clutch adjustment...Help needed please
#240589
03/02/09 12:22 AM
03/02/09 12:22 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,144
Arkansas
340727dart
OP
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OP
master
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,144
Arkansas
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Please see the update further down the page. Something is still not right.
I finished the automatic to four speed swap on my Dart last weekend.
I adjusted the linkage by checking the free play at the clutch fork.
When I got back from the first drive after the swap, the clutch was engaging/releasing right off the floor and I could not get the transmission into reverse without serious grinding.
So, I adjusted the linkage and went back out today. When I first went out, the clutch felt great. The transmission was shifting good.
But, by the time I got home, I could not get the transmission into gear and the clutch fork had a lot of free play back and forth.
I adjusted the linkage again but have not taken the car back out.
All the linkage and assorted pieces are new.
Is this typical of everything just working itself in before it maintains adjustment?
Last edited by 340727dart; 03/06/09 08:01 PM.
Your life is not my fault.
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Re: Can't seem to get my clutch to maintain adjustment...
[Re: 340727dart]
#240590
03/02/09 12:32 AM
03/02/09 12:32 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 13,605
md
mopars4ever
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I Live Here
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md
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Re: Can't seem to get my clutch to maintain adjustment...
[Re: Classof70Chally]
#240592
03/02/09 01:52 AM
03/02/09 01:52 AM
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Anonymous
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Get a friend to work the linkage SLOWLY while you crawl under there and watch. In my years (I'm getting REALLY old) I've seen a "few things."
cross shaft cracked--allowed flex on one lever
Ball loose/ cracked/ poor mount on the frame/ nearly rusted through.
Bending/ bent/ cracked linkage, clutch fork, you name it.
I also had one problem where the disk "fuzzed up" material and jammed it up between the pressure plate and the clutch cover. What this did was to build a sort of "pad" of junk in between that prevented a clean release. I fought that until I left Miramar. This was the cause of the 440 Cuda only running 11.80---useing 2nd, 3, 4th gear and shifting with no clutch. Wasn't 'till I got home and pulled the whole mess apart that I finally figured out the problem
This is a "fast moving problem" I SAY YOU HAVE BENDING linkage down there.
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Re: Can't seem to get my clutch to maintain adjustment...
[Re: 340727dart]
#240594
03/02/09 03:32 PM
03/02/09 03:32 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,445
So Cal
Sinitro
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So Cal
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You mite want to check the small L bracket inside the bell housing that the clutch fork pivots on.. We have often found that these become fatigued and start to bend which screws up the fork geometry. And here the user keeps trying to adjust to compensate for the required free play. The final solution for the L bracket we have found is that we add small gussets that improve its strength. One of the problems is that often the user will install a B & B pressure with high rate springs which overloads a weak L bracket. It will bend and can even break off.. One other thing to check is the Z-bar for its push rod attachment point. Sometimes we find that the wrong Z-bar is installed and the pushbar is not parallel to the trans making more [edal effort is needed. Just my $0.02.. 
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Why won't my clutch keep its adjustment?
[Re: 340727dart]
#240596
03/06/09 06:20 PM
03/06/09 06:20 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,144
Arkansas
340727dart
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OP
master
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,144
Arkansas
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I'm about to bite nails in half. My clutch refuses to maintain adjustment for more than four or five miles. I've only got about 20 miles on the car since swapping in the four speed. I just spent a couple of hours underneath the car checking everything. The shifter neutral adjustment is spot on. I adjusted the clutch fork free play until there was 5/32" of movement at the end. I pulled the inspection cover and the clutch fork pivot bracket is not bent. However, the throwout bearing is in constant contact with the pressure plate. I'm not talking about light contact. There is pressure against the fingers (B&B pressure plate). When I first took the car out, it shifted OK but not great. By the time I got home I could barely get it into gear with the engine running. Forget trying to get it into reverse with the engine running. It won't do it. The only piece of the whole linkage set up that isn't new is the Z-bar, and I'm not sure what it came out of but I know it wasn't for an A-body. I cut about an inch out of the center of the tube and welded it back together, but first clocked the lower arm forward about 10 degrees in order to clear the header pipes. The push rod is not quite parallel to the engine but it's close enough that I'm confident that's not causing the problems. What am I overlooking? 
Your life is not my fault.
My life is none of your business.
Speech is free only if you agree with those in control.
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Re: Why won't my clutch keep its adjustment?
[Re: 340727dart]
#240606
03/06/09 11:19 PM
03/06/09 11:19 PM
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 9,066
Eugene, Oregon
minivan
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master
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 9,066
Eugene, Oregon
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Quote:
Quote:
I fought a similar clutch problem in my A12 super bee years ago.. It was a bad pressure plate.. Yes it was brand new defective.. Just a thought...
How do you determine if the pressure plate is bad? What do I need to look for?
I just bit the bullet and bought a new one when I figured out it couldn't be anything else..
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that what I had to do was add a 2nd nut behind the flat of the big rounded nut to make it stay in place
