Above “Maserati/Ferrari” F1 Clutches. Below Lamborghini “E gear” Clutch.
Another subject you will hear a lot about with F1/ E gear cars, is of course F1/ Egear clutches. This is applicable for Ferrari like the F360, F430, or Lamborghini like the Gallardo and Murcielago. I’ve changed clutches in not only normal Exotics like these but also in Underground Racing Gallardos. Similar to the F1 and Egear actuators, Valeo clutches span the gap of these Exotic’s brands and are very similar in design and function.
F1/E gear clutches in these cars are not similar to a stock single disc clutch like you would find in a domestic Ford or Chevy vehicle, nor were they ever designed to be. (Please note that doesn’t mean I’m picking on either. EVERY manufacturer has good and bad engineering feats). Generally it’s thought these clutches last about 30,000-40,000 miles in these cars. I am saying this as a general rule only because honestly when they are set up correctly, aside from mechanical failure, they can and do last longer.
Something that should be mentioned about the F1/E gear clutches opposed to their respective brands 3 pedal equivalent is that the gear boxes are the same. What I mean is you can convert an E gear/ F1 system car into a three pedal car if you source all of the parts from one of the same type wrecked vehicle. This has and can be done. The gear box itself does not need to be changed. The F1/E gear system was designed to shift and clutch depress as if a person were doing it only at speeds a normal person could not.
Above is an F1 double disc from a Maserati Gransport/4200.
Clutch above in an Underground Racing Lamborghini Gallardo (notice same “Valeo” branding)
Above is a brand new stock F1 friction disc set up. Brand new you can see the mm measurements are approximately 6.34/6.21mm. Fully worn these disc will measure respectively right at 5.34/5.21. There is a manufacturer variance, so not every clutch will have exactly this mm size but it will be close. Here is another brand new clutch measured to show you the variance:
Clutch Wear Reading Algorithm
Clutch wear readings are done using a Lamborghini/Ferrari/Maserati specific scan tool, or aftermarket scan tool like Leonardo that can access the gear box computer known as the “NCR” in these cars. When a new clutch is installed in the car, the new clutch parameters are written into the NCR by the Technician doing the install. The NCR of the car measures the friction disc material through the F1/E gear position sensor from this starting parameter.
That data will read like this on a scan tool.
New Closed Clutch Position (This literally means the closed clutch position when a new clutch was put into the car, and the Technician re-wrote those parameters).
I will use a previous car’s parameters: 18.281mm
Closed Clutch Position (This is the current closed clutch position in the vehicle and cannot be changed)
In this instance it was: 18.423mm
Much has been made about the algorithm the scan tool uses to calculate the clutch wear percentage, usually by people who don’t understand that computers don’t use snake oil, they use hard numbers. It is accurate, but isn’t the final say on whether a clutch needs to be replaced. For instance, if you have a high KISS point, or PIS set up (Explained in another article) it causes a lot more slippage of the clutch. You can have 50% clutch wear left, and yet need to replace the clutch because they are glazed over, or you have hot spots all over the flywheel affecting engagement. Additionally, depending on where the car has come from you can also get an unsavory character to go in and change the New clutch settings to give you a lower wear reading for a clutch than it should have. (Also discussed later).
Here are the hard input numbers of the algorithm the Scan tool bases the F1 clutch wear reading on from the example numbers above.
Closed Clutch Position: 18.423mm
Subtract this number from: New Closed Clutch Position: 18.281mm
this equals, 0 .142,
then it will be divided by 5.56*.
We now have, 0.025. This number is finally multiplied by 100. So the clutch is worn 2.55% in this F1 car.
The scan tool always shows how much it’s worn, not how much is left. I usually invert the number for the client. In this case, that would mean it’s 97.45% remaining. The Scan tool does not show the Tech this Algorithm, it merely gives him the parameters of where the clutch is from New, Current, and calculates those figures with all of these number to give him/her the clutch wear percentage. So it’s very possible for him not to even know this.
I usually take those numbers myself, with my phone calculator and calculate every clutch wear reading from the scan tool. I don’t base my clutch wear percentage off of the scan tool’s inputted algorithm. I base it off of the new/current clutch position numbers themselves. I do this mainly because I’ve had a problem with a scan tool calculating these number correctly.
Again, the scan tool does this automatically, the NCR is merely providing the scan tool those New/Current clutch parameters. The NCR itself doesn’t calculate that algorithm, it provides in millimeters the distance worn through the F1 position sensor.
[*This number is ostensibly the actual thickness of the friction disc material on one plate, minus the metal in-between it. As you can imagine since there is a manufacturer’s variance in friction disc thickness this would also slightly throw off the actual wear reading itself.]
Physically Checking the Friction Discs
Many times I’ve been asked is it physically possible to check the friction discs of these cars. The answer is yes, with a little bit of trouble on your part you can.
There are two cut-outs around the bell housing itself not specifically designed for this but can be used to measure the actual physical thickness of the friction disc material.
The photo above shows a cut-out basically at the 11-11:30 o’clock position, and another at basically the 7-7:30 o’clock position.
Another view:
The trick is to spin the motor so the clutch friction discs can be seen through these cut-outs. Either from the top passenger side under the hood, or under the car at the other position. If you look you could also remove the exhaust hanger from the bottom of the bell housing (the black bracket in the photo above), to check as well.
You basically are trying to line up the cut-outs of the bell housing with the cut outs showing you the friction disc of the pressure plate like below:
You’ll only get a good look and measure the outer most disc which is okay because they wear evenly. If you bump the key in the ignition you can look from the top and see when that one is lined up. Photo below
The only thing left to do now is to get a measuring tool. You already know the dimensions from above of a fully worn, and brand new clutch. You can stack long feeler gauges together, or use a long “T” handle hex key tool to do this. For instance, a 5.5mm or 6mm “T” handle hex key stuck down between the two metal plates would give you a fairly good idea of how much actual clutch life is left. (See photo below.)
I have to add this caveat here though, it’s going to be very difficult to see fractions from 5.5 to 6mms, with T handles. But, either way, there you have it. If it’s truly a brand new clutch a 6mm should fit right down to the friction disc without forcing it.
Craig, you are a genius master mechanic.