Clutch problem

[TerryLiv]

I have an 11 month old South Bend clutch/Fidanza Aluminum Flywheel combination with about 3K miles and nearly no launches. It drags above 5500 RPM's when shifting. This is combined with a 20 year old 220K mile clutch pedal assembly. At Idle, the clutch starts to engage at about 1" off the floor.

Is it most likely a warped clutch/flywheel combination or would the pedal be partly responsible.

It takes forever to shift at 8K RPM with NLTS.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Terry

[sbiggi]

Warped clutch.

Fix the pedal assembly too though, if the clutch drags its just going to over heat and warp.

[mitsunut]

I had clutch pedal travel problems too. I ended up removing the pedal assembly and replacing it with another one that was in a lot better condition. When I installed the trans to the engine I inspected the clutch fork arm in relationship to the opening . I ended up shimming the pivot ball to get it in the middle. Clutch pedal still was close to the floor and I ended up removing the bracket on the clutch pedal itself where the clutch master cylinder rod screws into . I then welded a nut to the existing nut on the bracket thus extending the adjustment of the rod. Does that make sense? It was hard to describe but it worked for me. I have a lot better pedal travel and no dragging or grinding of the gears.

Jim.

[steve]

Same here. Jim's way will probably be the best/easiest way. You can also get a 2g master rod which is about .75" longer IIRC and will also tighten you clutch pedal up. I repaced the fork, pivot ball and still wasn't disengaging right so I ended up buying a extended slave rod 1/4 inch longer which worked for me.

[Kibo]

If your clutch is engaging only 1" off the floor, I'd take a look at your pedal assembly--at 220k, it's likely that the slot in the "Z-arm" is worn out. Even with an ACT 2900 PP I had engagement higher than that on a welded pedal assembly.

[TerryLiv]

If your clutch is engaging only 1" off the floor, I'd take a look at your pedal assembly--at 220k, it's likely that the slot in the "Z-arm" is worn out. Even with an ACT 2900 PP I had engagement higher than that on a welded pedal assembly.

Erik,

Excuse my ignorance, but because of my height I have not spent much time with my head between the clutch and brake pedals. I also don't know what the Z-Arm is. Do you have a part number for it? I am guessing it is the "Lever, Clutch Fluid" MB599879?

The end of the clutch release fork at the slave cylinder moves about 0.7" when the clutch pedal is depressed full length. It seems like this should be the most important measurement, but I haven't found a limit for it in the FSM. Does anyone have a measurement for this?

When my head is between the pedals and I depress the clutch fully with a hammer handle, I can see no time when it appears looseness is being taken up at the master cylinder end. Hard to believe it would not show, if it is significant.

Thoughts?

Terry

[Mirage]

One way to test for the play is this:

Depress the clutch pedal a couple times to be sure everything is seated and at the end of whatever limits there may be.

Get your head underneath the dash and keep an eye on the clutch rod/pivot pin. Pull upwards on the clutch pedal and watch to make sure the pivot pin doesn't move with the pedal.

I'll bet there is at least 1/2" to 1" of upwards play on the pedal itself. That translates into a TON of wear down at the pivot point/Z arm/clutch master.

Get the pedal assembly out of there, rebuild it and get it welded.

I guarantee that will be the absolute best thing you can do for a dragging clutch.

Marcus

[Kibo]

Terry, that's the correct part number. Pulling the pedal assembly can be pretty painful--but like Marcus said, welding that sucker does wonders for improving your clutch engagement. Shep sells brass clutch pedal bushings (http://www.sheptrans.com/driveline/dsm_awd.htm) so you didn't have to worry about melting the OEM plastic bushing when welding the arm, but these weren't available when Erron MIG'd mine and he was able to do it without a problem.

[TerryLiv]

One way to test for the play is this:

Depress the clutch pedal a couple times to be sure everything is seated and at the end of whatever limits there may be.

Get your head underneath the dash and keep an eye on the clutch rod/pivot pin. Pull upwards on the clutch pedal and watch to make sure the pivot pin doesn't move with the pedal.

I'll bet there is at least 1/2" to 1" of upwards play on the pedal itself. That translates into a TON of wear down at the pivot point/Z arm/clutch master.

Get the pedal assembly out of there, rebuild it and get it welded.

I guarantee that will be the absolute best thing you can do for a dragging clutch.

Marcus

Marcus,

The way the master cylinder rod is adjusted pushes the clutch pedal to the upper limit of it's travel. Therefore there is no noticeable movement in any of the clutch pedal assembly. When the pedal starts to move, the master cylinder rod moves. This was caused because I adjusted the threaded rod as far back (effectively lengthening it) as it would go some years back.

I am guessing this means the slop in the system is preloaded at all times. Would this cause the master cylinder rod to not be able to move full length because it is starting too far into the cylinder then bottoming out too soon?

Terry

[TerryLiv]

New News,

I got my fat head under the dash and started checking things out. I had thought I had lengthened the clutch master cylinder rod as much as possible some years back, but fiddled with it again. What a pain in the rear working under that dash!

I tried the car and found that I now have engagement start about 3" off the floor instead of 1". No creep when on the stutterbox at 5500 RPM's. NLTS at 8000 rpm's is nearly perfect.

The car shifts like you would expect and boy am I a happy camper.

Thanks to all for your suggestions.:)

Terry

[mitsunut]

Glad we could help out .
Jim.