The Top DSM Community on the Web

For 1990-1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse, Eagle Talon, Plymouth Laser, and Galant VR-4 Owners. Log in to remove most ads.

Please Support Morrison Fabrications
Please Support STM Tuned

Clutch soft and not disengaging after install

This site may earn a commission from merchant
affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

pjhale16

15+ Year Contributor
76
0
Oct 9, 2005
Knox, Indiana
I know this has been cover quite a bit but I'm in a pretty big hurry and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I had a spring come out of my clutch disc a few weeks back and I just got done putting in a different disc. The pressure plate looked pretty good and I had another disc out of another car that was in good shape that was almost identical to the other that I put in. Also I had the flywheel resurfaced and bought a new TOB. I've put in clutches a few times and never had a problem really.

I got it all in and and car started fine but even after bleeding the slave quite a few times it is just really soft. The clutch fork is more on the driver side when it starts out so thats fine and the slave is moving the the fork quite a bit when pressed but the clutch just isn't getting disengaged and I can't get the pedal to stiffen up. I really don't think I installed anything wrong because I've done it a few times with no problems and everything went smoothly. My slave and master were fine before hand and I don't see any leaks.

The only 2 ways I could think it would be possible for the pedal to be soft would either bet air in the lines but then I thought the slave wouldn't move very much. Or if the pressure plate wasn't being pushed at all but I don't really think thats possible because the clutch was actually disengaging too much before I changed it.

I just don't see how its possible for me to physically see my fork being pushed in but know that that same time my pressure plate isn't being? I'm just kind of stuck here

Thanks for any help.
 
I've been fighting a similar problem. Did you shim the clutch fork pivot ball? Not saying that's positively your problem, but I've been reading up on it and many say that you should do it when installing an aftermarket clutch/pressure plate, especially if you resurface your flywheel.
 
I didn't but my clutch fork is in the right position without shimming so I don't see why it would be a problem. Plenty of room for travel.

So I've been trying to bleed the clutch some more but I still can't get it any stiffer. I did notice though that theres a noticeable change in idle when I push the clutch in so it seems like it has to be disengaging my clutch. If it wasn't disengaging all the way I don't see how the idle would change... but I don't really know what else I could have messed up. The shifter linkage should have hooked up just the same as it was before.
 
is it a stock pressure plate and flywheel?
 
It's a spec stage 3 clutch with a 6 puck disc and stock flywheel. I've been bleeding the slave cylinder like crazy but it doesn't seem any where near as stiff as it used to be. I didn't mess with the pedal adjustment until recently and I was just trying to adjust it so it would push sooner to see if I could get the clutch disengaged at all.

Well I started the car in gear with the clutch in and it wanted to move forward so even though it seems like pushing the clutch in has a effect on idle it isn't disengaging. I can't get the pedal stiff really no matter how much I seem to bleed it. I think I'm going to try to adjust the pedal all the way out and see if the it the slave just isn't pushing the fork far enough to disengage.

I got someone to push the clutch in while I was watching and I really don't understand what could be happening. The fork starts more on the drivers side and goes almost all the way to the other side when the clutch is pushed all the way in. I adjusted the pedal to so it pushes it in the most but it still won't disengage. I don't see how I could have installed it wrong.
 
hmm. ok so you have a good master and slave cylinders because they were working for your last setup, as well as the pressure plate and flywheel.

Did you resurface the flywheel or was it good and how did your pressure plate look when that spring from your disc popped out? any damage?

I know those pucks do some damage if they dont disengage properly. ive eatin up a flywheel this way. :ohdamn:

If everything looked good on the inside, which i assume it did, Id have someone push the pedel from inside and inspect that slave, making sure its pushing straight and full.

btw are you running master to slave ss lines or do you still have the booster on her?

do you see it disengaging through that dust cover hole? if you dont, it sounds like you might need to shim it and get an slave rod extention, just in case. what was your old set up like? same 6puck?
 
I don't have SS lines, thats all stock. From what I see it has to be something I did during the install which really sucks cause it was a pain getting that thing back in and I really don't have the time anymore.

I don't think its anything to do with the fork or TOB though. The pedal seems a lot softer than before but I can still feel it hit the pressure plate and like I said the idle has a noticeable change. It seems like it's something to do with the pressure plate itself not fully disengaging. I'm not for sure if its possible for the pressure plate to be getting pushed all the way but for some reason still not disengage?
 
what was your old disc? was it a 6puck?
It does sound like the pressure plate isnt disengaging properly, but if you set up everything the exact same as your last disc install then it has to be something with your disc you installed or something is messed up when you put it back together, and unfortunatly, it sounds like its where you dont want the problem, back in the tranny box.
 
I pulled my trans twice this past week dealing with the exact same problem. My fork is also sitting in the right position, and I even bought an extended slave rod to get some extra movement. Everything looks correct but it's not dis-engaging either. I'm going to shim the pivot ball as it's the only thing I haven't tried yet. I'll keep you updated for sure. I'm probably going to do it tomorrow so just hang tight a minute and I'll let you know if it worked for me.




















UPDATE 1-12-2010: Well I got a lot done today but not quite finished and probably won't have results until Thursday, but I can tell you that from the outside it looks like it will have to disengage the clutch, if not over-engage it. We'll see and I'll keep you updated.
 
Last edited:
I pulled my trans twice this past week dealing with the exact same problem. My fork is also sitting in the right position, and I even bought an extended slave rod to get some extra movement. Everything looks correct but it's not dis-engaging either. I'm going to shim the pivot ball as it's the only thing I haven't tried yet. I'll keep you updated for sure. I'm probably going to do it tomorrow so just hang tight a minute and I'll let you know if it worked for me.




















UPDATE 1-12-2010: Well I got a lot done today but not quite finished and probably won't have results until Thursday, but I can tell you that from the outside it looks like it will have to disengage the clutch, if not over-engage it. We'll see and I'll keep you updated.

Any update on this? Im having the same problem.
 
I shimmed the pivot ball to the point where I could barely bolt the slave up, this is also with the regular slave rod back in, there's no way that the extended rod would fit. Anyway, afterwards I could get into first gear but that was it. Then I cut away the carpet and sound deadening material from under the clutch pedal and had all gears, but just barely.

As of right now I have clutch disengagement about 2 or 3" off the floor as I found that I could adjust the master under the pedal just a little more. It's literally in by one thread. My guess is that the autoparts store gave me either the wrong master or slave, like a non turbo one. I've also been told that if I had bought an oem master and slave then I wouldn't be having this problem, either way I'm not sure. But I do know that there's no way my clutch assembly could be that far out of spec, as the shims I put in adjusted it way past stock. I was actually afraid that I would have too much fork travel and blow the springs on my disc, but that wasn't the case.
 
I shimmed the pivot ball to the point where I could barely bolt the slave up, this is also with the regular slave rod back in, there's no way that the extended rod would fit. Anyway, afterwards I could get into first gear but that was it. Then I cut away the carpet and sound deadening material from under the clutch pedal and had all gears, but just barely.

As of right now I have clutch disengagement about 2 or 3" off the floor as I found that I could adjust the master under the pedal just a little more. It's literally in by one thread. My guess is that the autoparts store gave me either the wrong master or slave, like a non turbo one. I've also been told that if I had bought an oem master and slave then I wouldn't be having this problem, either way I'm not sure. But I do know that there's no way my clutch assembly could be that far out of spec, as the shims I put in adjusted it way past stock. I was actually afraid that I would have too much fork travel and blow the springs on my disc, but that wasn't the case.

I have the exact same problem. Is your pedal assembly worn? Mine is. Its the only thing I havent replaced.
 
I have the exact same problem. Is your pedal assembly worn? Mine is. Its the only thing I havent replaced.

It doesn't show the signs that it is. I can't pull the clutch pedal up any further when my foot's off of it, but I've been told that doesn't necessarily mean that it's ok.
 
Turns out my slave sylinder was leaking. I replaced it and bled the clutch again. Now its good as new. GL
 
bleed the system. had same problem with my clutch, including it grinded going into 1st and 3rd, I bled it and haven't had a problem since.
 
Support Vendors who Support the DSM Community
Boosted Fabrication ECM Tuning ExtremePSI Fuel Injector Clinic Innovation Products Jacks Transmissions JNZ Tuning Kiggly Racing Morrison Fabrications MyMitsubishiStore.com RixRacing RockAuto RTM Racing STM Tuned

Latest posts

Build Thread Updates

Vendor Updates

Latest Classifieds

Back
Top