OFE SS owners please advise.

[doublezero30]

i just got my OFE SS installed today, went to pick up the car and i litterally couldnt put it into first gear. i would have to double or sometimes even triple clutch all the way home. when i was moving it was a bit easier to put it in the higher gears but still not smooth. is this how the OFE SS is? or will it get better as i put miles on it? i feel like im jamming it in gear. i fucking hate it. i want my smooth shifting back. and yes i am pushing the clutch all the way to the floor. like ALL the way. as hard as i can.

other than that "slight" problem, the thing holds real well.

[A4ringedONE8T]

1st gear was horrible on mine too. Should get better in the first couple hundred miles and be gone by 400-500

[Papachristou]

no problems on my FE SS from day one besides getting used to pedal effort and the "grabbiness" of the clutch.. took about a day for me to get used to driving it....

[doublezero30]

good news from shawn. thanks man! pedal effort is about the same as a civic si, which i drive a lot because i would at honda. so im pretty much used to it and like that part of it. its just the not being able to shift issue im having that i absolutely hate. maybe tonight when its not rush hour ill go cruise around town wearing it in.

[Don Supreme]

Sounds like you have a problem to me.... maybe bad clutch or bad install... probably the former. I would contact SB and then drive it for a while and see if it gets better.

[AudiA4_20T]

Sounds like you have a problem to me.... maybe bad clutch or bad install... probably the former. I would contact SB and then drive it for a while and see if it gets better.

sounds like it could also be the shifter, maybe when the linkage got taken out, they loosened the shifter... what do you mean you have to double or triple clutch it?

[Papachristou]

im with don, sounds like something wasnt installed just right, they could have bent a linkage rod

[doublezero30]

sounds like it could also be the shifter, maybe when the linkage got taken out, they loosened the shifter... what do you mean you have to double or triple clutch it?

i mean i have to pump the clutch pedal 2-3 times before it will go into first.

i will contact south bend now, and see if it gets better as i put a few miles on it. probably only 40 miles on it so far.

[A4ringedONE8T]

Remember stop and go breaks a clutch in, not highway

[MikTip]

Sounds like the clutch slave cylinder was not bled properly...

[A4 TSCHUSS]

Mine was somewhat hard to get into 1st at first too. It was notchy until the clutch broke in but I didnt have to pump the clutch to get it to go into gears it just took a little effort at first for a few hundred miles. And like Shawn said you have to engage and disengage the clutch alot to break it in not go jump on the highway for a 300 mile trip and think it is broke in, some people may think it just needs miles but it actually needs the in and out of gear motion to wear in the disks.

[darkstar]

This is a common problem you have to break the clutch in! if this continues after the brake in period consult your installer and Andy at SBC

[doublezero30]

Mine was somewhat hard to get into 1st at first too. It was notchy until the clutch broke in but I didnt have to pump the clutch to get it to go into gears it just took a little effort at first for a few hundred miles. And like Shawn said you have to engage and disengage the clutch alot to break it in not go jump on the highway for a 300 mile trip and think it is broke in, some people may think it just needs miles but it actually needs the in and out of gear motion to wear in the disks.

yea mine is deffinatly notchy to get in gear. first is by far the worst. and reverse too. i just went for a drive about 20-30 miles and hit as many stop signs and red lights as i could. ive got 15miles each way to work, plus i will go for a drive on my lunch break too. i cant wait until i get smooth shifting again. this is horrenous.

[old guy]

This is a common problem you have to break the clutch in! if this continues after the brake in period consult your installer and Andy at SBC

I agree that this is a common problem with with the SS pressure plate but I do not think it should be considered normal and acceptable. Quite frankly I think Southbend got the stack height wrong. I spoke at length with Andy at Southbend and he assured me that the stack height is the same as the stock A4 clutch assembly (clutch/pressure plate/throwout bearing). However, with the increase in force necessary to compress the SS pressure plate my personal opinion is that there needs to be an adjustment to the stack height for proper clutch operation. There is no reason to have a clutch pedal engage so low that it drags the synchronizes to get it in gear. I fixed mine by changing the length of the slave cylinder extension rod: Clicky click. After I put about 5K miles on the clutch I was able to shorten the rod from stock + .250" (1/4") to stock length + .185" (approximately 3/16"). The engagement was still low but not all the way to the floor.

Having done this several times I think there may be a simpler way to get the same end result. The end caps on the slave cylinder rod have .625" (5/8") of engagement on either end of the rod. It should be relatively easy to pop off the end cap and add a small spacer to increase the rod length. The only down side I can think off is that you may have trouble removing the spacer if you wanted to return the rod to the stock length.

Either way, fabricating a new rod or spacing the end cap will help get a little more travel and get the pedal off the floor. Your transmission synchronizers will love you for it and the car will be much more drivable.

cheers!

[doublezero30]

thank you for the PMs and help old guy. one question...do you know what the stock length of the rod is? i want to do this but only want to extend the rod about 1/4" and would like to get a new rod rather than add spacers. thanks!

[sean1.8t]

I agree that this is a common problem with with the SS pressure plate but I do not think it should be considered normal and acceptable. Quite frankly I think Southbend got the stack height wrong. I spoke at length with Andy at Southbend and he assured me that the stack height is the same as the stock A4 clutch assembly (clutch/pressure plate/throwout bearing). However, with the increase in force necessary to compress the SS pressure plate my personal opinion is that there needs to be an adjustment to the stack height for proper clutch operation. There is no reason to have a clutch pedal engage so low that it drags the synchronizes to get it in gear. I fixed mine by changing the length of the slave cylinder extension rod: Clicky click. After I put about 5K miles on the clutch I was able to shorten the rod from stock + .250" (1/4") to stock length + .185" (approximately 3/16"). The engagement was still low but not all the way to the floor.

Having done this several times I think there may be a simpler way to get the same end result. The end caps on the slave cylinder rod have .625" (5/8") of engagement on either end of the rod. It should be relatively easy to pop off the end cap and add a small spacer to increase the rod length. The only down side I can think off is that you may have trouble removing the spacer if you wanted to return the rod to the stock length.

Either way, fabricating a new rod or spacing the end cap will help get a little more travel and get the pedal off the floor. Your transmission synchronizers will love you for it and the car will be much more drivable.

cheers!

listen to Fletcher! he is the man with this. helped me with the same issue i was having on my FE SS. i extended the rod about 1/4" and all was well. now that the clutch is a bit more worn in, im going to take an 1/8" off of it to reduce some preload on the throw out bearing. as my engaugment has moved up from the floor a bit.

oh, and i'll go measure the stock rod length right now. just gotta find it in my garage

[old guy]

thank you for the PMs and help old guy. one question...do you know what the stock length of the rod is? i want to do this but only want to extend the rod about 1/4" and would like to get a new rod rather than add spacers. thanks!

The stock length and diameter is in the Clicky click. a word of caution. You are going to have a hard time getting a 1/4" longer rod seated. It will take a lot of prying and cussing. you can start there and if you find you can't compress the slave cylinder enough to install it just shorten the rod a little and try again. At 3/16" I was able to get it in with relative ease. However that was after 5K miles of wear on the clutch. Any extension you can get on the rod will help.

good luck!

[martini]

i installed mine on my own.. never once had a problem like you are explaining... sounds odd to me

my engagement is a little low, but i never felt like the clutch was dragging

[doublezero30]

ok stock rod length is 2.814, so i think i might do a 3" rod and see if that works. and i need it to be .275" around correct? where do you think i could pick something like this up? and can i easily do this on jack stands? thanks again!

[old guy]

ok stock rod length is 2.814, so i think i might do a 3" rod and see if that works. and i need it to be .275" around correct? where do you think i could pick something like this up? and can i easily do this on jack stands? thanks again!

I have access to a lathe at work so I just turned down a piece of 5/16" rod stock to .275". You could try someplace like McMaster-Carr to see if they stock that diameter but it's not a common size so you may end up having to get it fabricated to that diameter. I think a 3" length should be just about right. And I changed mine out with ramps under the front wheels only. Just slid under the side and cussed at it a lot.

Have fun!

[doublezero30]

cussing is fun! haha...what material rod is it? aluminum?

[old guy]

i installed mine on my own.. never once had a problem like you are explaining... sounds odd to me

my engagement is a little low, but i never felt like the clutch was dragging

I don't really know why it works for some and not for others. I also changed my own out (with help from your DIY, thank you very much!). I replaced everything (clutch, pressure plate, flywheel, throw out bearing, pilot bushing, slave cylinder) with new parts. The only way I could shift was to have the clutch dead on the floorboard and even then I would have to bump 2nd gear to stop the input shaft long enough to get it into first. Really sucked. After I extended the slave rod all was good.

[old guy]

cussing is fun! haha...what material rod is it? aluminum?

Nope. Gotta be steel. There is a hell of a lot of pressure placed on the rod.

[doublezero30]

ok cool. maybe i can use some washers or something as spacers. 1/4inch really isnt all that much. then i could fine tune it by removing the washers.

[old guy]

ok cool. maybe i can use some washers or something as spacers. 1/4inch really isnt all that much. then i could fine tune it by removing the washers.

I don't think washers are going to work. Maybe call around and see if you can get some 17/64 drill rod (.265) and make a spacer out of that. The spacer will have to go into the end cap and the rod will press against it. You want it to be as tight as possible. Please note that I have never tried spacers, I fabricated a new rod, but in theory I don't see why a spacer shouldn't work.

Again, good luck!

[doublezero30]

im going to have to stop at home depot soon. do you think i could safely use a 3" piece of 17/64 drill rod since its only .010" difference?

[old guy]

im going to have to stop at home depot soon. do you think i could safely use a 3" piece of 17/64 drill rod since its only .010" difference?

I don't think so. The end caps need to be tight on the rod or you will have a heck of a time trying to handle everything with it falling apart. Also, there is a tremendous amount of pressure on the slave cylinder rod. If everything isn't tight you may end up splitting the end caps.