Are my clutches toast?

[russell072009]

on my merc i notice is doesn't like to down shift until almost 3/4 throttle. which i find odd, but what has me concerned is if i take the car wide open up an on ramp for example and hold it until i'm well in to third i start to notice a burnt clutch smell. other then not downshifting where i think it should the tranny has no other issues. i only smell it if i HOLD it at WOT and it still shifts like it should. if i'm not at WOT it shifts fine and no smell. i just replaced the tranny pan with a deep aluminum one and the fluid looked fine. no abnormal material on the magnet. it just received 6 qts of mercon V after the pan change and fluid level is where it should be. little worried about transmission change at 63K. any ideas?

[4play]

I dont think you can smell a tranny going can you? does your car feel under powered?

[RF Overlord]

russell, do you have the stock tune? If so, your transmission is shifting "normally". The factory shift scheduling is awful...it's biased toward maximum fuel economy. The only way to correct it is to get a tune from one of the vendors here or to do the j-mod.

The smell may be some transmission fluid that you spilled on the exhaust pipes during the pan installation?

[russell072009]

everything is stock. after a month and 1500 miles or so i doubt it would be tranny fluid on the exhaust. as far as feeling underpowered i'm coming from a 06 charger R/T with mods so most things feel underpowered to me right now. for all i know it could be the AC clutch but it smells like i smoked a clutch in a stick shift. i've done that a few times and remember the smell. almost like rotten egg.

[Got_1]

rotten egg smell often means a bad catylitic converter.

[4play]

maybe your cat went bad and plugged up your exhast

[russell072009]

maybe but that would smell all the time or at least be more frequent wouldn't it? like i said i've smoked a few manual clutches in my day and it the same smell.....

[Got_1]

no you'll only get a rotten egg smell from the cats if you have too much unburned gas (hydrocarbons) in the cats. maybe your O2's are starting to fail and they aren't adjusting to a rich condition

[Blackened300a]

You sure your parking brake hasn't come apart? :rolleyes:

Maybe its the new fluid working its way in through the tranny or maybe a leak somewhere?

[russell072009]

i'm starting to think it's the AC compressor. i'm starting to notice that it happens under heavy acceleration not just WOT. it also does not seem to be a problem if i have the AC running. that has a clutch and it's close enough to the intake for the vents that if it were to cook i would smell it. hmmmm.... i have more testing to do

[fastblackmerc]

There are no "clutches" in the A/C compressor. The A/C has an electric "clutch" which disengages under hard acceleration. Look at the A/C compressor, what does it look like?

If the tranny clutches were burning up you wouldn't smell them.

What does it smell like?

[russell072009]

well again it smells like a burnt clutch. the ac compressor has a clutch assembly on the front of it that will disengage under wide open throttle conditions. while it is electric i do believe it has regular clutch surfaces. what i'm wondering is if the clutch is screwed up to the point where it is partially engaged and high rpms for extended periods of more then 15 seconds or so cause it to heat up and smell. i can't see the clutch because of the location and i can't tell if it's getting hot unless i pull the clutch pack off of it.

[fastblackmerc]

well again it smells like a burnt clutch. the ac compressor has a clutch assembly on the front of it that will disengage under wide open throttle conditions. while it is electric i do believe it has regular clutch surfaces. what i'm wondering is if the clutch is screwed up to the point where it is partially engaged and high rpms for extended periods of more then 15 seconds or so cause it to heat up and smell. i can't see the clutch because of the location and i can't tell if it's getting hot unless i pull the clutch pack off of it.

There are NO clutch surfaces in an A/C clutch. It is metal to metal contact.

[Blackened300a]

There are NO clutch surfaces in an A/C clutch. It is metal to metal contact.

+1
Now if the A/C compressor is locking up, you will smell the belt slipping over the pulley.

[russell072009]

There are NO clutch surfaces in an A/C clutch. It is metal to metal contact.


well that kills my theory. crap. back to square 1 then i guess. i'll take a peek at the belt. i do notice that my idler pulley moves an awful lot compared to most cars i've owned.

[Blackened300a]

You ever notice the voltage when you start getting the smell? Does it only do it with the A/C on?

[Krytin]

What brand deep pan did you get?
Some have extra holes in the rails to bolt to AOD or EAOD transmissions. If the hole that is not in use is not plugged it will leak fluid - you will get the smell at WOT because the exhaust/cats get hotter at WOT.

[russell072009]

It's a TCI pan and does have the hole for an AOD however it was plugged and the correct gasket installed and does not leak to my knowledge.

the only time i noticed it is when the AC is NOT running. as far as voltage it's normal unless i have the ac running full blast and am stopped it drops to 12.5-13 until i'm moving again.

[Blackened300a]

Try pulling the belt off and make sure all the pulleys spin freely. Especially the AC pulley.

[russell072009]

pulled the belt. one rib looks worn more then the others and the smooth idler pulley i think might be shot. there's some play in it and when you spin it you can really hear the bearings. other then that i'm going to drive it until it has a hard failure. then i'll know.

[fastblackmerc]

pulled the belt. one rib looks worn more then the others and the smooth idler pulley i think might be shot. there's some play in it and when you spin it you can really hear the bearings. other then that i'm going to drive it until it has a hard failure. then i'll know.

A hard failure may lead to more damages :eek:

I'd replace the idler pulley, tensioner and the belt.

But that's just me.......

Belts:
Serpentine (NAPA) – PBH4060923 - stock
Gatorback (Goodyear) – 4060922 - stock

Belt Tensioner:
Dayco – 305291
Goodyear – 49293

Idler Pulleys:
Dayco (smooth) - 89007

[Blackened300a]

pulled the belt. one rib looks worn more then the others and the smooth idler pulley i think might be shot. there's some play in it and when you spin it you can really hear the bearings. other then that i'm going to drive it until it has a hard failure. then i'll know.

That may result in a thrown belt which will leave you stranded or overheat the engine.

[russell072009]

oh don't worry i'll be changing the pulley and belt but after that if it's still not right i'll have to wait until something actually fails.