Clutch kit: Luk or Valeo?

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I'm getting ready to replace the clutch, flywheel, and rear main seal on my vehicle. 00 v6 mustang. The stock clutch is so far at 132K miles and the clutch itself still grabs fine, and passes slip tests outline in the factory service manual. However, it's shuddering during take off from stop which is probably due to a glazed flywheel. Regardless, even if it's drivable now, it's a job that I can't put off for long because it will need to be replaced eventually and soon I won't have access to a garage (move to new apartment/city).

Have you guys had positive/negative experiences with either Luk or Valeo clutches? Valeo is about 30% more but it might be the OEM. An online review of having to file an area of the pressure plate worries me about the Valeo.

From pictures, the Luk has a 4-spring clutch disk while the Valeo uses 5 springs. The factory manual states the original clutch disk should have 5 springs - does it matter? Would the 5 springs dampen shifts better?
 
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LuK is also OEM for many companies. LuK also has their "Self Adjusting Clutch" also that needs to be set properly prior to install. It provides consistent feel as the friction plate wears.

My experience is mostly Sachs.
 
Valeo is a "better" product however there was problems with them .Luk is good too but for some reason I don't like it. Sachs for German application is #1 imo.
 
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LUK and Valeo/PHC supply a majority of the world's clutches, as does ZF Sachs. The Valeo will more than likely be made in Korea. The amount of springs will affect how much force the clutch will exert on the friction plate, but if LUK managed to use stronger springs both should do the job.

All of them also supply private labels as reboxes as well. Look on the pressure plate and cover for any markings/stampings.
 
I've had good luck with LUK clutches. As mentioned above, perhaps they are using 4 stronger springs to be equal to the OEM 5 springs. However, I do like my replacement parts to be as close to OEM as possible, so with the Valeo having 5 springs - I would go with that one.
 
I have used both and both are good.

As for "dampening shifts" if you can shift well you might look to see if there's a hydraulic dampener in your master/slave line. Disabling those usually makes the operator happy.
 
Thanks, everyone. I think I'll choose the middle-cost option and go with Valeo, which I think uses a LuK pressure plate, for the clutch and a separate order for a LuK flywheel. I just hope the flywheel won't be scratched in transit. I've rebuilt an auto trans before but haven't changed a clutch yet so here goes nothing!
 
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Have you tried a few clutch slipping 2nd gear starts to try to clean off the clutch? If you're going to replace it anyway you have nothing to lose. Post the results.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
I have used both and both are good.

As for "dampening shifts" if you can shift well you might look to see if there's a hydraulic dampener in your master/slave line. Disabling those usually makes the operator happy.


OP's Mustang uses a cable. They did not get hydraulic until 2005.
 
Does that really work? I'd imagine it'll just cause more friction material to deposit onto the flywheel causing more uneven hardening. Maybe I should hold off on the RockAuto orders and take it apart to see if I can just get the existing flywheel resurfaced if it hasn't been overheated. Though chances of that seems low: I learned manual on this car 14 years ago and have smelled burnt clutch back then...
 
You can get flywheels pretty cheap from what I remember. I know around here the local machine shop charges more to resurface than it costs to buy a new flywheel.
 
The springs you are referring to on the clutch disc are just for dampening. They have nothing to do with clamping force or shift quality.

Quickly looking at the offerings on RockAuto it appears there were internally and externally balanced versions of that engine. You will be very disappointed if you install the wrong type of flywheel. If it were mine, instead of risking confusion, paying for a new flywheel and shipping (heavy) I would just have my existing one resurfaced locally. It appears to be a totally flat flywheel, not stepped, a very easy job for any machine shop. I would rather use the factory flywheel with a few thousands machined off than risk some Chinese aftermarket part. In my humble estimation, re-machining a factory part that has already been heat cycled can result in a longer service life. (Flywheel, rotors, exhaust manifolds)
 
The flywheel I need is a picky part: it was only made for 99 and some few 2000 V6 Mustangs. Mine is an early 00 with an externally balanced motor, whereas most 00s and to 04 Mustangs switched to an internally balanced engine. New flywheels for them are about $50-60. New ones for the externally balanced engines like mine, due to low availability or maybe low production quantities, are about $80+ (with shipping, going by RA prices). I think the average cost around my location for a machine shop to resurface the flywheel is around $40 if it's resurface-able.

Thanks for the tip though, I would love to save a few bucks. The car is in great mechanical condition, but I'm finding myself more hesitant to put more money in it for better parts when the entire car is only worth $1600 (tax value).
 
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Auto Zone had Fernco flywheel for the Rat.60$. If you get the fly wheel re-faced, ask the guy how much he took off so you can get a shim to put behind it. Luk was factory for the Rat. I replaced everything from the crank hub out. Clutch action is great.
 
I bought my 91 Previa van, (basically a Toyota pickup) used 4 years ago. No history known when the clutch was changed. It had 195k when I changed it out. The contents were Valeo. They are an English supplier if you look them up. That clutch was fine for the 10k that I drove it. No problems.
 
I went ahead and changed the clutch this past weekend. The original OEM clutch was indeed Valeo and you guys were right that the new Valeo clutch is now made in Korea. Interestingly, the old clutch disc was better than fine. Judging from the amount of friction material on it, it's... comparable to the new one. Using a caliper, the old clutch disc after 132K was only thinner than the new one by about 2%. So, either the old one holds up really well or the new one is just made thinner. I guess it's possible that it has had the clutch changed before this one but I've had the car since it had 64K on it, so it's unlikely since everything had Ford's logo stamped on and they don't sell those parts. The old flywheel seems to be okay and maybe it could have been resurfaced. It was made by DK with Ford logo stamped on. The old pressure plate however had some signs of hardened spots.

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Manufacturers must think it's funny to overtorque everything. See that bolt that's supposed to be torqued to 20 ft-lbs and you only have enough room to put on a 4-inch long open-end wrench with about 8 degrees of movement? We'll just bolt that up to be tighter than lug nuts even after using things like PB or Liquid Wrench. Oh and we'll also place sharp metal edges on each side because, who needs hands. Overall, I think I lost a decent bit of blood doing this job and still black and blue all over and coughing up soot/particulates even after a few days. Someday, I will splurge on a car lift.

This clutch job took about 16 hours solo. Having another person there would have solved a lot of frustrations and saved from many injuries. I would not want to do this again. The car seems to be in fine mechanical condition though, one bank of the catalytic converter seems to be more sooty than the other but overall still very clean. It might have been a good time to change the upstream O2 sensors but it hasn't thrown codes yet and I'm reluctant to put money in this car needlessly. Anyway, job's done! Now I just have to be extra carefully when driving, since anytime after a major repair, life will try to get another driver to crash into my car thus rendering the previous repair moot.
 
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