[DeTomaso] Help needed with clutch slave

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 5/7/09 23 37 18, chrisvkimball at msn.com writes:


> I think it's the pedal.  It feels like nothing is engaging until the 
> pedal has been pushed about an inch down, then it seems as if all the action 
> happens after that.
> > >
> >>>>That means that for the first inch of pedal travel, you're not 
> actually releasing the clutch.   The clutch fork inside the bellhousing is just 
> swinging through free space, doing nothing, until it finally touches the 
> throwout bearing which then starts to release the clutch.   You have adjusted 
> the pushrod on the slave cylinder much, much too short.
> 
> >I'm afraid I don't understand.  If I turn the screw to begin pulling out 
> the piston, that would be like pushing the pedal part way down, and isn't 
> that partially engaging the clutch?  I've heard that's a bad thing to do.
> 
>>>This presumes that your pushrod was properly adjusted.   You're looking 
for a certain overall length of the piston/pushrod combination such that the 
face of the piston in the slave cylinder is as far up into the slave 
cylinder bore as possible, and the fingers of the clutch fork are almost (but not 
quite) touching the throwout bearing.   The factory specification is just a 
hair over three inches for the overall pushrod length, but that is for a 
stock slave, and stock clutch.   Since you have all aftermarket components now, 
you have to determine the correct distance by feel (although it will 
probably be something close to that).

Disconnect the spring from the clutch arm.   Remove the pin connecting the 
pushrod to the clutch arm.   Remove the bottom snap ring holding the slave 
cylinder in its bracket, and slide it up an inch or two to get it out of the 
way.

You can now easily move the clutch arm by hand.   You will easily feel 
where the fingers of the clutch fork touch the throwout bearing.   Back it off a 
hair; that's now the target location when everything is put back together.

Lengthen the pushrod whatever amount you deem necessary (your first guess) 
and then slide the slave back down, reconnect it to the clutch arm, and 
secure the bottom snap ring.   Chances are that it will be somewhat difficult to 
slide the slave back into position, because the piston will naturally want 
to extend, and you'll be compressing it as you're sliding the slave down.

By trial and error, you should be able to adjust the length of the pushrod 
so that when the piston is almost fully compressed, the clutch fork will be 
just slightly off the throwout bearing.   It's a good idea to leave just a 
small amount of space inside the slave cylinder, to allow for clutch wear.   
(As the clutch disc wears thinner, the fingers on the clutch will 'grow' 
rearward, and there needs to be a little free space in the slave cylinder to 
account for this, or else the fingers on the clutch fork will start resting on 
the throwout bearing, burning it up and possibly causing the clutch to 
slip).

When you first step on the clutch pedal at this point, there should be 
relatively little motion at the clutch arm, and perhaps a half-inch of free 
motion at the pedal, before you feel a marked difference in your foot and the 
clutch begins to release.   This ensures that you are getting the most out of 
the available pedal travel, using almost all of it to actually control the 
clutch.

You don't want the fingers to be touching all the time, because the 
throwout bearing will burn up and the clutch may slip.

Does that all make sense?   It sure sounds confusing to me....:>)

Mike


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