not yet installed), Custom rear control arms with heim joints rather than bushings (not yet installed), MSD ignition wires, NGK spark plugs, Greddy E-01 boost controller, Greddy Emanage fuel controller, Konig Verdict 18x7.5" rims, and I'm going to try and get a Camber kit put on if it runs before I leave for UC Irvine, ATP 3" downpipe with high-flow Catalytic converter, and a Tial 38 mm wastegate dumping into the atmosphere. I think that's about it, I have trouble remembering it all. Oh and I have a 2003 so I had to have an LSD added after I bought it, it's the Quaiffe.

Last time it was tuned was on a larger 60-1 trim T3/T4, but at 20psi on pump 91 octane, it made 340WHP.

I've already replaced the slave and master clutch cylinders.

Thanks for the encouragement guys.

[ZfrkS62]

The pedal feels as it has; it feels like there is no air in the system, but it does have at the bottom of its throw a vibration as you depress it, as of something resisting, and clicking as it gives way.

The problem is not that the clutch doesn't grab, it's that it doesn't release. I've not much more to go on than that, save it's a SPEC clutch, and I've heard they're not terribly reliable. Wouldn't a disc not pinned to the flywheel make the clutch slip rather than not disengage?

Thanks for the advice, and I'll check on that tomorrow if it ends up coming apart.

i had the not release prob with my datsun and it ended up being the pressure plate not being properly torqued. One of the bolts was still slightly loosed causing the warpage. That could be the vibration you are feeling as itcomes back through the throwout bearing, fork and hydraulics but i've never heard of it that way. you'll find out what it is once the trans comes out, but my bet is now an issue with the pressure plate

[dangerously_cool]

I've talked to a few people, and they all agree with you. We'll see, I'll try and keep this thread updated.

[dangerously_cool]

Alright, UPDATE: I decided to let him do the work, and the tranny is out. I started a new thread for it.