[DeTomaso] slipping - doctor diagnosis please

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/19/08 12:48:55 PM, edlebby at yahoo.com writes:

> seems that the clutch is slipping symptoms: hard acceleration, revs shoot 
> up, but car is not accelerating correspondingly fast - typically happens in 
> 4th...so higher speeds and then hard acceleration...    diagnosis:?
> 
1)- Have someone press the clutch pedal to the floor while you stick a flat 
feeler gauge thru the clutch access hole in the bellhousing. At full pedal 
travel, you should be able to barely push an 0'040" feeler gauge between the 
clutch disc and flywheel. Less clearance means the linkage (probably the slave 
cylinder rod length) is mis-adjusted. If this doesn't fix it -
2)- Disconnect the bellcrank lever attached to the slave cylinder on the 
bellhousing. If the bellcrank lever is mis-positioned by a spline or two on the 
cross-shaft, the clutch will be permanently pre-loaded and will slip. I've seen 
cars that would move under their own power but were mis-adjusted by 3 splines! 
This typically happens when mechanics unfamiliar with the Pantera replace its 
clutch disc with a cheaper Mustang unit and don't adjust all the things 
necessary to make the combination work in the tighter Pantera space. If the spline 
adjustment is OK, we'll look further.
Of course, it could be the clutch disc in their is simply shot, but at least 
this exercise above is simple and will tell you if someone built-in the clutch 
slip.   Good luck- J Deryke


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