Snapped my shift fork

[talon4show]

Info: 1995 AWD, 6-bolt motor, 2G tranny (of course), COMP Stage 4 clutch.

Clutch has less then 10 miles on it (long story...) and then the car needed a rebuild. Those 10 miles it was fine.

Ok, car is towards the end of a rebuild. Motor and tranny went back in fine. Replaced the stock clutch line with a SS one from master to slave. Bled the clutch (everything was working fine) and went to start the motor. The oil galley plug behind the flywheel was leaking so I had to pull the tranny, clutch, and flywheel back out. I get it all back together and as we are about to start the car I try to push the clutch in and it is VERY stiff. I try again and it sort of pops down a little bit. I ask my buddy to go look under the car as I push the clutch. I try to push and its still VERY stiff. My buddy says to push it harder. I do and all of a sudden it pops, goes to the floor and I hear metal hitting the ground.

From what I can see the slave cylinder rod pushed the fork, the fork wouldn't budge and it bent the rod and snapped the fork.








Why?


I already know I have to pull the tranny out again (not fun...) but I am just trying to think of why this happened.

Also, do they make an aftermarket shift fork? Maybe one that is recommended. Direct OEM replacement please.

[slipstream808]

Your fork coulda just been worn out. Get a new OEM one and install it. As far as I know, there is no aftermarket shift fork for our cars. Sucks a lot though. Make sure the clutch went in correctly. I'm not saying you don't know how to install a clutch. Just that a mistake might have been made. We all make them.

[talon187]

yes they make aftermarket forks and rails i would at least upgrade both while there tre sells them i think they are forged and are alot stronger

[talon4show]

Originally Posted by slipstream808

Your fork coulda just been worn out. Get a new OEM one and install it. As far as I know, there is no aftermarket shift fork for our cars. Sucks a lot though. Make sure the clutch went in correctly. I'm not saying you don't know how to install a clutch. Just that a mistake might have been made. We all make them.

Yea I went back out last night and felt up in the tranny (haha) and I could move the fork with my fingers and all seemed fine...

Yea man we all definitely make mistakes. I believe its all lined up correctly. The disk is in right, its lined up, the pressure plate was torqued to 22ft/lbs, and tranny went in just fine... As you can tell from the pics the fork is a bit old and its been sitting in the open for some time some maybe the pivot ball was a little stuck and/or rusty. Who knows, guess I will see more when the tranny comes back out

Originally Posted by talon187

yes they make aftermarket forks and rails i would at least upgrade both while there tre sells them i think they are forged and are alot stronger

Thanks, I will look them up. Breaking things is usually a good excuse to upgrade haha. I hear the OEM ones are fine though especially when they are new.

What do you mean by "rails?"

[talon187]

that almost looks like a rail the frok looks more like a claw my buddy builds our trannies all the time what i mean by rai this is a pic of the fork http://www.teamrip.com/images/AWD_1S...SHIFT_FORK.jpg and this one is of a rail http://www.teamrip.com/images/forged%20rails.jpg but heres the site to buy all the stuff GENUINE MITSUBISHI TRANSMISSION PARTS
good luck if you have the money id go dubble sycros my buddies tranny has them with a spider diff and a twin disk and shifts soooo smooth mine shifts nice because he built it but not quite as nice as the dubble syncros

[twicks69]

To the people that posted with reccomendations to transmission rebuilds, you posted incorrectly - talon187 (singled out this time ) - this is the CLUTCH FORK and SLAVE CYLINDER ROD in the photos -- it is not a shift fork, shift rail, or rail end -- those are transmission parts. This problem is a CLUTCH intall/hydraulic issue.

Buy a new slave cylinder, and then buy a new clutch fork and clutch fork pivot ball from the Mitsubishi dealership.

I hope that you also replaced the throwout bearing when you did your clutch install as I would strongly reccomend that.

The clutch fork could have failed due to stresses caused by age/wear, or it could have happened due to a clutch that was improperly adjusted, overextending the slave cylinder and overextending the TOB into the pressure plate. The increased capacity of the pressure plate can also be a causing factor while using other parts that are just too old and worn out.

[talon4show]

Originally Posted by twicks69

To the people that posted with reccomendations to transmission rebuilds, you posted incorrectly - talon187 (singled out this time ) - this is the CLUTCH FORK and SLAVE CYLINDER ROD in the photos -- it is not a shift fork, shift rail, or rail end -- those are transmission parts. This problem is a CLUTCH intall/hydraulic issue.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by twicks69

Buy a new slave cylinder, and then buy a new clutch fork and clutch fork pivot ball from the Mitsubishi dealership.

Saturday morning (day after) I ordered a new Clutch Fork, Pivot Ball, and extended slave cylinder rod

Originally Posted by twicks69

I hope that you also replaced the throwout bearing when you did your clutch install as I would strongly reccomend that.

DEFINITELY put a new TOB in when the clutch went in.

Originally Posted by twicks69

The clutch fork could have failed due to stresses caused by age/wear, or it could have happened due to a clutch that was improperly adjusted, overextending the slave cylinder and overextending the TOB into the pressure plate. The increased capacity of the pressure plate can also be a causing factor while using other parts that are just too old and worn out.

When the tranny was in (before I took it out) we replaced the clutch line with a Stainless Steel one from Master to Slave. (<---haha wait...wat?) and bled the system (duh). Everything went fine therefore everything should have been good. It was AFTER that when I took the tranny back out and re-installed it. I even left the slave cylinder attached with the line on.

Still wondering why... I will obviously be able to tell more when I get the tranny out some time this week.