Clutch engagement?

[ikeyballz]

I was wondering how high up your clutches engage for your T-56 trans.. is the height of the engagement a sign of clutch wear also? cuz.. mine engages almost at the top, and i figure i need a new clutch soon if it is.. it holds well tho, with almost no slipping..

a little too much popping the clutch for me, i think

how high do you guys have to let up on the pedal for the clutch to engage?

[importeater38]

my stock clutch was about half way to engage, maybe a little more. I have a spec stage III in it now and it catches a little sooner.

If your clutch goes..you will know it. Mine went and anytime i punched it the car would go the same speed but the engine would redline.

[wrightz28]

About 1/2 travel sounds good here too, that's what I even set my 68's linkage up for.

[skibum1111]

Stock clutch, about 1/2 way here as well. Sounds like either your pressure plate is worn, disc is worn, or the slave cylinder has issues. Either way, probably time for a clutch.

[ikeyballz]

hmm.. yeah, i was pretty sure it was worn out..ive been doing tirefires and stuff.. lolz

[skibum1111]

And when doing this do you get that nasty smell inside your car, not the smell of burning tires, but that burning underwear smell? That's the smell of clutch. Only smelled it once with the ss when the clutch pedal got caught on the floor mat and I was giving it a good thrashing, but I have smelled it many times with beater trucks in the woods.

[ikeyballz]

yeeah.. ive had that smell quite a bit, while doing some stupid stuff... lol or trying to teach friends to drive >_<

[gmack221]

Originally Posted by ikeyballz

yeeah.. ive had that smell quite a bit, while doing some stupid stuff... lol or trying to teach friends to drive >_<

#1 rule ... teach your friends to drive a stick in either a 1.rental 2. 4 cylinder car without enough power to tear anything up.

might want to start by checking your clutch fluid, never know, but it does sound like you need a new clutch ... also change your slave cylinder while your at it (or you'll do one shortly aftewards like I did). the parts places will want you sell you the whole kit (clutch, pressure plate, flywheel, thowout bearing, input shaft bushing), I went back to a stock clutch (for streetability) and I bought just the clutch, pressure plate (ebay), throw out bearing, & input bearing (its an upgrade thru napa), and had my flywheel resurfaced (machine shop pressed out the dowl pins, machined it, then pressed them back in for like $40).

its up to you how you do it, since I rebuilt the trans, rear end, and did a clutch job on it all at once I tried to keep it cheap (hence why I had to replace the throw out bearing & slave cylinder afterwards) ... live and learn ...

oh and for bleeding the slave cylinder (I bought a mighty pump, stuck the nozel thru the hole in the fill jar, pushed fluid down, pulled a vacume to get air out, repeated about 3 times ... no air ... best clutch pedal I've ever felt, no crawling on the ground, no bleeding, no problems, no mess ... simple as can be. the reason you push fluid down first is to get the cylinder thats hooked to the pedal to release and let the air out, oh and I also kept about 1/4 inch of fluid in the resivor so it never ran dry ... pm me if you want more details on how I bleed the clutch ... I might even be able to get you some pictures (if time allows).

[ikeyballz]

thanks! ill let ya know if i need it.. im thinking of taking my car to the shop tho, when i have time.since i have to ask them to see if they can fix my reverse gear popping out problem.. i have to hold it in gear..or it pops itself out. i also think a few syncros are going..so i might as well ask em for a good quote on everything first..

[instantkevin]

I've never had a manual trans F body, but in a couple of Hondas that i had there was an adjustment for the release point of the clutch.... just like the adjustment for the brakes on a bike.

its a part on the clutch line that you can twist to adjust it in or out (hi or low release point). I'm sure theres some adjustment for it... check the entire length of the clutch line, from the pedal to the trans.

i believe newer mustangs have an automatic-style adjustment when you reconnect it and then depress the clutch several times.

this doesnt mean your clutch is worn out. its worn out when it doesnt move the car forward as much as it should when you apply throttle, with the clutch completely released.