[DeTomaso] Clutch help

tmshinro at aol.com tmshinro at aol.com
Fri Jun 25 19:24:36 EDT 2010


 First I want to thank everyone that sent me suggestions.   I'm still trying to figure it out but I have a couple more questions.

I started the car the next morning to move the car forward in my garage after I experienced clutch drag the night before when I pulled the car in the garage .  Everything worked fine; I was able to shift into all gears while stationary with the engine running.  When I depressed the clutch pedal I could "feel" the clutch disengage well before the bottom of the stroke.  The clutch engaged about half way up when I pulled the car forward and totally disengaged when I pushed the clutch in when I stopped.  I didn't take in out because I know I would see clutch drag after 10 to 15 minutes of driving based on numerous prior test runs.

Here's my question - I measure 0.020 inches of clearance between the clutch disk and pressure plate.  I don't see any separation between the clutch disk and the flywheel, but when I move the car by hand with the clutch pedal depressed I can see the clutch disk move between the flywheel and pressure plate.  Should I be seeing measurable separation at the flywheel as well as the pressure plate?   From what I have been told I'm don't have as much separation as I should (0.020 vs 0.030), so I'm wondering if things are expanding when hot and consuming what little clearance I have.  Unfortunately, I can't get anymore clearance unless I use up all my free play (which I've cut down to about 0.060 inches).   Is there enough heat/expansion between the flywheel/clutch/pressure plate to make a difference?

Also I should mention that the clutch master I installed was one I bought 10 years ago from Collectors Choice.  The MC sat in my tool chest with the outlet plugged the whole time time.  I live in Iowa so there were plenty of humid days that the MC would have seen in my garage.  I disassembled it prior to assembly and the bore and seals looked good and I could tell that the seals were tighter that my old one when I manually pushed the push rod into the bore. I took the MC out a second time to measure the pushrod and did not see any fluid leaks in the rubber boot.  However, when I bled the system, the fluid that came out of the bleeder looked clear through the plastic tube I used but was dark once it was collected in a plastic bottle.  Is it possible that the seals could have deteriorated causing blow by?  Would it make sense that blow by would get worse after cycling the clutch for 10 to 15 minutes?  The fluid in the reservoir is clear.  

Unfortunately I didn't think about measuring the bore of the new MC and comparing it to the old.  I'm assuming they are the same, which if they are, baffles me because I never had clutch problems before this.

The battle goes on.

Tom
#5186

 





More information about the DeTomaso mailing list