new clutch/flywheel troubles

[TSITurbo95]

New south bend kevlar clutch, new act chromoly flywheel. Clutch is properly adjusted. And more and the slave won't push in. New pivot ball but not shimmed (because all drive line components are new)

What did I do wrong? My stock flywheel had the same issue and the pivot ball was shimmed.

Is an extended slave rod the answer or?

 

[Chicken Patty]

New south bend kevlar clutch, new act chromoly flywheel. Clutch is properly adjusted. And more and the slave won't push in. New pivot ball but not shimmed (because all drive line components are new)

What did I do wrong? My stock flywheel had the same issue and the pivot ball was shimmed.

Is an extended slave rod the answer or?

Bad Clutch Master Cylinder or Clutch Slave Cylinder. Have you inspected and/or replaced any of those? Did you bleed it properly?

 

[TSITurbo95]

Bled properly, slave is only a year old. Master is not leaking nor any play in it.

 

[Chicken Patty]

Bled properly, slave is only a year old. Master is not leaking nor any play in it.

Have you actually inspected the slave? If you pull the boost back you should be able to see if fluid is accumulating in it. If it is the slave is bad. How does the pedal feel?

 

[TSITurbo95]

Pedal is soft. Buy Tim zimmer stated that's how its suppose to feel.

Slave looms good, still looks new.

 

[Chicken Patty]

Pedal is soft. Buy Tim zimmer stated that's how its suppose to feel.

Slave looms good, still looks new.

Yeah, the only car I've driven with a Southbend clutch had a pretty close to stock pedal feel. Don't know what to tell you, I've never had many clutch issues so I've never been forced to do much reading on it. Maybe someone with more expertise in that area can chime in.

 

[TSITurbo95]

Ive never had this much trouble with a clutch before. . . huge pita. . .

 

[Chicken Patty]

Ive never had this much trouble with a clutch before. . . huge pita. . .

One question. When you say clutch is "properly adjusted" do you mean as per Jacks video? ...Or how did you do it?

 

[TSITurbo95]

Yes as per jacks video. If I turn the rod anymore, it closes off the bleeder valve. When looking at the clutch assembly under the dash, what exactly do I look for for wear? I am going to try a new slave and re-reblead again (bled this damn thing soo many times already).

 

[Chicken Patty]

Yes as per jacks video. If I turn the rod anymore, it closes off the bleeder valve. When looking at the clutch assembly under the dash, what exactly do I look for for wear? I am going to try a new slave and re-reblead again (bled this damn thing soo many times already).

Not sure what you look for but I think if you yank the clutch pedal up and the assembly is bad you can actually pull the pedal up some. That's what I've heard but on 1G's, not sure of same applies to a 2G.

 

[kchaazz]

The 2G doesnt suffer the infamous worn clutch pedal assembly like the 1G does, its a much better design on the 2G. If the clutch isnt disengaging, Id look into the bleed first. Did you bleed the slave? You need to have a friend put his hand on the clutch pedal, then you crack the bleeder and push the fork over, depressing the slave all the way, then your friend will slowly and gently push the clutch pedal down by hand. You will need to hold that fork down hard, cause when your friend begins pushing that pedal down, the slave will try to actuate even with the bleeder cracked and this is the reason your pedal pusher needs to use his hand and slowly and gently push the pedal down. Once the pedal is down all the way, you tighten the bleeder and the pedal can then be pulled up. Do this at least three times and you will see some air come out no matter how much you bled it before.
Also, before you installed the clutch, did you clean the hell out of the splines on the input shaft on the tranny, grease the shaft and then put the disk on the shaft and did you slide the disk on the shaft back and forth to ensure the disk can move freely? Were you extra careful on torquing the PP bolts in a "star" pattern, in three stages, and were you extremely careful when sliding the tranny into the clutch not to have any weight whatsoever binding the disk? Once you lined up the input shaft splines with the disk, did the transmission then slide easily all the way to the point the bellhousing was flush with the block, or was it difficult to get on?

 

[TSITurbo95]

All splines are lubricated. As for putting the tranny on, it went on fine, but had to pull it out slightly so I can put the transfercase on, because my down pipe was in the way. But ive done that for years with no issues. (Not that I am ruling out a warped clutch disk).

Am going to try your method of bleeding, as ive never tried it that way. Also going to replace the slave cylinder and readjust my master. Going to turn that rod in a bit, bleed and replace slave cylinder, then readjust and see if perhaps I over adjusted it.

 

[kchaazz]

Well, regarding the splines, the concern isnt whether theyre lubed or not, but that the splines are absolutely clean of debris and any malformity or twisting, so the best thing to do when installing a clutch is to inspect the input shaft splines after cleaning them, and if they look good, throw some grease on then put the disk on and slide the disk to be sure the disk can move freely, cause if it cannot, the disk wont be able to move and center itself between the flywheel and pp surface when you push the pedal down and it wont release where it should in the pedal travel and may also drag at high RPM, even if the disk isnt warped.

Since youre replacing the slave, just bleed it like you normally do, about ten times, or until no more air comes out, then bleed the slave after that, as the method I described is the finishing touch to the bleed.

 

[Chicken Patty]

The 2G doesnt suffer the infamous worn clutch pedal assembly like the 1G does

Thanks for confirming that, wasn't too sure myself.

 

[TSITurbo95]

Any other advice? All new component's and it still drags at around 5.5-6k, and grinds everytime going into reverse (not releaseing 100%).

 

[PieEyedPiper]

Where does the fork sit in the inspection window? How far is the fork moving? Can you take a small video?
With all new parts, the stock slave/rod combo should be capable of hitting the bellhousing with the fork. Are you hitting the bellhousing? Are you close?
I avoid reverse grinds by hitting up 2nd or 1st THEN reverse. But my shit is old and worn out.

For the record, you'd not be the first individual to have all new parts with a new sbc clutch and not get enough disengagement.

As touched on above, another favorite suggestion is that the disc was damaged during installation, i.e. you let the tranny hang on it during install and the disc got warped.