Clutch Adjustments (long)

S

Scott

Guest
I'm going to stick my neck out and tell you what I have done.

I rebuilt my own pressure plate last winter ( I love to do what people tell me
not to). The clutch disk was worn but still has many good miles left on it so I
sanded the ridges off of it ( yes sanded) I also wet sanded the surface of the
pressure plate to get rid of the valleys that matched the ridges on the clutch.
When I reassembled the unit I adjusted the nuts on the pressure plate until they
were just over hand tight. Put the old girl back together and it clutched and
shifted great. About a month later I noticed that as the tranny got warmed up, I
had more and more problem grinding first gear. After about a week I could no
longer get the car in first or second. Pulled tranny again, pulled pressure
plate and clutch again, no problem found, adjusted the clutch again,
reassembled. When I tested it, I got a massive chatter. I delt with it to see if
the grinding problem was fixed. Sure enough, after a short while I was hitting
gears again. I tightened the clutch cable as tight as it would go and the
grinding was gone.

Here is the problem and the fix for both problems.

My clutch pedel was VERY easy to depress and as soon as I lifted even the
slightes amount the clutch would engage. It turns out that someone had installed
the little cam that links the pedel to the cable on the floor backards. I had
great torque but only about an inch of throw out bearing lever travel. I turned
that bad boy around. Now I have a very stiff clutch pedel but I get about three
inches of travel in the throw out bearing arm. But it still shuddered like mad.

Pulled the tranny again for the third time . The shudder is caused by the
pressure plate not hitting the clutch evenly, or one or the other is warped or
worn out. When I checked the three adjustment points, one was very very loose
while the other two had even tension. I measured the edge of the disk that the
throw out bearing pushes on between the disk and the pressure plate frame
straight below it, in three different places while I adjusted the three nuts.
It took about 20 minutes of measuring and adjusting until I got it even ( within
three thousands). Reassembled and it's smooth as silk.

The moral of the story. You will have to pull the tranny and adjust the the
clutch. The pressure plate is not hitting evenly.

This is the first time I ever did this job. After three times, I can do it in
about three hours.

Good Luck,

Scott Moses
Kansas


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M

Mark_Richardson@Mahleinc.com

Guest
Scott & Larry have posted the best explaination I have ever heard as to why
the clutch shudders.

My question is: Can the disc and pressure plate be aligned and adjusted
for proper tension while
out of the car (assuming it would be done
at a clutch shop) then installed?

Good show guys!


Mark Richardson

Mark_Richardson@mahleinc.com
 
L

Larry Solheim

Guest
Absolutley, Mark. It must be done on a bench to insure the pressure plate is
flat (parallel) to the mounting surface (within a thousandth or two), w/ proper
clearance from the throw out bearing contact plate release forks. As you
tighten the pressure plate onto the flywheel you'll note it compresses against
the driven plate, moving the position of the throw out contact plate. The
clearance is needed so the clutch will release (there needs to be space for
movement) when the t/o bearing pushes against the contact plate.
Those are the simple words. Since I've moved I haven't found my book with the
clutch numbers in it, but someplace like Commercial Brake and Clutch should be
able to do this for you at minimal charge.
--LarryS

Mark_Richardson@Mahleinc.com wrote:
Scott & Larry have posted the best explaination I have ever heard as to why
the clutch shudders.

My question is: Can the disc and pressure plate be aligned and adjusted
for proper tension while
out of the car (assuming it would be done
at a clutch shop) then installed?

Good show guys!


Mark Richardson

Mark_Richardson@mahleinc.com



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