New ACT clutch doesn't feel right...

I just installed an ACT 2100 clutch in my 1992 Talon (non-turbo), I am in the process of getting all the accessories back in place, and the clutch engagement doesn't feel right at all.

Here's the scoop: old clutch broke about three weeks ago (pictures and repair process at www.gecko-ak.org/Talon/Clutch.shtml ). I dropped the tranny, pulled out the old clutch, ordered a new ACT clutch, took the flywheel to be machined (said he only had to remove 0.001") and reinstalled the clutch and tranny. Once I had the slave cylinder and shift brackets back in place, I jumped inside my car to see how the clutch felt (no use putting the axles back in place, if I was just going to have to pull it all apart again...).

There is absolutely *no* feel to the clutch until it almost hits the floor, then the engagement feels really weak. I've read the posts about how step height of .610" is really critical, and I've read the posts on the pros and cons of adjusting the master pedal throw. I don't see any obvious problems with leakage at either cylinder, so I'm really confused about what is wrong now. If engagement was reasonably good with the old clutch, the machinist just barely took any material off the flywheel, and the cylinders look good, what could possibly be causing the clutch to have no feel and very limited engagement? Did I do something wrong putting it all back together???`

Thanks!

--Mike

if you're in the process of throwing everything back together, then just finish it up...might just need bled. are you sure that you installed the t/o bearing correctly? also are the pressure plate-to-flywheel bolts torqued to spec? have someone get in your drivers seat, while you're under the car looking at the slave. have them push the clutch in, and see how far the slave moves. don't feel bad, after i did my clutch and got everything back together, my clutch went to the floor and stayed there...man was i pissed...but i bled it, after that it wasn't as bad so i just kept pumping and pumping the clutch and it finally got solid. turns out my master cylinder is bad, i still need to replace it. my clutch goes down to about 1 1/2inch off the ground and stops, won't go any farther. but engagement is perfect with it.

I'll second the bleeding suggestion. Half of the time I end up having to bleed the hydraulics, even though I didnt break any lines or let the slave cylinder fall apart (piston falls out sometimes since there is a spring pshing on the back side of it).

The pedal stopping before it hits the floor sounds like its getting too much travel and the fork is hitting the side of the square hole in the tranny. It might be worth shimming out the ballstud on the next tranny/clutch job.

Just syaing that only .001 was taken off the friction surface doesnt really say anything about the step height. If you had worn .009 into the friction surface, and the machinist took off .001, your step ehight is now .010 bigger than it was the last time it was installed, presumably .620. Since the car is not really put back together yet it may very well be worth the time and effort to have that step height measured. Its just not worth fighting clutch engagement problems for the next 50k miles when it could be avoided now. :) Also, .001 sounds really strange. That would hardly be enough to put tool marks in the material. Usually warpage alone is more than a couple thousandths.

are you sure that you installed the t/o bearing correctly?

I'm not 100% sure since this is the first time I've done this, but I *think* so. I've got the ears on the bearing pointing towards the release fork, with the spring ping through the bearing ears and the fork to hold it all together

also are the pressure plate-to-flywheel bolts torqued to spec?

Yep--I made sure to check that the pressure plate to flywheel bolts and the flywheel to crankshaft bolts were torqued to the specs in my maintenance manual.

I'll try bleeding the clutch line, and we'll see what that does. If it still doesn't feel right, I'll try shimming the ballstud (grrr...I knew I should have just ordered a new fork and stud from RRE the other day when I still had it all apart).

Thanks for the suggestions, and I'll post the results in the a.m. For now, back to the garage :banghead:

Woohoo! That seems to have fixed the problem! It's still not exactly right after tonight's test drive, but it's a lot closer. I'll try bleeding it again tomorrow, just to make sure I got all the air out, then I'll try adjusting the master cylinder rod, if needed.

Just out of curiosity, as long as the left side of the car is approximately raised the same height as the right, does it matter if you bleed the clutch while the front end is jacked up?

Thanks again for the help!

--Mike

ya i have had more than a couple times when i had some thoughts about my clutch going south and a bleed put it back into perfection...

Woohoo! That seems to have fixed the problem! It's still not exactly right after tonight's test drive, but it's a lot closer. I'll try bleeding it again tomorrow, just to make sure I got all the air out, then I'll try adjusting the master cylinder rod, if needed.

Just out of curiosity, as long as the left side of the car is approximately raised the same height as the right, does it matter if you bleed the clutch while the front end is jacked up?

Thanks again for the help!

--Mike


As long as its roughly level side to side, I've never had trouble bleeding completely.