Thread: Tranny blew up.....

Shawn,
Post up a pic of the contact area of the pressure plate. If it is not too beat up your best bet might be to go with a stock B15 disk and reuse the ACT pressure plate you have now. The ring on the pressure plate fingers is normal/heatlthy and nothing to worry about. If you replaced the throwout bearing when you put that clutch in it should still be good. Just take it apart, clean it up, and force some new grease into the bearing with your fingers. I just had an ACT disk poop out on me and the B15 disk straight from GregV was the way to go. My disk looked just like yours except my springs were popping out. I also reused the pressure plate in the pics. I took some fine grit sandpaper on a sanding block and lightly gave the flywheel and pressure plate a go-over. Here is a link to the thread.

http://www.sr20-forum.com/general-sr20/15081-help-me-diagnose-my-clutch-issue-pics-inside.html

Once you put the ACT disk and the B15 disk side by side you can easily see the better quality of the B15 disk. The materials, tolerences, everything about the stock disk is better. As long as you use the heavy duty ACT pressure plate which is what you have now the clutch will still hold more holding power than a stock clutch, because in this case it is the pressure plate that is increasing the holding power...not necessarily the disk.

Ive always had ACT and b/c of the pedal feel, i now have South Bend, has warranty and have not had any problems with my setup. (270whp)

^^^been running this combo for over 120k miles. only replaced the disk (twice) because the tranny was out for other reasons. oem B15 disk with a act hd/jwt hd pp is fine for a dd na de/ve. if you plan on bolting on some 8" slicks for regular high rpm drag launches thats another story. ymmv

Thank you.

On the other hand, the round peice that goes into that "hole" was rattling around freely. A bit too freely according to Mike.


Mike is *supposed to be* cracking my tranny last night or this afternoon.

Normally, he does not work on trannies at all. However, I am not his normal customer. We're friends, I should own stock in his business or be on the payroll, and I pay my bills real, real well. So he's at least gonna take a look, he's as curious as I am.

Further, he had to make a "clean area" at his shop in order to crack the tranny open. He says that folks that do tranny work have to have a spotless work environment to keep contaminants out of the tranny case.

I'll be going to see him this afternoon, camera in hand.


I *think* Mike does not like the way the TB is sitting on that guide. The TB sits on the very end of the guide, and allows freeplay in the TB. He wants the TB to sit farther back on that guide.

I am buying an Andreas Miko Tranny Saver Bracket to utilize with whatever tranny I purchase.

I checked Greg V's threads yesterday, he sells the B15 LSD tranny for around $825 plus shipping. I checked the Classifieds, B13/B14 trannies go for around $250-300 to $400-450 in good working order.

I am not buying a B13 tranny, no way, no how. And if I am going for a new (pre-owned) tranny, why not spend an extra $400 bucks and get the best on on the market?

In either case I am sending money to Miko on Monday. His tranny saver bracket works with any cable actuated tranny that will fit in our vehicles.


I'm going "OEM" as much as possible on my entire build, and most of my modifications are in fact OEM.

Greg V or Andreas will be able to sell me (and direct me to) the "most bullet-proof" OEM-based clutch set-up.

I am never going to have more than 200 or so whp going through the clutch. Right now I have a DE with most bolt-ons (no cams) and my future holds a bolted-on VE. The VE may or may not have cams, but I am only looking for 180-200 whp. Should be plenty (40+ more ponies/more torque) for my daily-driving and occassional trips to a roadcourse.

Therefore I do not need some "6-puck unsprung 9,000 lbs of clamping force" clutch. I need something that will hold a bolted-on VE, behave reasonably similar to stock, and be as reliable as possible.


As OEM as possible is my goal with the clutch. I am not amused nor impressed with the ACT I just pulled out.

Daily driving, no racing, no stoplight racing, no abuse, no bad driving habits. Two twenty minute sessions at Roebling Road race course. Less than 20K on the ACT clutch.


Thank you Ben. You always research the hell out of things.


Greg V and Andreas both sell JWT/B15 clutch set-ups. OEM and virtually indestructible sound terrific to me.

I too am *thinking* that for the extra $400 or so that a B15 tranny costs over a B13/B14, the B15 tranny is the way to go. My Classic is going to be with me for a very long time, and I am sick of the tranny breaking every 20-80K on my vehicle.

Maybe I originally got a B13 tranny produced on Friday, after 3:00 pm, by a Nissan line worker that was pissed at his boss, constipated, and just had his significant other kick him out of the house?


Bingo. I am not entertained with the ACT clutch and those cracks.


H-OEM seems to be my best bet on a clutch.


Thank you for the information sir.

I *should* have more answers from Mike this afternoon. And I signed him up as a Forum Member so he can jump into this thread and ask question and get answers directly from you guys. He is an extremely good "general mechanic" but obviously does not specialize in our vehicles.

I think it has become mandatory for folks routinely working on my Classic to join this forum. First Sal (body shop) and now Mike (mechanicals). Join the forum or don't work on my Classic.

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More information on the tranny/clutch destruction later this evening. Thanks for all the input and replies.

You mean the input shaft with the splines on it? It shouldn't rattle around or have any play in it at all. Sounds like one or both of the input shaft bearings have failed miserably. They are $40 a piece and not too bad to replace (I just replaced all mine) but I'm pretty sure you're not planning on saving this thing if it's even $80 in the hole. Ditch it.

When the clutch lever is at rest the TB should be far back on the guide. When you move the lever (as if pressing in the clutch pedal) it's going to move out towards the end of the guide. Normally it won't go too far and you're fine. I can't imagine a situation where it would. If it isn't far back at rest, the spring right next to it is broken or dislodged.
Obviously if you move the clutch actuator lever by hand you can make the TB fall completely off the guide (over centering I think it's called) but that doesn't happen when everything is installed properly in the car. The clutch pedal doesn't have enough travel or leverage to cause that to happen.


Greg has a B15 LSD for $850?! I'll take it if you don't.

As for the clutch, I'm pretty sure you'd want Greg's Stage 2 kit. I know someone local going with the stage 1 kit on his VE but that's not enough if you ask me.

the t/b will move past the guide with the tranny out but when installed it hits the pressure plate. Shawn no matter which tranny you buy its always a good idea to open it up to inspect it before install. I also would check the clearance on the gear stack. I did this before I turboed the 94 se-r and have not had a issue out of it and I run a act xtss setup. I run a jwt/00 se setup in the ve car.

Your first statement is why I did not want to "muddy the waters." My translations may leave something to be desired. Like some knowledge of what I am talking about. I am literally learning the terms for all those parts, both tranny and clutch, as I go with this repair.

These answers are what I *think* and this is the last post in which I shall pontificate on my mechanical issues. I'll post pictures and let Mike talk directly to you gentlemen.

Mike does not like the way my TB sits on that guide item(?). Why exactly, I am not sure at this point. He shall have to explain further.


There is evidence of it not being "far back" enough on the guide(?). Mike does not like the way it sits in one position or another(?).


The spring is not broken nor dislodged. Mike shall have to comment further.


Those were the prices on his last two threads on the subject. I have been doing some reSearching on my clutch/tranny options.

What the current price may be, and availability, I am about to find out via the telephone.

Even if it were a thousand bucks, do I want to save $600.00 on my tranny? That would be the difference in price between a good-working-condition B14 LSD tranny and a 1K B15 LSD tranny. I plan on owning and driving the vehicle for another couple of decades.


I shall ask Greg about that option. Whatever I buy, it needs to be ideally suited for a bolted-on VE, which is utilized as a daily driver and occassional track slut.

Greg V says go this way....

http://www.gspec.com/p-4884-clutch-kit-bundle-20-stage-3.aspx

Arguably a bit overkill, but the idea of a bit of overkill appeals to me.


I *think* that the TB sits too close to the pressure plate. Ie...at nearly the end of the guide all the time. (Key words in those two previous sentences is "I think.") I further *think* that Mikos Tranny Saver Bracket addesses this issue (amongst others).

Thank you sir for all the advice, and I am currently more inclined towards that JWT/00 SE setup.

From henceforth, I shall shut my yap about what I *think*. My ignorance is way high on this little fix/upgrade/re-engineering of my transmission and driveline.

Until Mike posts, I am going to make a few phone calls, and do some more reSearching on my options.

That's basically Greg's stage 3 kit. I run it on my car and it's a great combination for sure (seems to be holding my 230 ft.lbs. of torque just fine). I just think maybe it's a little overkill and in clutch world overkill isn't usually a good thing. *shrug*

Stage 3 it is, inside of a B15 LSD transmission.

Damn. I did not want to have to replace a transmission right after restoring the vehicle and going on a vacation (the Convention). I'm not all that unhappy about putting my transmission issues to rest once and for all. However, the financial timing could have been much better.

The wire was from the back of the TB. Part of the "spring" thing on the back of it. The "spring" thing that was, obviously, broken.

BTW, Mike does not like where the TB sits on the guide, which is all the way at the end (towards the splined peice). It would be more stable if it sat further back (from the spline end) when the clutch was not engaged.

Mike popped open the tranny and walked me through the multiple issues. I have play in the 1/3 collar in the tranny, it needs to be shimmed. There is significant lateral movement on some of the...shifter forks(?). There is some grinding of the metal on 3rd gear, it would need to be cleaned up. The tranny needs an overhaul that it shall never recieve.

After much deliberation, contemplation, and finite analysis, I have come to the logical and inevitable conclusion that the B13 tranny sucks more than a Dyson.

*Sigh* I am feeling quite reluctant to spend the money right now. Yet the idea of going without my Classic (again....) for any length of time is utterly depressing and simply not acceptable at the this point. I waited for-f*cking-ever to fix it after the accident, had it for a month, and it is currently sitting on a lift? Nope, not acceptable at all.

Thanks for all your help and input gentlemen.

Put the B15 tranny on the VISA. Wouldn't be the first, am I right?