i need help on clutches

[OnTheProwlV6]

hey everyone, i need to have a clutch put in my car the bucking got unbearable, and im sick of my power ban loss. so i tried searchin for a good aftermarket cluitch for my car. this is what i found.......
centerforce doesnt make a clutch for the cougar but they do for the contour. its a stage 3 but its just the disk and its 600 dollars or so. so that out of the ?
the other one i found is clutchmasters. for a stage 3 kit it is bout 650 or so. if yall have any other opinions/prices or advice, plase let me kno

[exigent]

1st off... make SURE its your clutch and not your fuel pump... do a search here... we have HORIBLE fuel pumps.

2nd. Take this from someone who knows.... unless you KNOW you NEED a stage 3 clutch or any aftermarket clutch for that matter you are FAR better off just getting the svt clutch. For the price you will pay for one aftermarket clutch you can order a fidanza flywheel, svt clutch disc, and svt pressure plate. (preaty close anyways)

Basicly, unless you plan on going the route of forced induction... the pain in the leg of using a stage 1-3whatever clutch isnt worth it... not to mention the pain in your wallet.

I bought a unorthadox stage 1 clutch... its harsh like a mutha. This is my daily driver and now.. 3 months after i installed it im FINNALLY getting used to driving it. Its VERY graby and harsh and VERY hard to make clutch -1 and 1-2 shifts smoothly. I for one can say the unorthadox clutch is NOT a good choice for a daily driver. But... its built like a tank and i cant ever see it breaking or wearing out.

Look to Spmotorsports for some options.

Then goto Ford Parts Online for the stock option.

The contour is IDENTICLE in every way(cept some small model year variences...) to our drivetrain. If it says it fits a 'tour... it WILL work on a cougar when it comes to clutches.

My advise is to save your money and go with the svt setup. Do the flywheel now too... you have to at LEAST machine the flywheel for the new clutch so mite just as well get a new one. Look for the svt one on ford parts online.

Remember most of all that you should make sure its the clutch before you go droping trannys.... I recomend a fuel system pressure test... you can rent a fuel pressure gage fairly cheap and run it under the hood near the cowl and into an open window. If the pressure drops when you buck youve got a bad pump.

[OnTheProwlV6]

ive already wasted the 130 on the fuel pump and replaced the fuel filter. so its the clutch. when i bought the car it was used, and the clutch did what its doin now, i had it replaced with a ford rebuilt clutch and it worked for a few months and its back to doin it again, so im goin to replace the clutch in it. the price of the svt contour clutch kit and flywheel are far more expensive then the clutchmasters stage 3 clutch kit, i can get the kit for 650 or so and flywheels alon cost a couple of hundred bucks. im goin to have the flywheel resurfaced of course. but i work on cars all day and all night so i kinda kno when clutches are shot.

[OnTheProwlV6]

i went ahead and ordered my clutch today itll be here tomorrow and in my car by friday, ill keep everyone posted on how it runs. ive cheated the system haviin it put in tho. i have a guy at a trans shop, and my first and third gear synchro's are bad, so im havin my extended warrasnty pay to have the trans dropped and the gears fixed and while they aredoing that im havin the shop install the clutch\. labor rates for putin the clutch is on .6 hours the clutch i decided to go with is the centerforce dual friction kit for the contour. while im at it, im havin the slave cyliner replaced also. they go bad horribly along with the master cylinder for ourt cars. but thats all for now, ill have the car back in abotu a week. wish me luck

[Fett]

Have you actually had this diagnosed by some who knows what they are doing, or are you basically guessing?

Here is my train of thought. It sounds like you are assuming that it is the clutch, based on the fact that you replaced it once before, and that seemed to solve the problem for a short while. Now then, if that new clutch wore out in a short time, have you looked into why? What caused you to require a third clutch? If you don't find that out, then you will most likely be looking into replacing this new clutch in a few months as well.

Also understand, any one (or a combination of things) of a thousand things can cause your problem. You mentioned that you replaced the fuel pump and filter...how about injection flush? Have you looked into the rest of your fuel system?

Just by going off what you have said about this, I think you need to do some more looking into this problem, before you just start randomly replacing parts that may or may not be the problem.

[exigent]

Dude what are you smokeing... got to ford parts online and add up the price fo the svt clutch disc, pressure plate, and slave cylinder.

Clutch, Clutch & Flywheel, Disc, 2.5L, W/Svt Package $94.41
Clutch, Clutch & Flywheel, Pressure Plate, 2.5L, W/Svt Package $97.21
Clutch, Hydraulic System, Slave Cylinder, 2.5L $73.84

Bingo....

Like as was said... you are just shotgun debuging here... replacing a bunch of crap that may or may not be bad. Not only that... but clutchs dont just die... and rebuilt ones really arnt bad at all. If you are poo pooing clutches that fast you need to think about somthing else causing the problem.


You know i hope you did what you did BEFORE you read my post because i offered you quite a bit of information that it seems you completely ignored... You may have wasted ALOT of money today. You confuse me... you say you work on cars all day and KNOW your clutch is bad... then why arnt you doing this yourself. I can SWAP a mtx75 in 3 hours with GOOD help with only jackstands... If you know so much this should be cake for you. I dont mean to attack you... but your credibility is really dwindleing.

[exigent]

btw.... when a clutch slips and starts to go bad... there are signs.... do your RPM's race when this bucking happens or do they drop? If they drop its NOT your clutch.

[exigent]

I thought of somthing else.... if you get a clutch kit that doesnt come with a slave cylinder you prolly bought a crappy clutch kit. Only the VERY foolish replace clutches and not slave cylinders/T.O.B.'s


Im sorry i guess im being very condesending.... i just hate to see this sort of thing happen... for your sake i hope its the clutch.