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My clutch has about 91,000 miles on it.
The pilot bearing is not frozen or stuck, it turns pretty easily. I should probably replace it anyway.
The short shaft does not seem to have any wear, no ridges or edges. Also it did not seem to have any lubrication. There were some obvious contact areas on the surface.
The Flywheel and Pressure plate did not have any larger hot spots. Lots of spots though.
There is also a circular drag area visible on the flywheel, friction disk and pressure plate. I did check the surfaces with a straight edge and they seem pretty flat.
I was missing a ball cup for the release lever. There is some wear in the arm cup where the ball was making contact.
So what do I need to make this work better?
Lubrication in the right areas - yes,
Ball cup - certainly,
Clutch disk - probably, although it looks to have not "much" wear.
Release (TO) bearing - It does not seem to make any noise, rotates smoothly,
Pilot Bearing - rotates smoothly, probably,
Rear crank seal - I did not see any leaking,
Resurface Flywheel - probably,
Resurface Pressure plate?
Release arm, guide tube, TO bearing OR get a bearing and rebuild my TO bearing and reuse my release arm and guide tube?
I've never really looked at a clutch, what do those with more knowledge than me see in the images below.
That is actually a lot of wear on the clutch short shaft and much heat bluing on the intermediate plate....odds are you need the full monty... fly wheel surface took. Has someone been drag racing this clutch ???
I have not cleaned the short shaft. I ran my fingernail along it and did not notice any ridges. I think what looks like a wear pattern is just dirt built up.
It would help some if that short shaft was cleaned up, looks like there isn't much wear to me...just looks like some of the splines are cleaner where the plates ride...the top edges look flat to me, too.
What were the issues with the clutch before you removed it, besides the obvious ball cup?
I have not cleaned the short shaft. I ran my fingernail along it and did not notice any ridges. I think what looks like a wear pattern is just dirt built up.
I was writing as you posted this comment. If you didn't have any issuse with the clutch, besides the ball cup...me...I'd reuse all of it, plates, throw out and pilot. I'd replace the ball cup, clean up the flywheel, clutch pressure plate and intermediate plate and reassemble.
There is no procedure for "cleaning up" a blued over heated intermediate plate.....any material removed changes the clamping force of the pressure plate...the total stack is critical for proper function. Still wonder how that clutch pack got so abused ???
The issues that I had with the clutch and why I am looking at it are,
That occasionally when I would depress the clutch and start the car, it would lurch a little.
Making me think that the clutch had not fully disengaged or has some form of parasitic drag.
Shifts between 1st, 2nd and 3rd seemed to take longer for the syncro's to match up, not so much of a problem between 4th and 5th.
I have checked the slave operating travel and it is at the spec of 19.7 mm, additional pumping of the clutch pedal does not change the travel distance.
I have on occasion had some clutch slipping, but it is not consistent. Trying to make is slip does not happen most of the time. Less than 5% of the time. This makes me think that something is hanging up. Maybe lubrication on the short shaft?
When I got the car the Clutch Master was leaking and I changed that. I did the out of the car bleeding procedure. No real change after that on the clutch operation other than no more leaking.
This is a single disk clutch, so no intermediate plate, right.
I did not want to immediately clean the short shaft, so the use pattern could be observed.
So I did clean up the short shaft and took another pic.
I did not see any significant wear.
I have seen some pictures of short shafts in much worse condition.
It also does look to me like the front of the short shaft in the pilot bearing may have been slipping, thought this is not a tight fit.
The issues that I had with the clutch and why I am looking at it are,
That occasionally when I would depress the clutch and start the car, it would lurch a little.
Making me think that the clutch had not fully disengaged or has some form of parasitic drag.
Shifts between 1st, 2nd and 3rd seemed to take longer for the syncro's to match up, not so much of a problem between 4th and 5th.
I have checked the slave operating travel and it is at the spec of 19.7 mm, additional pumping of the clutch pedal does not change the travel distance.
I have on occasion had some clutch slipping, but it is not consistent. Trying to make is slip does not happen most of the time. Less than 5% of the time. This makes me think that something is hanging up. Maybe lubrication on the short shaft?
When I got the car the Clutch Master was leaking and I changed that. I did the out of the car bleeding procedure. No real change after that on the clutch operation other than no more leaking.
Thanks,
Ken
Missed the year in your original post.
When the clutch pedal is fully depressed to the floor...most of what you have pictured is out of the equation...unless something is warped (flywheel or pressure plate). The distance of travel involved to release everything (ball cup) or if there is air in the slave cylinder portion of the system (bleeding system)...is where you should be focusing...if it lurches slightly while trying to engage transmission...or doesn't fully disengage for shifting.
Now, if it is slipping...then the rest of it comes into play (clutch plate, pressure plate and flywheel). Your pressure plate could be getting weak, and combined with the surface...that could account for some slippage. But, that ball cup missing could also give you an inconsistent release, if the throw arm is allowed to twist, in turn allowing the throw out bearing to twist/tip in the pressure plate...and in turn allowing one side of the pressure plate to hit before the other.
So I did clean up the short shaft and took another pic.
I did not see any significant wear.
I have seen some pictures of short shafts in much worse condition.
It also does look to me like the front of the short shaft in the pilot bearing may have been slipping, thought this is not a tight fit.
When I bought the car, I knew it could likely need a clutch. I just didn't have time to look until now.
How much surface can be remove from the flywheel to not cause a problem?
There is surprisingly little wear on the clutch disk, I am measuring 1.1 to 1.2 mm on the clutch disk. from a new value of 1.4 and a wear limit of .3 mm. It does not seem like much is gone.
I am kind of wondering about the concentric wear rings on the disk. Is this normal? A sign of the missing ball cup allowing the disk to cause drag?
Brian,
I think I would reuse the short shaft also. I think I will probably replace the pilot bearing.
Replace the ball cup.
Lubricate per the WSM.
Short shaft looks ok to me for reuse. Lube it well. Smear a bunch on and then work it into the grooves with a toothbrush. Roger sells the "super duper sticky clutch grease" (I actually called it that and he sent me the right stuff - I love that man).
Release arm looks ok, put a new bushing in it. No big deal. Clean up the ball as best you can.
Pilot bearing is like $6. Replace it. If it fails, it welds itself to the pilot shaft and getting it back out is...
Not fun.
TOB is a good question. It isn't cheap enough to replace on general principles.
Is there still grease in it? Does it turn smoothly, even when you put force on it? (put it on a hard surface, push down hard with your hand and then turn it)
On mine, both of the above were "yes", so I kept the old one. No problems yet.