I originally thought that the grab lip on the TO bearing was ripped off. It's in fact still intact on the end of the TO bearing. So that isn't my issue with the clutch not disengaging. I'm kinda back to the hydraulics not functioning properly. I hand pumped the heck out of the slave and my neighbor never saw one bubble come up in the res. The fluid would of course rise and lower though as it should.

***Back story with the problem***
We bought the car April 24th and twice since having it (only put 50 miles or so on it) the clutch wouldn't disengage. Yesterday morning it was no longer an intermitent issue. Pedal depressed and as soon as you put it in any gear the car was lurching forward or backward with the pedal still depressed.

The questions I have now:
Can I have the slave out of the trans and have someone slowly push the pedal to see if there is any travel in the slave rod? (Or will this for sure blow out the slave no matter how slow they push the pedal and if they don't push it all the way.)

Should I install the slave back onto the trans to do this and just leave the spacer out so I can see the slave rod move (or not move) and also see if the fork is pulling on the TO bearing releasing the Pressure plate?

Do I need to put some spacers on the studs in place of the molded spacer that is supposed to be on the trans? Or just tighten the slave down as far as it would be if the original spacer was installed (using the spacer as a guide for how far to tighten the bolts)

I'm attaching a vid of the play in the fork which I assume is just the space it has to move on the TO bearing (front to back of the bearing) And yes in case your wondering that mosquito meet it's match after the vid. lol I tried to get a photo of the grab lip on the TO bearing but the flash wouldn't carry deep enough into the trans to be able to make it out. I tried holding my phone and a flashlight but it just wasn't working. LMAO It was fun enough doing that for the vid and having that damn mosquito bugging me.

 

You could space the spacer with washers. Or drill a tiny hole where a piece of string could come through. Whether you do that, or run a piece of tape out of a gap created with the washers, it'll show movement.

With metal plate and bolt / thread / nuts, you could operate depression of the fork to release the fork. Think of a plate that acts just like the flange of the slave. If you do this, and when the engine is running, the fork grinds the pressure plate before releasing the clutch. . . You may be up against the "thicker than stock flywheel / disc / pressure plate" causing the problem.

Fork slop: slop at bearing * distance from pivot to slave / distance from pivot to bearing is how much you'll have, and a similar amount will be added because of the slop at the pivot.

 

Um wow most of that was confusing as hell No offense. So I can use a but load of washers that make up the thickness of the factory spacer and install the slave then see if the slave is actually pushing the fork to disengage the pressure plate.

 

Yeah. Be careful the slave doesn't move sideways though.

 

I would probably hold it in place to keep it from shifting. Now to come up with about 5 inches worth of washers. LOL Wonder if I can find some metal sleeving instead and cut it to fit.

 

Trip to Home Depot $1.99 later I have this. (******* engineering) Now just waiting for my neighbor to get off work to push the pedal. Unfortunately I can't see the pressure plate with the slave installed. All I will be able to watch is the slave shaft and the fork. Hoping it's just a hydraulic issue. My guess would be the master since I was manually bleeding the slave the other day by pushing the shaft while having the hose up in the air and fluid was raising and lowering in the reservoir just no bubbles came up. New hydraulics should be here tomorrow from Amazon $104 just in case that is what is wrong.

 

Thanks to my neighbor working the pedal several different times since the clutch was getting released as it should when we first started checking it out. Got the issue to duplicate many times. Could always tell the clutch wouldn't disengage all the way when he had it in gear his foot on the pedal and I would be able to spin or not spin the rear wheel by hand. This picture is when the clutch disengages all the way.

 

This pic is when it's in gear and the pedal is depressed and it's not disengaging properly. (The fork only moves in about 1/8-1/4" when this happens.) So I'm going to put the new hydraulics in today when it gets here and Ray is going to stop by again after work and we will play with the pedal again and see it it properly works all the time. I'm not sure if something could be binding up in the pressure plate causing the hydraulics to not push the fork in far enough or not. Hopefully it's just the hydraulics. I will say this in case I haven't yet. That sometimes the pedal is lazy to return. Meaning it seems to stay down on the floor and slowly rise back up from time to time.

 

New gm hydraulics are in. I still left the ******* spacers in place of the factory spacer housing so I could watch the slave against the fork. It engages every time the pedal is pressed. The straps on the slave didn't snap though. The slave presses the rod out far enough to stretch the straps all the way but not enough to break them. Every time it's in gear and the pedal is pressed the rear wheels turn by hand so it's disengaging the clutch like it should. I think they may have overfilled the reservoir because I tried to take the cap off and fluid was coming out. I guess my best bet is to take the res off the mount and wrap a towel around it and remove the cap and take out any extra fluid with a straw. I had to remove the plastic bushing on the eye of the master rod because it wouldn't fit over the shaft on the clutch pedal. Which probably explains as to why the old one I pulled out didn't have the bushing on it. I assume these pedals are the original T5 and not the 4th gen. I noticed that the clutch doesn't seem to release until the pedal is 2/3 of the way down. I thought these had a high engangement point or does this have something to do with the pedals possibly being original from a T5?

 

Third gen pedals have more travel than fourth gen.

 

Not sure if these are the stock t5 3rd gen or 4th gen and the previous owner doesn't remember either.

The fork starts to press against the bearing pretty high up (you can feel a difference in the pedal ie something is against the fork) but doesn't fully disengage the clutch until about 2/3 in on the pedal. I doubt having the car running would change how this acts/feels. It does have a CF DF clutch so not sure if that's going to make a difference off a stock clutch in where it's releasing fully.

I shot a vid that I forgot to toss up of the fork movement and the fact the straps get stretched out but don't pop. Also don't know if the thickness of the clutch could be why the straps aren't popping. A thinner clutch would probably allow more fork travel in turn would put more tension on the straps? Just grasping at straws here. lol https://youtu.be/omIa_IVvgPI

 

If the 5th bolt hole up top lines up perfectly with the dash, they're third gen pedals. Fourth was a bit off. Fourth also had a gas pedal that would be cut off; thi may be visible. maybe not.

Clip the straps.

The pull clutches are sensitive to fork travel and clutch thickness. Moreso than a third gen push clutch. It's a different process of troubleshooting is all.

 

Ha not sure I can see all the bolts. There is a ton of wiring under there on top of the factory wiring.

 

@jmd - I think your statement is ambiguous.
I have both sets of pedals and measured: The 4th gen pedal has the stud closer to the pivot than the 3rd gen pedal.

Therefore, more 4th gen pedal travel is needed to move the throwout bearing. Or, the 3rd gen pedal will provide more travel at the throwout bearing.

Or, if that was as clear as mud:
- for the same pedal travel, the the throwout will move farther with the 3rd gen pedal.
- or, for the same throwout travel, the 4th gen pedal will have to travel farther than the 3rd gen pedal.
- for all other things (master, slave) being equal, the 4th gen pedal will be softer and take more pedal to disengage the clutch, while the 3rd gen pedal will be stiffer, but "quicker" for shifting.

 

Sounds like I probably have the 4th gen since it takes the pedal being pushed in 2/3 or so of the way for the clutch to fully disengage. Although that doesn't explain why the eye for the master rod wouldn't slide onto the stud with the plastic bushing in place.

 

Naaah.



You forgot one: I also feel the 4th gen pedals have less travel if the clutch pedal is spun 360 degrees.

 

You're killing me! If you spin something 360*, you are right back to where you started. How does that make anything different?

 

Is what I said when I read it. LOL