I have a South bend Stage 4 clutch with Fidanza flywheel. My trans was replaced under warranty after loosing 2nd gear. The dealer installed the stage 4/flywheel while the trans was at i just had to pay for parts. A week later my TOB/Slave goes pedal to the floor fluid pouring out bell. Dealer for some reason(not complaining) replace the TOB/Slave under warranty but said it was the last time cause the blamed the clutch. About a week later goes again... Thats where im at now... Just looking for any answers i am doing it my self now at my shop. Contacted ZZP and South bend both were answer less ZZP told me Clutch masters make a TOB shim that would solve the problem but they want 260$ for the TOB shim kit. ill buy it if it'll fix it for sure but do i need it is my question? no one else on here mentions it and doesn't have problems? is it just something with the south bends over extending? PLEASE HELP!!!

 

If there was even a risk that they knew something could break, why wouldn't they include that part ?

 

I could of swore I read somewhere about powell having to make a clutch pedal stop to prevent over travel of the clutch pedal and TOB issues

 

i read that to, sometimes teh clutch goes over center and over extends the bearing

 

Do you have a clutch rod? Prolly adjusted to much.

 

We replaced a few TOB on customer's clutch jobs and find the clutch master cylinder was to blame on most clutch jobs... I feel replacing CMC will resolve the OP problem.. the adjustable clutch rod needs to be adjusted slightly stiffer/firmer than stock if not, the rod will damage the clutch master cylinder. When bleeding it make sure to pump the clutch pedal SLOWLY down and up.. fast pumping creates air bubbles. or it will take forever to relieve the system from air bubbles..

 

I have the Stage 4 and Fidanza combination as well. Had a TOB go out about two months after install, got a new TOB installed and bled at a dealer, and it now looks like another TOB may have went out tonight about a year later. No clutch rod used.

 

I did finally run into a defective TOB on an install. The seal was no good, but given enough pressure ( a shot of compressed air) the seal will pop out and hold. The problem is, not possible to get enough pressure right away...southbend make good parts, and I cant for the life of me figure out why a stock clutch would need a TOB spacer, and not sure about Southbend but if you need a spacer behind the TOB you sure dont need an adjustable clutch rod.

Tom@CED is researching with GM the failures. The failed one I had we took apart and we found the seal is very well lubricated , so I have to assume a poorly made seal is the root cause.....I have not devised a fail safe process for checking if the TOB is good, other than a compressed air check, but if you are not careful you will damage a perfectly good TOB>

stock clutches always have worked for me.

 

Hey sorry for no response back im still dealing with this problem... the trans is out the TOB is toast again...
All i hear is shim this shim that... i dont have a clutch i was told it would make it more touching with poor adjustment so i decided not too...i dont wanna have to replace this again... i have a brand new TOB straight form the dealer with all new everything dist block clips slave rod everything. i dont feel like theres a problem with the CMC because with the new bearing everything felt great no issues...

 

If a clutch pedal stop would be a good fail safe id love that as long as the clutch still functions properly im not trying to do this again if i lived closer to someone who knew cobalts i would gladly pay to have someone look at it and tell me im not crazy haha

 

Makes me nervous about ordering an LSJ clutch upgrade kit.

 

Idk getting ready to put it back together this weekend without a shim just doing it my self with all new parts and well see what happens.. and Powell u mean stock clutch as in a single disk setup in general cause its a stage 4 not stock but not a twin disc or anything any recommendations on what to check and look out for putting this thing back together?

 

oh and no i dont have a clutch rod lol

 

Sounds like the tob needs to be inspected before installation, although I have no clue what to look for Powell maybe able to shed some light on that topic

 

Well the original one that failed was the stock factory installed one and the second was under warranty with a factory gm part by the dealer... of all people they should be able to fix there vehicles? thats what led me to believe it was a shim issue and the dealer was caught in the cross fire... but since no one else has an issue... i must be crazy haha

 

These cars are just cursed with any trans or clutch modifications.

 

haha ur telling me...

 

I mean 100% OEM. I think that South Bend I( I have not talked to them, but they are a reputable company as are ZZP) are modifying a Cobalt Sachs pressure plate. Something in that procedure is not working apparently. I have just gotten a new ZZP adjustable rod to try and save a customers Southbend s4 in an F23 turbo converted car, release too close to the floor and getting worse not better. Normally with disc wear on an non SelfAdjustingClutch the pedal rises up in engagement.

The adjustable rod is an attempt to fix it without removing the transmission etc which is very expensive compared to a 300 dollar clutch mc with adjustable rod. It wont take much adjustment to fix it I hope as the risk is overstroking the TOB as explained here already. The root cause may be the modified pressure plate.

 

I feel like an adjustable clutch rod would make my problems worse...

 

your best bet is to email the vendor.

 

Haha that's zzp and they told me idk... Apparently zzp worked hand in hand with southbend to design the clutch southbend doesn't even respond when I email them

 

well soon I will be trying the external fix on the customers south bend I can let you know. If it was me , I gave you my .02c what to do. Did you email South Bend or Tim@ZZP? Regardless, there is some money you will have to spend to get to the bottom of this issue and potentially even though a company like ZZP will stand up and warranty the parts if they are defective, they wont warranty the labor I expect. If you take the car back to them things might be easier, but I have no clue where you are located etc. good luck with your solutions...

 

I'm about 10+hours from zzp...

Oh and I emailed "turbo Tim" directly and he didn't really have any answers for me

 

Finally got a hold of south bend I'm mail them the clutch this weekend there going to clean it test and send it back

 

^^^ good plan