I was driving to a local car show today (1st of the season) and the master cylinder banjo bent. I had the car towed back to my garage and have started inspecting it in more detail to find out what the problem is.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to drop the engine to see what's going on, but am unsure if there's anything else I can look at. If you have suggestions let me know.

Picutre of bent banjo:



What I know:

1. Master cylinder banjo bent
2. Slave cylinder extended all the way out
3. Slave cylinder can be compressed back away from the clutch arm (after pressure released it slowly travels back to full extension on it's own, probably the spring pushing it)
4. Clutch arm has some play and is what I use to pull on to compress the slave back down

I'm assuming that I've got a real problem with either my tranny or my clutch and at this point I'm leaning towards a bent clutch fork or release bearing problem. I'd like to get this fixed before Carlisle, but I don't think I'm going to have the time to drop the engine and repair what could be broken, then install it all again (and have confidence in the repair). Any help appreciated.

How much clamping load is the pressure plate applying to the disk?

quote Originally posted by Chicken McNizzle: How much clamping load is the pressure plate applying to the disk?

I'm not sure - don't even know how to measure. If you just want the specs, it's the high performance 9-11/16" pressure plate from west coast mated with the cintered iron McCleod clutch.

I have personal experience with these clutch components and have never had this problem. It is possible that the fingers have come of the throw-out bearing fork and the arm that actuates the shaft outside of the bellhousing made contact with the case itself as the slave was still applying pressure - this I have seen.

I beleive Chris at WCF was or is currently in the process of offering a heavy duty throwout shaft for the 4 and 5 speed transmissions.

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Recanizin' Flat-Buns Since 2001

Eric Nelson
Internet Sales Manager
Power Ford Valencia
nelsone@autonation.com

Ok, I dropped the engine/cradle and took the tranmission off tonight. I took some pictures of the pressure plate but my camera didn't save them and I can't go back now to recreate it.

The problem was that the pressure plate fingers were stuck in the compressed position, even after I took the transmission off. That to me suggests that the throwout bearing traveled too far, but I know that there is a physical limit as to how far it can travel. I also have driven the car for a few hundred miles without a problem. When I took the pressure plate off, the finger released. I think I'm going to buy a new clutch and pressure plate...

I got the idea of putting the pressure plate back on to see if the fingers came back down. I've already ordered a new pressure plate and disk from clutchnet.com. Below are pictures of how the fingers stay almost flat when the pressure plate is tightened down.





Here's the pressure plate when I loosened up the top bolts:


Here's the plate with all bolts loosened:


Anyone seen this before?

Very typical function of the clutch... as the disk wears (or as you unbolt it) the fingers work their way out.

quote Originally posted by darkhorizon: Very typical function of the clutch... as the disk wears (or as you unbolt it) the fingers work their way out.

I guess you're right - I went back to some older pictures and saw when I first put it on that the fingers looked similar. Just trying to figure out if something needs to change before I install the new clutch. I'll post more pictures once I receive the new clutch and install it.

I don't see how buying a new clutch is going to fix the problem?

quote Originally posted by Chicken McNizzle: I don't see how buying a new clutch is going to fix the problem?

I'm not sure either. I don't know what caused the problem to begin with. If the pressure plate as seen above is in the correct position, I'm unsure how the T/O Bearing was idly sitting on the shaft with no resistance from the pressure plate fingers at all. I know I'm now going to have to measure the T/O movement with my setup and also check the flywheel to make sure it's mounted correctly - I'm just unsure how to do it at this point.

There was another reason for purchasing a new clutch and that was to reduce the aggressiveness of the old one. I wasn't unhappy with the performance of the McCleod but it did chatter (that's what you get with a racing clutch). I just didn't know what I'd prefer when I started the swap so I went aggressive and now have gone the other route with its replacement.

I still don't have an answer to why my clutch arm swung freely through it's entire range before I took the trans off. I'd like to also replace the T/O bearing with a Delco one, but can't find the part number. I may just order a new one from the fiero store.