Stumped about my clutch. Help Please...
 

Ok a new clutch sitting on the bench, the fingers of the pressure plate are upwards and about 20degree angle or so. I put the clutch on the other night and when you tighten it down onto the steps of the flywheel the fingers go downward so that it's parallel and flat to the clutch disk.

Ok, so this morning i put a brand new throwout bearing on the clutch fork and put the tranny back in my car and cranked it down. I put the slave cylinder on and this is where i'm stumped. The slave cyl. rod has to be outward as far as it will go before it even touches the clutch fork as if the clutch is engaged. Is this normal when you put a clutch on? Is the clutch in it's engaged state until you start the motor for the first time? Does the motor have to be running to bring those pressure plate fingers back outward or something?

Thanks for any info!!

Re: Stumped about my clutch. Help Please...
 

The fingers on the clutch shouldn't be totally flat when you bolt it up, they should stay at a bit of an angle. Did the plate go on decent?

Re: Stumped about my clutch. Help Please...
 

Thanks for replying Jet. I knew you'd be the first to reply. :-) Well it went on tough i guess you could say because the fingers were outward(angle) and the more i tightened the clutch onto the flywheel step, the more the fingers flatened out to what i was saying. It's a brand new clutch. I went with a SouthBend DxD OFE clutch this time. Supposed to be as good as a 2600 even with a little less pressure plate load. The clutch looks the exact same in size, shape and form as a 2600.

What you said makes sense though about the fingers having to be outward. That must be why i can take the clutch fork and slap it back and forth so easily. I have a few bolts in the tranny and can be taken off easily i just hate doing it because it's a bitch getting back up on the motor.

When i put the pressure plate on, the plate didn't sit flat up against the flywheel step until i went around and tightened it. So you're suggesting that you should be able to plop the pressure plate right flat up against the flywheel without the fingers never moving?

Thanks.

Re: Stumped about my clutch. Help Please...
 

The fingers should always flatten out if installed correctly. And often the guide pins on the flywheel don't slide through the holes easily especially when new. So don't worry about that either. As long as you have the clutch disc in properly, aligned, and the pressure plate and the fingers are flat when bolted up, the clutch is fine.

Your problem is elsewhere, check to make sure the fork is properly inserted onto the pivot ball, make sure you are bolting the slave on the correct side of the tranny, etc. But really....every clutch i've done does what you are describing. Have you actually tried engaging the clutch with the clutch pedal?

Wiz

Re: Stumped about my clutch. Help Please...
 

Alright, I am not saying you are wrong, I am not 100% sure on this. I have never noticed my pressure plate fingers flattening out. What pushes on them to flatten them out? The TOB pushes on them, but the TOB isn't on yet.

I am semi-drunk right now, so I am not thinking real clearly :D

Re: Stumped about my clutch. Help Please...
 

When you tighten the pressure plate down, it presses against the disc. With out pressure applied from the throwout bearing, there is full clamping force applied. The throwout bearings presses against the fingers and cases the pressure plate to release slightly from the disc, allowing the disc to spin freely. Thus, allowing you to shift, etc. Trust me.......i'm 100% sure that your clutch is fine.

I'm sure some others will jump in and agree with me on this.

Wiz

Re: Stumped about my clutch. Help Please...
 

Sorry, I was instigating things a bit, like I said I am drunk :D The fingers press against the back of the pressure plate surface. When it tightens down they should flatten out some, but they should stay at about a 5* angle. Did you check the step of the pressure plate before you put it on? It sounds like the step may be too big. Either that or there is air in the system. Did the plunger on the slave fall out?

Re: Stumped about my clutch. Help Please...
 

It really depends on the clutch/setup, the fingers don't always flatten out at full clamp.But on the 3 or 4 Southbend clutches I've done on DSMs in the last 2 weeks, the fingers did pretty much flatten out(or at 5 deg, sounds about right) after the pressure plate bolts were tightened down.

Anyway, I don't think there is anything wrong with the clutch in question, But then again, not too many places are accurate on the step height specs

Re: Stumped about my clutch. Help Please...
 

Thanks much for all the input on this issue. Last night i took the tranny off as it was only on by a few bolts, took the clutch off and put a stock clutch on to see and yes it did the same thing, fingers flatened out. The more you tighten it down, the more pressure that's being applied to the plate thus flatening out the fingers. I checked my Southbend and the fingers aren't completely flat, there is a slight angle. I think the newer the clutch is (new=thicker), the more the fingers will flaten out.

So... I looked else where. I knew the fork is not bent because i checked it along side another fork i had laying around. The hole where the pivot ball goes in seemed to be noticeably deeper than the other fork i had. A dial indicator showed a difference of about .070" difference. The little hole where the slave cyl rod rests in also seemed a bit deeper but not much. I think these things would slighly attribute to the problem but i'm not sure how much. I think i'll just get a new fork and ball. I got that other fork but i'm not sure how worn it is because i don't have a new one laying around to compare the depths. I thought about doing the washer trick behind the pivot ball but i don't know how many washers i would want to put behind it.

Re: Stumped about my clutch. Help Please...
 

The pivot ball depth will make a big difference. I would probably reuse your old one that had the shallower hole. Unless there is something else wrong with that one.

Re: Stumped about my clutch. Help Please...
 

Jet, you don't have one laying around that you think is on the 'good' side that you could measure the depth with a calipers, do you? Then i could compare it and maybe save about $50.

Re: Stumped about my clutch. Help Please...
 

I am not sure if I have my old one around or not. Let me check.