Clutch won't fully disengage - NOW WITH UPDATE

Post by **volvo300** » 10 Jan 2006 11:10 pm

Hi.
I have a problem with my clutch.
I changed it when I put in my B230 engine, and after that I have had these clutch problems.

When the engine and the clutch are cold, there is no problem. When I have driven all the way to work, about 43 miles (warm engine and clutch), the gears are very hard to change... especially getting into 1st. Reverse is even worse. When I try to engage 1st gear from a stand still, I can feel the car moving a little bit like the clutch isn't fully disengaged. It is 100% certain that if I put it into reverse when warm, it makes a big CRUNCHHH noise.... not a very nice noise.
I have tried to adjust my clutch cable (150-160mm from floor), but it seems that it must have a little more adjustment..... but which way? Should I increase the pedal-floor height (to 170mm) or should I decrease the pedal-floor height (to 140mm)?

And the big question.... why does it get more difficult to engage the gears when warm? Is there something that is expanding a little bit too much?

Thanks for a really great site with a lot of enthusiasts.

Regards.
Peter

Post by **huskyracer** » 10 Jan 2006 11:19 pm

HI mate, I personaly ignore the recomended method of adjusting the clutch, as wich point on the floor / pedal is very much open to interpretation and gives wildly varying results. Heres how I do it: from under the car loosen cable lock nuts. Pull the cable as hard as you can, and push the plastic bush/ball up the cable towards the clutch arm untill all the free play in the arm is taken up. do the nut up loosely to the ball. now check there is a small amount of free play at the clutch arm, and from inside the car see how the clutch feels, and see that the pedal is not rediculously high. If all is well, do up the lock nut and road test it, it should now be spot on.
Hope that helps
Iain

Post by **volvo300** » 11 Jan 2006 10:11 am

HI huskyracer.

Thanks for the quick reply.
I will try your approach in the weekend. I will post the result...

Thansk again for the quick reply.

Regards.
Peter

Post by **pettaw** » 11 Jan 2006 08:15 pm

The adjustment has probably changed because you've now got a different engine and different bellhousings etc. I would say you need to raise your clutch pedal height to about 170mm. Husky's method will work fine but you will end up with an extremely high pedal IMO.

Post by **Japper** » 11 Jan 2006 09:16 pm

could it be that the problem only comes round when warm that the clutch plate expands when getting hot?

Post by **redline** » 12 Jan 2006 09:08 am

If the clutch isnt disengaging fully it will get worse the longer you drive it , this is because of the metal expanding with heat and filling the little bit of gap you have left until it dosent disengage at all.
the heat build up on the friction plate could cause you to burn your clutch out prematurely with prolonged use if the clutch as almost permanently engaged once warm,
I think you need to back the adjustment off a bit to give you slightly more clearance.

if this dosent work, you may even have the wrong clutch for the engine /gearbox combination you are using

Post by **huskyracer** » 12 Jan 2006 07:15 pm

The way I described is the way I do it on my car, and results in the clutch pedal sitting about 10 mm above the height of the brake pedal, on mine it has a stop in the pedal box which stops the pedal going to far up, dont know if this is the case with all of them, but basicaly as long as there is a bit of clearance in the clutch release arm when it is adjusted, (ie the release bearing isnt being forced into permanent contact with the clutch) it wont do any harm, and if the pedal does come up too high, you can back the adjustment off untill it sits right and the clutch still clears. all this is assuming you dont have an unworkable mix of components............

Post by **pettaw** » 12 Jan 2006 08:15 pm

certainly doesn't do any harm, but a lower clutch pedal is easier to drive with IMO. They've all got stops to prevent them going too high, but when set to factory spec the clutch pedal should be sitting a bit below the height of the brake pedal. IMO the reason that Peter is having trouble is because the components have been changed and so the factory procedure won't work.

Deffo nothing wrong with your method.

Post by **volvo300** » 22 Jan 2006 06:26 pm

Hi huskyracer.

Now I have tweaked the clutch the way you suggested, and it seems to work

Thanks again for the tip

Regards.
Peter

Post by **huskyracer** » 24 Jan 2006 09:00 pm

Glad it helped mate

Post by **volvo300** » 23 Jul 2006 10:26 am

Hi again.

I did what huskyracer suggested, but it only worked for a short period of time

Since then I have taken the engine out, and replaced the pressureplate with a new one (I only changed the clutch plate when installing the new engine) and lubricated the splines on the shaft with Molykote D-321R.
Then I installed the engine again, and the problem was stille there

What can be wrong?
I have installed a new SACHS clutch kit (SACHS # 3000 535 001) but it didn't seem to work!
Then I had to take the engine out again (2 days later) and I then tried the old org. clutch plate on the splined shaft, and then the new SACHS clutch plate. The old org. clutch plate did slide freely and without problems on the splines, but the new SACHS clutch plate had some dead spots where it kind of locked on the splines !!!!
Then I bought a org. VOLVO clutch plate (actually it's a VALEO with VOLVO marks on it), and it slides just fine over the splines.
Then I lubricated once more, and installed the whole thing again.
Now I have no problems engaging the gears when the engine gets warm.

So the conclusion is: It was the clutch plate that was sticking to the splined shaft when warm....

Just nice to know if someone is about to change their clutch...

Regards.
Peter