Your ultimate guide to OEM TL flywheels and clutches
 

My quest to find a nice OEM clutch/flywheel has resulted in success, but I've had to
accumulate 3 sets of clutches/flywheels. As everyone knows, the options for J-Series
clutches and flywheels are extremely limited. My research will help shed some light
on the subject and for some us, we have a nice option...

Exhibit A: J37 flywheel on the left, J35 in the middle and J32 on the right.

http://www.brockwayengineering.com/pics/fw_comp_1.jpg

http://www.brockwayengineering.com/p..._comp_side.jpg

For those that don't know, the J32 and J35 flywheels are NOT interchangeable.
The main difference is the ring gear location. It's further away from the block on
the J35 application. The clutch case part of the transmission is different for the J35 block.
Besides the block mounting surface, the starter location is further back on the J35 trans.
The starter is the same though for all 04'~08 MT TLs. The J37 flywheel has the same ring
gear position as the J35 and after some other measurements, looks like a viable direct
fit onto a J35. What I like about the J37 flywheel is that it is made by Exedy. Very high
quality. It also doesn't have the rotational slop like the Luk flywheels (J32 and J35). The
J37 clutch and disc is also made by Exedy. The clutch is the main attraction here. No self-
adjusting crap. Just a normal clutch. This is what made me investigate the J37 clutch/flywheel
in the first place. One thing to note is that this clutch cannot be used on the J35 flywheel.
The locating pins are a slightly different circle diameter and the distance from the mounting
surface to the friction surface is different by 2mm.

There are 2 negatives with the J37 setup.
1. Price. Unless you are lucky enough to find a nice used one, a brand new flywheel is over $1K.
2. Weight. The J37 flywheel and clutch both weigh more than the J35 setup (see following table).

http://www.brockwayengineering.com/pics/clutch_fw.png

http://www.brockwayengineering.com/pics/fw_comp_2.jpg

http://www.brockwayengineering.com/pics/fw_comp_3.jpg

http://www.brockwayengineering.com/pics/j37_fw.jpg

http://www.brockwayengineering.com/pics/clutch_comp.jpg

Disclaimer: I haven't installed the J37 flywheel/clutch on my engine yet, so I can't comment any
further than my visual observations and measurements of the parts. Weights could be off by as
much as 1/2 lb due to me using a vehicle scale that does not display fractional units.
Measurements rounded to the nearest .25 mm.

Nice@!!!

Very cool.

J37 clutch/flywheel installed on my... J37. :D

http://www.brockwayengineering.com/pics/j37_clutch.jpg

Don't get too excited though because the engine may not be back in the car for a couple of months.

Why didn't you opt for aftermarket lightweight options?

Very, very nice! Can't wait to see this beast.

Are there any aftermarket options for the J37 at this point? Not that I've searched, but I don't think I've seen any thus far. And being that you have the J37, the 3.2 parts will not fit on that motor as you have described.

I'm not aware of any aftermarket flywheels that utilize the J37 clutch.

I had a Spec aluminum flywheel and stage 1 clutch that I didn't like...

1. Too much pedal effort for my taste (was almost twice as much as stock).
2. Too light for stock FD gear.

Check the CM FX250 kit w/ the AASCO Flywheel. The pedal is JUST like stock, maybeeeee even a tiny bit less.

The research continues
 

No J37 clutch install/test yet, but soon. However I only plan to test the clutch pedal feel after temporarily installing the engine/trans. I decided I probably want a lighter flywheel, however the options are very limited for clutches. Since the CM FX250 kit just uses a modified LuK SA clutch, I figured I would try to find a damped disc to use with the new OEM (LuK) clutch kit that I bought a while ago but never used. I only found one option here that's the right size/spline. Turns out that the OEM Acura Legend (5-speed only) has a conventional clutch and disc that is the same size. The only difference is that the Legend disc is .5mm thicker than the LuK disc. Not sure if this is enough to create any kind of bind, but I plan on testing it anyway. The only possible issue that I see is that this disc was designed for an engine with less torque, so the damping springs might be under-rated. Pics below of Legend OEM disc (made by Exedy) and a new AASCO flywheel.

http://www.brockwayengineering.com/pics/legend_disc.jpg


http://www.brockwayengineering.com/p...c_flywheel.jpg

Weird, my stage 2 is just like OEM pedal feel, and not too light at all :shrug:

AASCO is really good choice :thumbsup:

Yeah, that is weird. Maybe my clutch was at the high end of the tolerance and yours is at the low end. :shrug:
I think Spec uses the same clutch for stage 1 and stage 2 but different discs.

Disc is def different, mine is Kevlar, stage 1 looks like yours above. PP might have different tongues too, or whatever the tabs are called, because IIRC they have diff torque specs, unless the disc material also affects the torque spec?

Edit: my info is for a type s, not sure about other models.

I call them fingers. :D
Mine was also for Type-S and yes, the material can make a difference. I think the torque capacity was only 50 foot lbs difference between the S1 and S2?

Does yours chatter at all?

70lbs diff, not much. Stage 1 starts at 410lbs, which is a good amount already.

No chatter here. From what I've seen and read around, chatter starts around stage 3 and up. My friend has one in his VW Golf R and he gets a little bit of chatter. Some do, some don't, but seems to start from 3 and up.

I did have to re-adjust the pedal at first, it was grabbing too high up top in the travel. Drives great now and effortlessly.

I'm still curious about the different pedal effort. Maybe a noob employee was working that day at the Spec factory and I got a stage 2+ or stage 3 pressure plate by accident. :shrug:

Could be...mine is maybe a hair stiffer, ~10%. After a few mins in the car I couldn't tell the diff anymore.

So what are you doing? 3.7L install? In what car?

he has the j37 with dual vtec and he is installing it into a 1st gen tsx

That should make for a hell of a fun and reliable ride that could be daily driven even. Especially if its mostly stock and you leave in the comforts.

So will a j35 clutch set-up, work with a j37 transmission? I have a j35a8 but a j37 manual transmission. There are NO UPGRADES for the J37 but many custom flywheels and clutches for the J35. Would I be able to use a J35 clutch set-up?

Why did you use a j37 tranny on a j35a8? Final drive gear ratio?

This gun be good...

Update: J37 engine installed with full J37 OEM clutch and flywheel. There are still many things to install and connect but I tested the clutch pedal feel and it's totally normal. :thumbsup:

I plan on leaving this setup as is for now. The J37 clutch/flywheel is a good match for the J37 engine.

First, let me correct you... no, there are not a lot of aftermarket options for clutches and flywheels for the J-series. That aside, I see no reason why a J35A8 clutch or flywheel couldn't be used with a J37 engine and/or trans.

Excellent, thanks. I currently have a J37 flywheel and clutch bolted to a J35a8 that "appears" to be working. I haven't fired up the car yet. Good to know that I don't have to go looking for j37 stuff but could look for j35 clutches as well.

I'm sure it will work fine. Is your application AWD?

UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Cannot wait to see this thing in action. If the TSX had a J from the factory with a 6spd, I would probably have one right now. I love the TSX.

Yes. Application is AWD. I have driven the car now and everyone works great!

Drove the car a bit today and discovered that it didn't want to go in gear at first (from sitting in neutral). The clutch wasn't disengaging completely. I'm certain that the slave cylinder stroke isn't enough to compensate for the difference in pressure plate height between the J37 and J35 clutch/flywheel setups. I knew this and even bought a precision washer to add to the stud/ball pivot thing that the release fork sits on. I forgot to install it. :tomato:

I can still fix the problem with a spacer between the end of the slave cylinder piston and the release fork but it will have to be custom machined.

Other than this, the clutch feels totally normal. :thumbsup:

Clutch disengagement issue started to go away around 20 miles. Now with over 70 miles on the new clutch it seems to be completely gone. :thumbsup:

Not sure exactly what happened but perhaps the slave cylinder piston needed time to move to a new static position.

Hats off to the first man ever (to my knowledge) to do a 6mt j37a4 swap!

I was half way there by doing a j37a4 head swap on a j35z though! ;)

Just thought I would show everyone why a J37 clutch/flywheel setup does NOT work with a Type-S trans.

http://www.brockwayengineering.com/pics/trans_d.jpg

http://www.brockwayengineering.com/pics/trans_d2.jpg

http://www.brockwayengineering.com/p...7_clutch_d.jpg

The clutch worked quite nicely... after it wore grooves in the clutch case. This explains why the clutch didn't want to fully disengage at first.

This is very frustrating. My trans is currently apart. I'm replacing the clutch case as well as the FD gears.

Why change anything now. Looks like it wore out the clearance right were it needed it. I would just clearance it a little more and you're good to go right?

super cool thanks for putting all that work into making this thread. It is going to help me out for sure.

Just wanted to point out that the Legend clutch disc will NOT work with the AASCO flywheel. See post #10 above. The AASCO flywheel is too shallow in the area where the disc hub is. I initially checked it without the bolts sitting on a bench. Once the flywheel is installed, the disc won't seat fully into the flywheel. It hits the bolts. Very frustrating. I ended up getting a Clutchmasters disc. This disc is thinner and fits nicely. I hate that there are so few options for the J-series but the Clutchmasters setup seems to be pretty decent.

Were you able to use j35 manual transmission on your j37
Were you able to use j35 ECU. Can you use j37 harness?

Yes
Yes
No, the 4th gen TL has the ECU in the engine bay, so the harness is designed for that.

Trans bolts up?
What clutch case did you use?

It's a complete TL Type-S trans. Thought that was obvious from the posts.

Just checking since most other forums say it doesn't, or no ones tried.

All the J37 blocks have the later bolt pattern, same as the J35A8 blocks.