1G Clutch drag?

[bryanzomg]

I’ll get straight to the point, took car racing and something took a shit!!!
2k miles on ACT flywheel, soutbend b series clutch kit. Clutch is OBVIOUSLY dragging.. hard to shift into gears, car jerks forward when shifting into 1st gear, clutch disengagement is right off floor causing a chatter unless reved up. Slave is good it’s pushing fork as it should, no leak behind boot. I’m thinking throw out bearing/clutch issue? Unless you think transmission can cause a dragging clutch???

 

[Mech Addict]

What kind of racing: Drag or track? Please elaborate on what you’re seeing when you say the slave is good. You have an assistant pushing the pedal and the fork end goes from slightly driver’s side of centered in bellhousing window nearly to the pass side edge of the window? If that’s the case it would seem not to be in the pedal or hydraulic system and something further in. Do you have one of those aftermarket clutch forks, or oem? Maybe as simple as a bent fork. What weight is your pressure plate spring? I’d start with that.

 

[bryanzomg]

What kind of racing: Drag or track? Please elaborate on what you’re seeing when you say the slave is good. You have an assistant pushing the pedal and the fork end goes from slightly driver’s side of centered in bellhousing window nearly to the pass side edge of the window? If that’s the case it would seem not to be in the pedal or hydraulic system and something further in. Do you have one of those aftermarket clutch forks, or oem? Maybe as simple as a bent fork. What weight is your pressure plate spring? I’d start with that.

I was doing drag racing. I had the car in the air and turned it on and pulled fork boot off and had assistant push clutch in. Starts on drive side and extends all the way out to pass side, I can see fork pushing TOB against pressure plate! It is an OEM fork I threw in July, running a 2700lb pressure plate!

 

[habitatguy187]

Does the clutch disc have springs?

 

[bryanzomg]

Does the clutch disc have springs?

Yes it’s a b series full face sprung clutch from tmz

 

[habitatguy187]

Yes it’s a b series full face sprung clutch from tmz

I just had a spring pop out and it changed gears for me a few times and then quit completely. I would definitely try to adjust the clutch master rod before pulling the trans but it sounds like you might be heading in that direction.

 

[habitatguy187]

Oh and check for clutch pedal assembly play

 

[Mech Addict]

2,700 lb is appreciably above stock. Bent clutch fork might still look fairly normal while watching it actuate, but wouldn’t move the t.o. enough to fully disengage the clutch.
You could try the adjustment if you have threads to adjust. I’m thinking, though, that if it is something not in the linkage/hydraulics then it will likely get worse on the next hard drive. Definitely will want to get rid of that clutch drag before the contagion spreads to the synchros.

 

[bryanzomg]

I adjusted master around July for the season! I will double check to see if maybe locking nut got loose but I suspect something in the driveline since it happened during race! I am certainly not driving it, I only limped her home in 5th gear since it was 95% highway driving at 2am. Thanks guys!I was thinking it could be a spring as well, disappointing since everything was new BUT anything is better than a broken transmission

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

I second the bent fork comment. That's a heavy pressure plate. Use Comps fork for peace of mind.

 

[bryanzomg]

I second the bent fork comment. That's a heavy pressure plate. Use Comps fork for peace of mind.

Will do, I previously did use a comp fork but the design made me paranoid and opted out for a OEM just in case. I’ll drop transmission in a few weeks and update y’all

 

[pauleyman]

Sudden change suggests to me a part failure. I'm in disagreement about clutch fork. Possible but clutch itself seems more likely to me. I assume you checked trans mounts already, all bolts etc.

 

[bryanzomg]

Sudden change suggests to me a part failure. I'm in disagreement about clutch fork. Possible but clutch itself seems more likely to me. I assume you checked trans mounts already, all bolts etc.

Not extensively, will in future before pulling transmission. Super busy with college at the moment! I was also suspecting clutch as well....

 

[twicks69]

Have you done any sort of bleeding of the system, readjustment of the clutch master cylinder at the pedal assembly, or checked the disengagement range? This clutch is not a super hard-on-parts pressure plate because of the placement of the fulcrum for the diaphragm spring, but it allows a shorter disengagement range which should be adjusted to 0-2" from the floor to work properly. You should be seeing at least 3/4" of movement of the clutch fork for full disengagement of the clutch. Change in disengagement over time could also be a matter of temperature / moisture content of your brake hydraulic fluid being used in your clutch hydraulics.

I would recommend adjusting the master cylinder rod into the pedal assembly 2-3 revolutions, and fully bleeding your clutch hydraulics with new DOT 3/4 synthetic brake fluid, like Valvoline, or Motul for example. Then adjusting the clutch master cylinder adjustment rod back towards the firewall until you have the proper disengagement range.

As for the transmission, what specific gear oil are you using in the transmission? When you were having disengagement issues, what kind of temperatures were you dealing with, was this issue all the time, only when cold, only when warmed up?

 

[bryanzomg]

Have you done any sort of bleeding of the system, readjustment of the clutch master cylinder at the pedal assembly, or checked the disengagement range? This clutch is not a super hard-on-parts pressure plate because of the placement of the fulcrum for the diaphragm spring, but it allows a shorter disengagement range which should be adjusted to 0-2" from the floor to work properly. You should be seeing at least 3/4" of movement of the clutch fork for full disengagement of the clutch. Change in disengagement over time could also be a matter of temperature / moisture content of your brake hydraulic fluid being used in your clutch hydraulics.

I would recommend adjusting the master cylinder rod into the pedal assembly 2-3 revolutions, and fully bleeding your clutch hydraulics with new DOT 3/4 synthetic brake fluid, like Valvoline, or Motul for example. Then adjusting the clutch master cylinder adjustment rod back towards the firewall until you have the proper disengagement range.

As for the transmission, what specific gear oil are you using in the transmission? When you were having disengagement issues, what kind of temperatures were you dealing with, was this issue all the time, only when cold, only when warmed up?

I will re bleed and adjust master soon! I had that done around august before breaking in clutch I was getting disengagement towards the middle of clutch pedal range.
I was running a majority mixture of redline 75w140 with mt-90! It was a cool night of about 60 degrees F. It seemed to be all the time. I ended up pulling into gas station to do a quick visual and ended up driving her home about 35 mins on the highway. I since then have parked it in my garage. Thanks for reaching out Tim!

 

[twicks69]

Bleed and readjust the hydraulics, you may be over-adjusted if it is mid pedal range to the point it is dragging when fully pushed down. Have you tried to do it stationary and slowly push the pedal down the entire range and see if it allows you to shift into gear without drag? Then pump the clutch pedal several times and then try it again? Just wanting to see if you are adjusted properly and if you are bleeding pressure from the hydraulic system causing a problem. As well, you might need to flush the system and put in new hydraulic fluid, and you might need to do a clutch pedal adjustment at the master to get it back in range, which is a typical thing to do throughout the life of a clutch as it breaks in and wears down.

 

[bryanzomg]

Bleed and readjust the hydraulics, you may be over-adjusted if it is mid pedal range to the point it is dragging when fully pushed down. Have you tried to do it stationary and slowly push the pedal down the entire range and see if it allows you to shift into gear without drag? Then pump the clutch pedal several times and then try it again? Just wanting to see if you are adjusted properly and if you are bleeding pressure from the hydraulic system causing a problem. As well, you might need to flush the system and put in new hydraulic fluid, and you might need to do a clutch pedal adjustment at the master to get it back in range, which is a typical thing to do throughout the life of a clutch as it breaks in and wears down.

I have tried pushing the pedal slowly throughout the entire range as well as pumping it, there’s no change at all.Disengagement isn’t towards middle anymore as it is dragging, it’s hard to get into gear and when it does the car jerks forward indicating a dragging clutch. I have not yet readjusted, I’m thinking it’s mechanical I see trans fluid leaking now I wonder if something gave out and took out a input/output seal. Sorry I haven’t re adjusted Tim, college coursework has been heavy lately leaving no time to work on it.

 

[bryanzomg]

@twicks69 finally got around to removing trans here’s what I found
What’s your input on what I did wrong , what’s useable? Would I be able to purchase the disk itself

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[Mech Addict]

Looks not good. What about the trans leak? Does it seem that lube got in the clutch?

 

[bryanzomg]

Looks not good. What about the trans leak? Does it seem that lube got in the clutch?

I couldn’t find source of trans leak, might of been just engine oil
But pressure plate/clutch were bone dry

 

[Mech Addict]

That’s at least a bit of good news. Tearing into the trans makes for a much more complicated job. Flywheel is practically new, and from a reputable mfr., from what I gather, so step height should be to spec.
Hook-up was good until it wasn’t, so Im leaning towards what pauleyman suspects: something broke. I can’t imagine adjustment changed that fast. No thrust play in the crank, by chance?

 

[bryanzomg]

That’s at least a bit of good news. Tearing into the trans makes for a much more complicated job. Flywheel is practically new, and from a reputable mfr., from what I gather, so step height should be to spec.
Hook-up was good until it wasn’t, so Im leaning towards what pauleyman suspects: something broke. I can’t imagine adjustment changed that fast. No thrust play in the crank, by chance?

It definitely was something SUDDEN that I noticed unless it was just brewing up. I measured total crank end play with dial indicator at different rotations using light pry method and was about .003 - .004