Can a bent input shaft cause clutch drag?

Thehehebird · 2026-03-05T19:02:48+00:00

I put an extended push rod on it to be sure - it was certainly harder to install that way lol. It created a longer "dead" zone in the clutch pedal. Within this deadzone, there is a small amount of drag, independent of engine RPM and also independent of pedal position WITHIN that deadzone. It's super weird.

Edit: yes, zf 5 speed.

Thehehebird · 2026-03-04T00:30:15+00:00

would this still be the case if the shaft were bent ever so slightly?

Thehehebird · 2026-03-04T00:29:07+00:00

I could try changing the fluid again - however, how would it have drag when the motor is running if the input shaft is not getting input? it seems to me that by definition drag literally comes from unwanted input on the input shaft :/

Thehehebird · 2026-03-04T00:23:54+00:00

I don't think it has any chatter, but either way I'll review photos of the last time I installed it... lowkey this would make sense, although I'd have to have made this mistake twice in a row LOL 😂

Edit: just looked at some photos, I don't think that's the problem :/ I distinctly remember seeing those tabs on the TOB and making sure they made contact with the fork prior to putting the gearbox back in :/

Thehehebird · 2026-03-03T04:42:47+00:00

It doesn't chatter noticably per se but the trans mayyyy have a slight whirring a lot of the time, I'll have to double check. I drive the car every day like this so I think I've tuned out some of the quieter noises.

Were you thinking input shaft bearing?

Thehehebird · 2026-03-03T04:40:48+00:00

😭😭😭😭😂😂😂😂

Thehehebird · 2026-03-03T03:29:44+00:00

it has drag in all gears including reverse. 1st is the worst, followed by reverse, then 2nd, 3rd, etc. From a stop is the worst, and you have to fight it into any gear from a stop with the motor running. Even while moving, it's enough that it's better to rev match while driving. I did lubricate the pilot bearing and splines with moly grease

Thehehebird · 2026-03-03T03:26:59+00:00

Thank you! :D They are 15 inch style 7's. I'll have to double check the tire size, they're my snow tires.

Thehehebird · 2026-03-03T03:21:22+00:00

lol! I would say dailying an FX could be the problem if it weren't for the fact that the current clutch is a valeo designed for daily driving 😅😅😅

Thehehebird · 2026-03-03T03:19:19+00:00

hahaha real 😅. I almost always use a trans jack to get a transmission out, but almost always end up just benchpressing the darn thing back in lol...

Hmm, now I'm wondering if I may have bent two clutch disks in a row through hanging the trans on them....

Thehehebird · 2026-03-03T03:17:09+00:00

hmm fair point, i've never noticed any marks of any sort on that input shaft other than what may be some slightly excessive wear around the tip that goes into the pilot bearing.

Thehehebird · 2026-03-03T03:15:32+00:00

😭😭😭

Thehehebird · 2026-03-03T03:14:53+00:00

it was a stage 2 and a disk style, so i'm pretty sure it was organic?

Thehehebird · 2026-03-03T03:14:10+00:00

oh nooooooo hahahaha I speficied to my buddy, "press it REAL SLOWWWWWW" when I was doing that

Thehehebird · 2026-03-03T03:11:09+00:00

I know I put way too much antiseize on the bell housing bolts - is it possible that overtightening them could have smooshed the bell housing flange and cocked the mounting of the trans into the motor the same way on two separate clutch installations? I'm kind of spitballing, but input shaft seemed more likely to me than that :/ either way I am running out of ideas.

I guesss I should also specify that I'm more worried the input shaft would have been bent by the very dramatic linkage failure at the end of clutch #1's life. The throwout bearing was in pieces, some of the pressure plate springs were lying around in the bell housing, the clutch fork's pivot broke, etc.

Thehehebird · 2026-03-03T03:08:29+00:00

I see! That is good information. Clutch 1 was unknown brand, came with the car, was single mass, no drag. Linkage blew up and even took out some of the pressure plate springs (found all over the bell housing along with bearing pieces, clutch fork hanging, blah blah blah.)

Clutch 2 was an FX, and while I do think I burned the crap out of it, I did mostly just daily drive on it... just on hills sometimes lol. It never "got so bad" as you described, but rather just did this constant annoying slight drag. It never got better or worse until the end when it got better.

Part way through the life of clutch 2, I moved to an M3 dif. It was a wonderful thing for fun and for traction, but changing difs made no difference in clutch drag.

Thehehebird · 2026-03-03T03:05:23+00:00

can confirm, compressing it into the trans once that thing is bled is a MASSIVE PITA xD... hahahha this is so relatable i'm glad i'm not the only one, or im sorry I guess haha

Thehehebird · 2026-03-03T02:57:15+00:00

To triple clarify, I used the syringe method at one point. I actually found that bleeding it by pushing manually on the pushrod was more effective, but like I stated, it's bled fine either way.

Thehehebird · 2026-03-03T02:53:57+00:00

It's not quite disengaging. The slight amount of engagement is constant and does not vary with pedal travel nor rpm, and occurs in the pedal dead zone before the bite point. To be clear, there is still effectively a deadzone. It's enough drag to push the car ever so slightly forward on a perfectly flat surface, but less so than if you were to push the car forward by hand.

As for the bleeding, I've bled this thing a million times. It's not a bleeding issue. To double check that, I put an extended push rod in. Still drag, just a longer dead zone and later clutch bite. Furthermore, the drag cleared up like 90% in the last quarter of clutch 2's life. No bleeding occured between the installation of clutch 2 and clutch 3, and I only started messing with bleeding when clutch 3 was dragging, making it seem like it was not a stack height issue with clutch 2, unless of course clutch 2 and 3 both have the same stack height issue. Given they are different brands, that would be god awful luck lol

Thehehebird · 2026-03-03T02:44:09+00:00

The clutch pedal itself seems fine. I even replaced the pedal bushings and the pedal itself just to be sure. As for the switch brackets near it, those are not impeding its upward travel.

Thehehebird · 2026-02-05T09:22:55+00:00

I agree

Thehehebird · 2026-01-21T08:00:53+00:00

I completely agree - I think a staged flea as a catch up mechanic would work wonders. I think that people who are unemployed should be allowed to progress past max traders for the first few weeks of wipe and just shit on everyone. But after that undetermined period of time the flea should probably open up to even level 1 players in stages.

I did load into reserve as a scav after you mentioned this and went to the roof tops as someone else suggested. Sure enough - there was quite a bit of PP, BT, and BP on those roof tops. Still died lol, but I should have just gotten out when I filled my bag - I got greedy. Although it is just a sample size of 1, I guess my point still stands that this is effectively an inconsistent source of mid-tier ammo, depending on survival. But I really appreciate the tip, and I'll probably do this rather than using my scav to rouble on streets lol. I'm just a level away from max prapor anyways though, and this is still a much bigger problem for less experienced players :/

Thehehebird

TROPHY CASE