Clutch chatter is the sudden “shudder” that occurs when a faulty, or improperly installed clutch disk or clutch component is initially engaged. This shudder or vibration most likely vibrates throughout the entire vehicle. Often, the blame is a worn or contaminated clutch disc or component. These are actually symptoms of the true cause: an improperly installed clutch. 

To really dive in to this subject, Silver Sport Transmissions has dedicated a section of its Tech Corner blog to help mechanics identify and fix the problem. Here is one of the key problems identified by the Tech Corner blog:

Irregular Lever (or Clutch Fingers) Height

The installation procedure for clutches seems a little picky, but not following it could damage your clutch. We’ve posted a few photos of damage and some helpful hints for the proper installation of a clutch to prevent clutch chatter.

A clutch unit can experience chatter due to the misalignment of the pressure plate to the flywheel during installation. The fingers can become unparalleled when the proper bolt tightening sequence is not used, causing one side of the diaphragm to drop lower while the other side says in place.

One sign your clutch was improperly installed is irregular wear on the clutch fingers. If the wear isn’t consistent on all the clutch fingers, the clutch wasn’t properly seated on the flywheel or bolted down securely.

You may also find excessive hot spots on the pressure plate.

So how do you make sure the clutch is properly seated? Follow these tips:

• Make sure the pressure plate is properly seated before securing.
• Tighten the pressure plate bolts in a cross corner pattern to finger tight BEFORE using a torque wrench (in a cross corner pattern) to secure the pressure plate to the flywheel.
• NEVER use an impact wrench to torque down pressure plate bolts.
• Check to make sure the plate fingers are parallel after installation
• You can use a 0.0015″ feeler gauge to ensure the cover is seated against the flywheel after being properly torqued down to spec.

For more information on Silver Sport Transmissions, or how to solve transmission or clutch problems, visit them online at shiftsst.com.