I've seen a lot of the history posts on this subject, but here's my twist . . .

New 350 in place of 305 - not that it matters to this subject, but I wanted to mention that it just got started on Sunday and sounds pretty good (a bit noisy with the gear drive, but sounds good!!!

Anyway, I swapped from the 700R4 originally in the car to a T5. My clutch, pressure plate, and throwout bearing are from Centerforce (dual friction type) and came complete in a kit.

Also had to purchase a new slave cylinder because I broke the original. I noticed that the new cylinder comes with a plastic cover for the piston, and it attches to either side of the cylinder. The original didn't have this arrangement, or was cut off. Note that the instructions said the plastic thing is designed to be left on at all times. Unfortunately, if I leave it on, there is about a 1/2" gap from the end of the slave piston to the clutch fork. So I have removed it - although I don't know if this is the right thing to do.

Ok, so the clutch doesn't seem to disengage. I read all the posts, bled the sucker and had my wife press the clutch. It looks like the piston on the slave cylinder is moving a good 3/4" or so, maybe more. This is without the plastic thing attached. Is that sufficient?

What I am thinking is that the throwout bearing is too short. I believe there is a short, medium and long version of these bearings. The kit is supposed to go for this car, but something is not right.

Any ideas?

 

you need to put that little plastic thing back on, 2 reasons

1. it is actually a bushing of sorts
2. it may help cure your problem


it is a shipping strap, that keeps the slave cylinder together for shipping, it is designed to break the first time you press the clutch pedal, assuming the system still has enough fluid in it, it also aids in bleeding air out at the same time

 

hmmm. The instructions say not to cut the straps and leave things in tact. Like I said, it just doesn't even come close to touching the clutch fork if I leave the strap on. Regardless, I tried as an experiment to put the cap over the piston and leave the straps flapping (as if they had been cut or broken) - still no release.

 

one more thing, firechicken -

I just saw something in another post that may be a clue - my engine is a 2 piece rear seal. Just wondering, does the 1 piece and 2 piece have diffent offsets from the block? That is, does one put the flywheel closer to the tranny than the other? I'm grasping on this one, so don't laught too hard! :-)

 

not sure about a different offsets, but if you are worried that you got a flywheel for a 1 piece. you didn't, cuz it wouldn't even bolt up, you may just need to bleed it some more, or it could perhaps like you thought be the wrong throwout bearing. if you still ahve the old one compare it and see if they are the same,

 

If it moves 3/4 of a inch then that's sufficient. Bleed is as much as you can. It can only get better. As far the shipping straps go.. they're on there to keep the piston from coming out and messing up the seals. It's designed to be CUT AWAY when you're ready to use it. My T5s always used to not want to go in gear right after I put them in. Yes I was VERY aggravated when that happened. What I did is move the car forward a couple of feet, then it went in fine Try moving the car and see what happens.

 

What kind of pilot bushing or bearing did you use?

 

Pilot bushing - what's that? . . . just kidding -

it's brand new bronze pilot bushing.

Bearing is a brand new Centerforce N1716, and supplied with the dual friction kit.

What I think I'll test out is to jack up the rear wheels, motor off, tranny in gear, clutch pedal pressed in - see if I can rotate the wheels. It'll give me a warm fuzzy feeling if the wheels turn. I don't think it will though. Maybe that's a waste of time.

That plastic thing really bugs me though.

 

he instructions clearly stated that the straps should NOT be cut. They go on to say the entire plastic thing is an integral part of the operation, and removing could result in noisy operation.

Actually, I moved it about 3 feet last night by coincidence. Same problem.

I really hate the idea of having to drop the tranny.

 

If you're %100 sure the tranny is OKAY, then just bleed it some more to get more arm movement. If you're not sure... well... i guess it's time to take it out ?

 

Well, it looks like a was w-w-w-wrong It turned out to need more bleeding. Here's the story:

You have to love this setup - I jacked up the car so the rear wheels are in the air. There's nobody around to help me, so I need a way to press the clutch and do other stuff too. So, with the help of a trusty 2x4, I pressed in the clutch pedal and jammed the 2x4 between the pedal and the seat back (place a nice thick pad in between to keep the seat from tearing).

The reason the rear is in the air is so that I can attempt to rotate the tires wih the car in gear while the clutch is pressed in (works for posi, forget about it with a 1-legger). Well, it didn't move so I know the clutch is not disengaging.

I measured the rod travel at the slave cylinder. What I had eyeballed as around an inch wound up being somewhere around 1/4" - not even close. Now I knew where the problem was - air in the hydraulic system.

The gravity bleed thing just didn't make things any better. Some guys swear by it - maybe I'm doing it wrong. Anyway, I use my funky setup to pump the pedal a couple of times and lock it in the depressed position using my 2x4. Drop under the car, crack the bleeder and let some fluid out.

After a couple of times, the rod extends around 20mm (about 3/4"). With the pedal depressed, the rear wheels spin freely (relatively), so I know I got it. I tried bleeding further but got no improvement in the throw, so I assume this is as good as it gets.

So, cool - I drop the car to the ground, fire it up and drove away! Happy, happy - joy, joy!!