polarisman14 Posted February 23, 2013 Report Share Posted February 23, 2013 Hey all, I know this has probably been covered before but I'd like to make this be comprehensive. My car doesn't grind going into gears but occasionally has a hard time going into first and reverse. If I rev the car up a bit it will drop into gear. I originally thought it was the synchros but I'm now leaning toward the clutch not fully disengaging. My reasoning behind that is that when the car is parked facing down my slightly angled driveway, clutch all the way in, and the car is in reverse, the car will hold itself in place. As soon as I move the shifter into neutral, clutch still fully depressed, the car will roll down the driveway. In other words, the clutch won't fully disengage, which explains the difficulty getting the car into gear when at idle. I fully gravity-bled the clutch cylinder last year by running an entire quart through the reservoir next to the brake fluid res, let all of the old stuff out through the bleeder on the trans. If there's some adjustment on the pedal or elsewhere that can help the clutch effectively push in further thus disengaging that'd be really helpful. I did notice that when going to push the pedal in it seems very easy to push it in about halfway, then it firms up. The clutch engages right near the bottom of the travel (almost pushed all the way in). Thanks for your help. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psu_Crash Posted February 23, 2013 Report Share Posted February 23, 2013 Clutch adjustment is covered in the FSM. There is adjustment on the rod that goes from the clutch pedal to the clutch master. Often times the pin that goes through the clutch pedal and through the clutch rod clevis is worn out. The clevis is threaded onto the clutch master rod and can be used to take up some play. The rubber damper that is in the clevis there could also be worn out. There was a recent how-to post on taking the rubber out of there and replacing it with washers. Either way bust out the FSM and it will give you specs on the clutch pedal adjustment. Every SQ I have worked on needed some TLC in this area.Hope that helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott87star Posted February 23, 2013 Report Share Posted February 23, 2013 Yes, the FSM is your friend, follow it closely and then read up on the mods done by others. Shimming the fulcrum pin, bushing the clevis pin hole, replacing the clevis pin, removing the rubber ball, removing the "dampner" in the clutch slave, all excellent things to do once you've gone through the FSM and understand what needs to be done. Just don't think you can adjust the rod on the master and make it all better, that usually causes more problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarisman14 Posted February 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 Thanks for the replies guys. Do you have the links handy for the adjustment and the replacement of the rubber with washers? I'm not trying to be lazy, I can find it, I was just hoping to make something sticky-worthy by compiling all of the information on this subject in one place. Thank you! Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelby Posted February 27, 2013 Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 read this thread about the same problem,,read it all,, http://www.starquestclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=135821 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarisman14 Posted February 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Done and done, thanks Shelby. I'm still a bit confused about what actually causes the problem, it sounds identical to mine (clutch feels very soft in the top half or 2/3 of its travel, closest to all the way out) and mine appears to be worn to the point that the clutch isn't even allowing the driveline to disengage fully. From what I gather the things to look for are the clevis pin hole being egg-shaped from years of pushing the clutch in, which is remedied by removing it, drilling out the hole, and getting a larger clevis pin, and there's a rubber bushing or dampener that can be replaced with steel washers that are the same thickness. I just don't know where the rubber isolator is to be able to remove it. Once the clevis and isolator have been dealt with, do you just follow the FSM to properly set the clutch pedal free play and stuff or is there a shortcut that goes along with this method? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbrad511 Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 (edited) Edited February 28, 2013 by vbrad511 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarisman14 Posted February 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Any other suggestions? I just noticed you had edited your post Brad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbrad511 Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 (edited) There's a couple threads about clutches going right now. I posted on the wrong one Read through this...lots of good info here... http://starquest.i-x...topic.php?t=980 not all the pics work, old site, sorry Edited March 2, 2013 by vbrad511 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarisman14 Posted March 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 Sweet. Now I just gotta wait for all this pesky snow to go away and I can get back to work on the car. Need to fix the clutch, tilt steering, wheel bearings, e-brake cables, and the power steering pump is awful noisy. Thanks for the advice all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarisman14 Posted March 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Update, I got the clutch pedal assembly out of the car (oh, what fun!) and confirmed that the clevis pin hole was badly egg-shaped and the rubber grommet inside the "bell" was deformed and cracked as well. It was allowing, let's just say, a "generous" amount of play before the rod actually started to move into the clutch cylinder. I'd venture a guess that with those two things fixed it will double the amount of travel the rod makes into the cylinder, and should fix the issue I was having. Short of replacing the cylinder and doing a full repair and bleed of the system, there isn't much more I can do to fix this so hopefully it does! Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psu_Crash Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 Glad to here you found problems. That should help out a lot once that joint is tight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarisman14 Posted March 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 I got a 1/2" diameter "adjustable clevis pin" from Lowe's, which worked out very nicely. The hole closest to the head of the pin was the one I had to use and it was almost large enough to fit through with the washer on the cotter pin side--it was just a little on the tight side so I had to use a dremel and grinding wheel and grind down the washer on either sides of the hole to thin it out a bit, to allow the pin to pass through. I will be greasing everything thoroughly on final install and everything moves freely now as it is but with no play. As for the stainless steel washers to replace the rubber insert in the bell hat, I used fender washers. The largest ones they had available were the perfect diameter, identical to the rubber insert. They weren't quite thick enough so I had to take a couple washers and split the stack to get the right height but now that it's all together there is 0 movement. Basically all that's left is applying some grease, and contorting my body under the dash for an hour or two with some expletives mixed in. Then it should be all set. Here's a picture of my finished clevis pin assembly, I had to cut the clevis down because it was 2" long but all in all things went very well . http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t324/polarisman14/StarQuest/0313131756.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarisman14 Posted March 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2013 Update, I had a chance to get this back in the car yesterday. The installation went pretty well considering how uncomfortable being jammed up against the underside of the dash is. It took me a little over an hour of jockeying back and fourth to get everything straightened out and things are all set. I jump started the car today and while I didn't want to take it up and down the road because of the salt that's still there I did pull it in and out of my carport a few times to check the clutch action. It engages about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way up the travel and things seem great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelby Posted March 23, 2013 Report Share Posted March 23, 2013 you know it's absolutely super when you find a guy that aks a question and actualy reads the sugestions and follows them thru . the result as you found is your problem is taken care of in less time and with less expense then normaly expect'd next time take a few minutes and remove the knee pad,, the first time it can be a pain ( stupid screws are power tool'd in place at the factory and can be hard to get loose use the proper bit ( prince acrew head not phillips Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarisman14 Posted March 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2013 Yeah I know that can certainly make things go quicker but I figured I would just deal with it for now. For those that are interested, here's the link for the clevis pin I bought: http://www.lowes.com/pd_138657-37672-881081_0__?productId=3342730&Ntt=adjustable+clevis+pin Their cotter pins were right near there so I grabbed the largest diameter one I could find that would fit through the hole, I think the diameter was 1/8". For the washer on the far side of the clevis head I just bored out a 1" OD fender washer to have a 1/2" opening, then dremeled about half of the material away in a slot for the cotter pin to slide through. That way I was able to use the cotter pin hole closest to the clevis head and keep play to a minimum. I used marine grease on everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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