Pressure plate problem

[jrb]

Can anyone tell me how much travel should be in the pressure plate when working the clutch lever? Mine travels about 3/32nds of an inch but the clutch does not want to disengage, I'm thinking I might have air in the line but so far have not been able to bleed any out.

[Marcarl]

I just had mine out yesterday and I would think that it should be more like 3\16 than 3\32. Did you aline the marks on the pressure plate with the clutch boss? It's a little dot mark and there is only one way they fit together. If they're not matched up, you'll not get the spread you need and it won't disengage,,, don't ask me how I found this out.

[V7Goose]

I believe you absolutely do have air in the line. I have occasionally run into this when changing the fluid and the master accidentally runs dry. When that happens, you have to bleed enough fluid to fully change it all again before the air can be pushed all the way through the system. And rarely, that air bubble seems to stay trapped in the master piston, so it takes some extra work to bust it loose.

 

I always change my fluid with a vacuum pump that never requires me to touch the lever, but when this problem pops up, I have found that quickly working the lever while sucking out fluid from the bleeder valve often dislodges the bubble (no need to put the cover on the master when doing this).

Goose

[Marcarl]

After further thought, let's just go over this piece by piece:

You have all the parts out, clutch and boss, so you have only the shaft sticking out.

So now you slide the clutch boss onto the shaft, then the thrust washer which slides right over and past the spline. If it doesn't slide past the spline then the boss has not meshed properly with the oil pump gear and you need to aline those two. Getting your fingers behind the boss may be tight, you then you slide the clutch basket onto the shaft and then the locking washer with the nut which you then torque.

Now you put the clutch plates into the basket, the first plate goes in with the large, single square cut out lined with the markings on the basket (2 dots on the shorter tangs), install a steel plate and the another fiber plate at which time you now install the ciri-spring. After that comes the rest of the plates alternating them between fiber and steel with the double cut outs now lined with the marks on the basket. Now install the pressure plate. You'll find a dot on the outside of the pressure plate and a corresponding on the basket, these need to be lined up or things won't work right. Install the springs and cover and you should be good to go,,,, unless, as Goose says, there is an air bubble in the master. Sometimes this air bubble can be removed by simply working the handle a little bit, just enough to move the piston. You'll need to remove the master cover to be able to watch for any air coming out. It's also a good idea to remove any old fluid from the master and clean all debris out of there before you start. You can do this with a syringe and some brake cleaner, or contact cleaner. Just make sure that all is dry and clean before you pour in the new fluid. This is the right time to be anal about something.

 

Hope this helps some, can be thoroughly frustrating when it won't come together right, sometimes it's just a little thing that turns out to be a show stopper.

[Marcarl]

On further thought, the ciri-spring might install after the second steel plate, but you'll be able to see that as to where the cut-out is for it's proper location in the sequence.

[wes0778]

Can anyone tell me how much travel should be in the pressure plate when working the clutch lever? Mine travels about 3/32nds of an inch but the clutch does not want to disengage, I'm thinking I might have air in the line but so far have not been able to bleed any out.

 

Air may indeed be a problem, but to back up a bit, you didn't say why you were into the clutch. Was it to put a full disk in place of the 1/2 disk? If so did you get BOTH of the shims (under the 1/2 disk) out of the stack?

 

BTW when testing mine yesterday after the upgrade, I didn't measure the pressure plate travel, but I would estimate at least 3/8".

[jrb]

Thanks to all. I'll do some more bleeding.

[wes0778]

Thanks to all. I'll do some more bleeding.

 

Oh BTW to the asylum!!!

 

Don't forget to let us know what you find!!!