Clutch Soaked in coolant...

[skinnytirez]

So NewYears in Colorado this year was great except it got to -60 degrees F and froze my coolant expansion tank to the point of cracking...
once the coolant thawed out it all dumped down the back of my motor/tranny housing and somehow worked it's way into my clutch...

Now my Southbend Stage 3 clutch w/3k miles is slipping in any amount of boost in all gears higher than second

Short of pulling the motor/tranny and physically scrubbing the clutch is there anything i can do to fix this...or make it better at least?
I really don't feel like pulling my motor in this weather in my un-heated garage.[headbang]
What a great start to the new year...[headbang][headbang][headbang][headbang][headbang][headbang][headbang][headbang]

Thanks for any positive input [:)]

[Scottie2LO]

the ceramic pads on the clutch disc can be replaced by most transmission shops

[DiscoPotato]

try and spray some brake kleen in there

[fshowcars]

you can clean the clutch disc with brake cleaner to pull the oil out... you can also blow torch it to seep oil, but be careful as overheating will degrade teh clutch... BUT, with that said, you have to pull the tranny.

other than letting the car sit in room temp for quite a while and seeing if the issue 'clears' up... sucks, because if you continue to drive on the slipping clutch and it does dry out, you may glaze it.

[skinnytirez]

try and spray some brake kleen in there

I've had the tranny and motor out a couple times- is there a hole/accessport/inspection port to gain access?
...from what i remember there wasn't much of any access?

Thanks

[RONDAL]

if you are using brake clean, make sure it is a non-residue one. to test spray on a rubber glove or something, blow on it to let it evaporate, and see if there is any kind of residue left behind. Also carefully check the side of the bottle to confirm.

G12 or equivalent does have a bit of residue to it, but luckily for you its a 50/50 G12/water mix hopefully.
dry it out by air, brake clean it (dont spray direct onto disc) and see where you get to.

[Scotty@Advanced]

if it is just coolant you can run water into your bell housing and hope that the antifreeze will get dissolved into the water and be expelled. If it's oil you really need to take it all apart and have the clutch replaced. However since you've stated the clutch was slipping heavily already it's highly likely the oil/coolant is baked onto the disc.. meaning a replacement anyways.

For brake cleaner to really work you have to spray the friction lining liberally and directly with the solvent. But the disc is well hidden by the pressure plate. and flywheel.

Arbitrarily spraying brake cleaner can also dissolve the grease in your throw out bearing, and possibly cause your rear main seal/input shaft seal to swell, eat through your pan sealant and cause clutch dust to further contaminate things, it's worth a try but could make things much worse.

[DiscoPotato]

I've had the tranny and motor out a couple times- is there a hole/accessport/inspection port to gain access?
...from what i remember there wasn't much of any access?

Thanks

There is a hole right next to the speed sensor... or just pull out the speed sensor and spray in there

[RONDAL]

to caveat my post:

i didn't realize when i typed that the tranny was still in the car.

[skinnytirez]

if it is just coolant you can run water into your bell housing and hope that the antifreeze will get dissolved into the water and be expelled. If it's oil you really need to take it all apart and have the clutch replaced. However since you've stated the clutch was slipping heavily already it's highly likely the oil/coolant is baked onto the disc.. meaning a replacement anyways.

For brake cleaner to really work you have to spray the friction lining liberally and directly with the solvent. But the disc is well hidden by the pressure plate. and flywheel.

Arbitrarily spraying brake cleaner can also dissolve the grease in your throw out bearing, and possibly cause your rear main seal/input shaft seal to swell, eat through your pan sealant and cause clutch dust to further contaminate things, it's worth a try but could make things much worse.


I decided to create a poll- let the AZ community speak!

[fshowcars]

just to clarify... my post assumes you removed the tranny and disassembled the clutch setup and are spraying the clutch disc on your work bench... HOWEVER...

in my drag car, i had oil issues and tried to clean a clutch... while my method worked great, i still spun the clutch at higher boost levels on the dyno and lost tuning time, money and time to swap the clutch out YET again (6 times total after this fiasco)... in teh end i bought a new clutch so i woudln't be pulling the transmission more than 1 extra time.

short story, suck it up, buy a new clutch, clean your existing and put it on the shelf as a spare. I'm sorry to say, but soaking your bell housing with water isn't going to be the best solution... combined with the whole freezing issue that you originally faced. just accept the fact that you are pulling the tranny and fix it right and once.

[skinnytirez]

short story, suck it up, buy a new clutch, clean your existing and put it on the shelf as a spare. I'm sorry to say, but soaking your bell housing with water isn't going to be the best solution... combined with the whole freezing issue that you originally faced. just accept the fact that you are pulling the tranny and fix it right and once.

Uggg-that's what i was trying to avoid- how impossible would it be to pull the tranny while leaving the motor in the car? keep in mind this is without a lift...
is it even worth trying, or should i just pull the motor using my engine hoist?

[csosnowski]

It might be possible to pull the trans easier than pulling the engine, you would have to have the car pretty high on stands, but it might be doable. The only major hurdle I forsee is wrestling the downpipes out, I didnt like pulling mine.

[fshowcars]

i as well have no access to a lift... I would consider pulling the tranny without the motor, but I also have plenty of jacks and jack stands... do you have enough to keep the car up high and go even higher? you are going to need a good 3+ feet of clearance?? If you have room to work and a picker or hoist or something to hold the motor AND have the proper jacks and jack stands, i'd go for it all day. didn't one guy on here try to hold the motor iwth a block of wood and a jack and have it drop? i'd do that for something like swapping a mount (even then knowing that it could fall at any second) but never ever if i'm under teh car wrestling out a tranny.

[drkenan]

My buddy just pulled his tranny without the motor and he did it with ease. I don't think I have those kind of skillz but if you're pretty good you can probably do it in less time than pulling both.

[Johann2.7t]

im pulling just the trans now and wished i pulled everything. Just as much work if not more imho

[RONDAL]

if you know what you are doing, and have aftermarket DP's its a lot easier.

i think we can all agree there is no easy way to have to do it.

[DiscoPotato]

Try brake kleen it won't hurt.. If it works hell you just saved a bunch of time and money.. But if it doesn't it was worth a shot and you tried.

[coreyj]

Try brake kleen it won't hurt.. If it works hell you just saved a bunch of time and money.. But if it doesn't it was worth a shot and you tried.

my friend is about to do this with brake clean on his imola... hopefully it works