kkiley

I recently bought a Gripforce standard clutch kit for my '90 vert. Installed a new pressure plate, throw out bearing and clutch. Got it all back together and it still slips. I thought maybe the master cylinder was bad, so I replaced it today.
Slave cylinder seems to be releasing, I can move the piston with my finger and push it back.
The pedal has about 1/2" play before engaging the master cylinder, so it's not compressing the system. As soon as I put any pressure on the pedal, the clutch slips.
Only thing I can think of is that I got a bad pressure plate. Any other ideas or suggestions?
Thanks!

AGreen

iTrader: (11)

Let me guess, you had the flywheel machined. Didn't you

kkiley

Nope, the face was clean and smooth. No damage from the clutch. This clutch just doesn't seem to have enough pressure to have it hook up or something is not releasing.

K-Tune

iTrader: (26)

Have you tried adjusting the clutch master cylinder/pedal?

nycgps

iTrader: (4)

it could be just a bad Pressure plate. it could happen. just a wild guess.

kkiley

I replaced the master cylinder today. Got under the dash and the pedal does have free play before engaging the master cylinder. Once you take up the slack and begin moving the clutch, it begins to slip. The friction point is literally at the top. The only part I haven't replaced with the slave cylinder.

SpeedOfLife

iTrader: (16)

sooooo is it fixed?

kkiley

Still slipping....says on the website it takes 500 miles to break it in

SpeedOfLife

iTrader: (16)

Is the slave cylinder piston stuck under the arm? As in: not in the place it's supposed to be? If it were jammed against the throwout bearing arm it could cause this.

Your throwout bearing itself could be jammed, too... if something were to get lodged between the bearing and the input shaft to the trans or behind it, between the bearing and the trans case/bell housing.

kkiley

I can see the shaft from the slave cylinder and it's in the right spot on the arm. The only thing that makes sense is the pressure plate is defective, which sucks....

kkiley

This is the clutch kit I bought. They have great reviews, don't see any issues.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=400178533777

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

ebay reviews mean nothing(only use it as a small idea of customer support), and this is a reason why i don't recommend cheap parts that require hours to replace.

here is an example of good reviews of a **** poor falsely advertised item.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Bille...Q5fAccessories

100% good feedback. note they are from Taiwan, which i'm sure also has CNC machines that can cut a $1 piece of aluminum to look flashy. a far cry from professionally designed CNC cut wheels made by reputable companies like Borg Warner. in that case though, you DON'T get what you pay for.. people review the item once they open the box, not once their clutch slips or their compressor wheel shatters and their motor sputters and wheezes while it is dying a painful Taiwanese death.

kkiley

I know, I've had good luck on my eBay purchases, but I think this one is going to bite me in the butt. I almost bought an upgraded clutch but I don't beat on the car. Live and learn. It should come apart a lot quicker this time as I know what I am doing, which sucks...

kkiley

The only thing that makes sense is that:
1. Pressure plate is bad
2. Slave cylinder is bad
3. Throw out arm is not releasing the pressure plate fully

It's just really strange that the behavior is the same before and after I change the clutch assembly. With the slave cylinder off, should their be any movement in the arm on the clutch?
Just digging at possibilities here...

kkiley

The clutch release pressure point just shouldn't be all the way at the end of the travel

kkiley

If you move the pedal after taking out the slack 1mm, the clutch slips

point-blank

iTrader: (9)

resurface the flywheel?
It can look fine but be out of spec. make sure when you have it done they machine the mounting perches where the PP bolts to the flywheel as well

kkiley

I guess that is option #4. It looks like a pain to remove. Can a flywheel be too slick?

nycgps

iTrader: (4)

That's why I never went with cheaper no name clutch, always go for name brand.

had ACT, had Mazdaspeed (which is just Exedy really), had Exedy, and a few others.

never had a problem.

I bought Exedy Replacement for this FC just a month ago, it was like 140 bux for everything? That's really good and I know Exedy will work 100%. other "ebay brand" clutch goes for around 100 or less. to me, that 40 bux savings is just not worth the potential problem.

blk87Turbo2

iTrader: (23)

When I installed my ACT clutch kit years ago, in my old FC, I had to do a good bit of pedal adjusting cause I had a similar issue to what you're having. Try resetting the pedal adjustments and starting over...I'll bet if you look through your Haynes/FSM you'll find the adjustment that will make everything work (atleast till the cheap clutch disc comes apart). I'd look it up for you, but that's the best I can do from Afghanistan.

southsidecox

iTrader: (52)

contamination(greasy fingerprints) or fluids on the friction surfaces would also cause it,ive always wiped mine down rt before installing with brake cleaner,same for brake rotors

YaNi

iTrader: (2)

Either by contamination or it can glaze over from being overheated by a slipping clutch.

AGreen

iTrader: (11)

Sure glazed over or greasy can cause it to slip, but he's experiencing something worse. Coupled with the minor slip caused by a greasy/contaminated/glazed surface, you'll mostly have chattering.

When I replaced my clutch on the N/A engine, I had a local machine shop resurface the flywheel. When he did this, he did NOT machine the mounting studs as well. I thought the clutch was bad or I did something wrong. I went ahead and pulled it, then came to the realization that if the mounting posts weren't machined the same amount, the pressure plate would consequently be that much farther away from the flywheel surface.

I'm not saying this is 100% what happened, but if you bought the car with a slipping clutch, it may be the case.

kkiley

Well, I have owned the car for 5 years and I didn't have any issue until now. We have adjusted and replaced everything we can on this and it still slips horribly.
Guess it all needs to come apart again and start over. Not exactly what I had in mind..

AGreen

iTrader: (11)

Yeah, if you have good pedal freeplay (which it sounds like you do) then you've probably got some bum parts.

I bought a new clutch years ago for one from advance. Some no-name brand. Pressure plate was garbage. The clutch didn't slip, it just chattered horribly. Reinstalled the original PP to find the problem... bingo. You could try that if you felt up for it.