I finally installed the turbo and Hydra ecu as well as a new ACT clutch before I went away this past weekend. I started up the car before I left to check for leaks and the car started up with no problems. The idle seems to be surging a little bit but nothing crazy. I did calibrate the FM WBo2 and I took it for a quick drive up the street to make sure nothing fell off. The boost was showing 5psi. I think the recommended break-in period for the ACT clutch is 500 miles. Do you think Is should I do the clutch break-in before I start the tuning process or wait until after the break-in period?

 

did you back out of your driveway yet?

 

Yes. The install as done at my buddy's warehouse and It had to be moved to make room for his Spec Miata. It's sitting at his car lot which is 5 miles away.

 

tune it now. tuning doesn't usually require 5k rpm clutch drops.

 

If it's not kevlar or carbon composite, i dont bother with a breaking it in.

 

Thanks guys for your help. I'll start the tuning process this weekend.

 

Unless you think your torque is near the rated threshold of the clutch, you should be fine. Otherwise, if you believe you have 200 tq at the wheels and that is what your clutch is rated to, then you'll want to make sure the surfaces are mated well so it doesnt slip. On the dyno it's sort of apparent when the clutch starts to slip anyways.
Your call, but I typically drive a couple hundred miles on clutches before I race on them.

 

Brain is right... theoretically there shouldn't be a period required. However, I would let it go through a few heat cycles... just a couple days of regular driving would be more than plenty.

 

I think you guys are all missing the important aspect of his question:

he's going to start the tuning process. that doesn't mean he has to go full throttle or clutch dumps.

you can do a lot of tuning just cruising around. I'd even wager that a lot of it can be done *while* breaking it in.

 

I did some mild tuning on a new clutch and all was going well. Then I got greedy and started to do some 12-15psi runs and now the clutch slips above 5k

Idiot question, if I've "glazed" a new clutch is the whole assembly toast or can I just replace the disk and clean the pp if it isn't damaged?

 

what clutch and what material is it?

 

Yeah guys I don't plan on beating on the car just yet, I just want to get the initial tuning out of the way first. BTW Matt I want to download your VVT map to the current FM map before I tune. The Hydra program is still new to me so what's the easiest way to download your info to my map?

 

drive around and tune the non-boost portion of your map, when you've got that dialed in you should probably be fine to boost away. i waited about 2 blocks before i put my clutch to the test

 

under the tools menu is an import function. you basically open the map you want to use, then select which part to import. then import it.

 

Thanks.

 

Welcome to the club Sean. I cant wait to see it in person.
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I think it's an ACT, I bought it from FM a while ago though and it sat for over a year before I ever used it. It's been another year since I developed the slipping. Obviously I don't have a lot of time to play with this.

 

please be more vague.

 

Let me try to fill in the blanks ... it might be an ACT, or maybe what FM sold before ACT which I think was Clutchmasters. It's been at least 4 years since I installed it. Either way, I'm pretty sure that all the clutches that FM has sold are organic disk, which answers the question.

If it is an ACT, then it also may apply to the OP.

 

either the clutch wasn't ever up to snuff in the first place, or it's worn. either way, it's probably time for a replacement, or lowering the boost.

the ACT should hold a good amount of boost, so if that's really what you have, then maybe you need a new disc.....i do happen to have a brand new act 200mm street disc (MM) I need to unload