Well this doesn't apply to 280ZXs but I figured it would be the same situation no matter what car it is. My friend's rear main seal in his Z31 Turbo is leaking and now the clutch is covered in oil and slipping like crazy. We are going to tear the car apart tomorrow and replace the clutch but I was wondering if we really need to put a new clutch in it. Is it possible to salvage the old clutch or is it ruined after being covered in oil? It is a Centerforce performance clutch and he is probably going to put in a stock clutch until he can order a new Centerforce. It would save us the trouble of dropping the tranny twice if we could salvage the old Centerforce clutch though. What do you guys think??? Also, anyone know what size the Z31 flywheel is and if it is 240mm will a 280ZXt clutch fit it?

 

I wouldn't try to salvage the disc. The rest of it can be resused though. How much oil was in there? If the disc wasn't saturated then you might be able to reuse it if you burn through the outer layer of material to get rid of the oil. If it's soaked though then the oil has probably saturated into the disc and you'd be looking at slippage for quite some time. Call centerforce and see if they'll supply you with just the disc. If you just replace the disc then make sure you clean everything else up realy good.

As far as the Z31 flywheel, I dont know.

 

Just Wait A Day Or Two For A New Disc. Not Worth Doing A Tranny Twice.

 

If its one of those ceramic coated disk I would clean it good with brake cleaner or starter fluid . Clean the PP and flywheell good and run it. Must be a hell of a leak to soak the clucth, been leaking a while I assume.......

 

The leaks not that bad but we thought the turbo was shot at first so we messed with that for a little while. I go to school 2 hours away so I don't come home much and he only works on his car when Im home. So hes been driving it like that for several weeks now. We haven't actually seen the clutch plate yet but because there is a pretty good amount of oil dripping out, the clutch is slipping on launch, up hills, and when boost hits Im assuming its pretty bad.

 

my friend had the same thing on an oem clutch assembly....its allsalvage able...clean it super good and dry it let it sit out make sure its totally sry everything reinstall...his is working like new again, hopefully that one will to.

 

I don't know man hate to tell some one to spend money on unwanted repairs, but I would bight the bullet and get a new clutch. keep the old one as emergencie use only. with all that slipiage I would think the oil that may have soaked into the fiber material would get hot, and posibly catch fire. It wouldn't be ceramic, cause ceramic is not forgiving to slipage.. One good slipe on a ceramic, and the thing is no good. it just turns into a pile of clay all melted and scraped away. high performance clutches are a lot more forgiving in the aspect that you can keep sliping and you just rub a layer of fibers off, but you still have more to go. I think they disepate heat qicker too.

 

It turned out the clutch was screwed anyway so we just replaced it.

 

problem solved

 

You did the best thing. I know people who to save money wouldn't replace the throw-out bearing (about $15) when replacing the clutch disk & pressure plate only to have it go out. It's not worth the work envolved to scrimp. I even have the flywheel turned if it looks a little bad. Hopefully you resolved the oil leak. Take care & keep trucking.

 

I suspect the slippage was because the clutch was gone and not because it was oil soaked?

I wouldn't bother with the Centerforce clutch anyway. It's not much better than the stock clutch and for the money, you can buy two new stock clutches.

If you're looking for a performance clutch, call Superior Friction in San Jose:

http://www.google.com/local?hl=en&hs...93585195584948

 

ACT makes some good clutches. I had one on my ZX2 and when it burned out prematurely at the track they gave me a free replacement right there at the track. Wouldn't help me with the install though so my day was done The replacement lasted until I got rid of the car.