Clutch Problems

[bruhaw]

Been having problems with clutch going in and out of adjustment. Thought it might have been a bad master and changed that and bled well and worked fine for a few miles and then same problems. It will grind going into reverse or even in other gears and sometimes cannot even get it out of gear or back in gear. Have to pump the pedal or just keep moving the shifter and finally it goes in. Weird thing is that sometimes it is very smooth and no problems and then it just starts having problems again. So, after I did the master and had problems I decided to do the slave as well. Replaced it and bled well and same problems. Works and then doesn't work. I have tried the adjusting rod at the master and at the slave with moving the rods in and back out, etc. to no avail. I also vary the distance on how far I push the pedal in. Meaning I won't go all the way to the floor but maybe 3/4 and still no real difference. I did put a limit bolt in so the pedal wouldn't go as far down but that didn't help either. Anybody out there ever experience anything like this. If it was consistently bad then I would say adjustment or something wrong inside the transmission but it works great sometimes.

[bigdan120]

Cable issues? Release bearing/Throw out bearing? Pressure plate? Thats what I would look at.

[bigdan120]

Had a tractor that wouldnt release the clutch far enough.. turn out Clutch pressure plate was bad.

[2scoops]

Likely internal. If Lenny doesn't chime in your best bet is calling a transmission place and asking them. I haven't had any issues with my tranny yet... knock on wood.

[Mudslinger]

I have seen this problem many times, and it is usually dust and dirt built up in side the pressure plate. The bell housing is not sealed and allows dust in . Try removing the inspection plate and the crank sensor, then use compressed air to blow out the bell housing and clutch threw the crank sensor hole. If that doesn't work, you well probably have to remove the plate to clean it, and in my experience you are best off to replace it. The diaphragm spring usually starts to flex in the wrong spot and does not disengage the clutch disc.

[bigdan120]

You could do this and it might clean it out...LOL then I needed starter.......

[bruhaw]

Yea Big Dan it looks like fun but could be costly when it is all over. Not much water to go through out here in Southern CA so I don't even have the opportunity to go through creeks and small rivers or ponds.

Thanks for all the replies. I was hoping it wasn't the clutch as I already had it replaced in a pinch last April. Disc only as JMC and others did not have the Pressure plate. I had it fixed quickly and by a former Joyner dealer because I burned it up one weekend and was going on a big trip the next Thursday so I gave him basically three days to replace it. Dropped it off Monday and picked it up on Wednesday so can't say it was his fault. He checked the plate and said it seemed like it was still in good shape. I think that is where the problem lies and it is now a weak spring or somehow it is just not disengaging. Ordered a heavier duty plate and an Exedy disc and will have shortly. Also going to change the TO bearing and pilot bearing this time and have the flywheel resurfaced. I have the time on this go around so going to do it right. Even going to beef up the fork as Lenny said to do on one of his posts way back when. The plate is about 30% more clamping force than stock so that should help on rock climbing, etc. Will have it out over the next few days and will let everyone know for sure what the problem is. Again appreciate the help and input.

[Kinarfi]

Please take some photos & post

[bruhaw]

Those who thought it was dust and dirt in the housing were correct. However it wasn't so much on the pressure plate but rather dust accumulated around the splines on the shaft that was causing the throwout bearing / clutch fork to hang up and not release. Thus pumping the pedal a number of times would finally release it and now I know why. It was pretty gummed up and that was the issue. Wanted to make sure there were no issues with the transmission and I took that to a shop I know well and they said I should probably replace the syncros while I had it apart as a few of them were looking worn. Problem is finding them because you can't. Will have to wait for Casey from JMC to get them from China and thus I just got a whole new transmission and put in with a heavier duty clutch and pressure plate. Was going to do the fork and gusset it but the fork is heat treated and is a pain to remove so I left that alone. The pressure plate is only about 30% greater than stock and the fork really doesn't seem that bad. So once I can get the syncros I will have the old transmission put back together and will have a replacement. Syncros are only about 8 bucks and they can put it back together for a reasonable amount.

Good news is that I got everything put back together and put 160 miles on it last weekend and the clutch was smooth as can be. I pulled the engine and transmission together along with leaving the radiator and all the cooling attached. Made it pretty easy to do it all together. While I had it out I sealed all the openings between the engine and transmission around the bell housing. Nothing can get in or out which will keep the dust and water out. I talked with Casey and he says many of the guys in the south do seal everything up because of the water they go through. I just have problems with the dust, especially the fine stuff and that is what did me in. So, if you ever do the clutch I would recommend to seal it up good. Pretty hard to do and actually almost impossible to do in the car. The one area you could do is where the starter bolts to the engine. On the side you can't see up against the engine there is a fairly good sized opening that dust can get into. That one you can do easily if you remove the intake and starter itself. Overall not that tough of a job but did take 3-4 hours to remove and the same to put back in. Just putting everything back together is tedious. Getting drive shafts in and out were no problem at all as aligning them and popping them back in was not hard.

Thanks for all the replies as it helped lead me to finally pulling everything out and digging deeper into it.

[2scoops]

Glad to hear you got it fixed. Good post.