Clutch Pedal Adjustment.

[CumminsBu]

Is there any way to make a adjustment to the clutch pedal? It feel like there is no play in the top of the pedal, as soon as I put my foot on the clutch pedal it starts to disengage. I would like to have a inch or two of play at the top. I looked in my tech manual and didn't see any thing. Thanks.

 

[rbattelle]

Being a hydraulic clutch I don't believe there's any factory adjustment. Is the end of the actuator rod at the slave cylinder threaded? That might afford some minor adjustment.



-Ryan

 

[DPKetchum]

If no freeplay clutch is worn out!

 

[sick_ram]

There is no adjustment on theses clutches. two things could be bad clutch or bad hydralics. how many miles on it and what kind of engine mods to truck.

 

[Grizzly]

I know that clutches are normal wear items, but is there any warranty on them? On a 2003 it is too soon for it to wear out, unless you ride it.

 

[DPKetchum]

Well it depends on drivers. The pressure plate,throwout bearing and pilot bearing are a 7/70! Of course if any fliud leaks from engine or trans is covered. They won't cover the disc(part itself usually but labor etc. )IF it is pulled out and its just plain WORN. NO COVERAGE!

 

[CumminsBu]

35,000 miles on the truck and the engine is stock. I don't ride the clutch and there is no fluid leaks that I can see. The clutch pedal is still very firm. Does your truck clutch pedal have play in it?

 

[DPKetchum]

yes. the play at top keeps it OFF the throwout bearing. Could be a HYD. problem maybe but?? Take it by a dealer and have a quick look see.

 

[JCleary]

I have 33k on my truck, and a lot of the time I have to shut the truck off to get it in gear. It's like the clutch doesn't disengage completely. I used to be able to pump the clutch and get it back, but not any more. You can feel the truck try to move when you move the shifter against the synchros. My clutch releases/comes in about 1/2 way down, but it seems to change. It also appears intermittent.



I hope it happens when I get the truck to the dealer. If it's covered by the warrany, then great. If not, then I'll be getting my SBC DD that much sooner.

 

[Nightram]

JClery, sounds like you have a bad clutch master cylinder. Hopefully they will be able to figure it out when you get there, and not go "duh George, I dunno"

 

[GCroyle]

The hydraulic release system does not use free play like the old mechanical linkage adjustment clutch systems did. The bearing is in constant contact with the clutch diaphragm spring with a prelaod force applied to it by the spring inside the slave cylinder. It sounds like your release system is doing what it should. The only real indicators of a clutch approaching the wornout stage (normal wear and tear) would be slipping and the release load at the pedal would be higher that when the truck was new. This is a normal gradual change, kinda like gray hair.

 

[Roughy]

I think i have your fix. i have a 2003 2500 hd stick. with the same problem. my slave cylinder went bad. if you are under 3/36 it is a freebie. . if you are out of 3/36 it is about 150. 00 bucks. and ez to install. . and if you have a chrysler max care warranty it is just your deductable. . from what i hear chrysler had a bad batch of these boogers from the factory. . GOOD LUCK FRIEND

 

[rbattelle]

The bearing is in constant contact with the clutch diaphragm spring with a prelaod force applied to it by the spring inside the slave cylinder.

Really? Sounds like a recipe for a rapidly-worn-out throwout bearing.



-Ryan

 

[skooterwerx]

hey im glad you guys posted this i've got about 8k miles on a south bend fe and the pedal seems to be letting out almost to the top??? what gives??? hopefully the slave cylinder not my new 1k $ clutch! no slippage and no mods but 110k miles on my 03'

 

[jelag]

DP has a great point...



As the friction wears... . the pressure plate in the cover comes to rest closer to the engine... . this movement of the pressure plate causes the fingers in the cover to move towards the transmission.



Our clutches are diaphrams... the plate load is a bell curve. On a new disc your on the right side of the curve and as the disc wears the plate load first increases until the it reaches the top of the bell curve... than as the wear continues the plate load decreases...



One of two things happen next... . you run out of plate load and the clutch slips... . or you run out of free play and the bearing presses on the diaphram all the time. . and allows the cover to unload or the bearing fails... the release bearing(throwout) is not designed to run on the diaphram all the time... just when the clutch pedal is down... .



We use our trucks hard... . pulling loads all the time... we're seeing about 80K miles on the factory clutch and about 120K miles on the aftermarket clutch we offer... .



We also throw away the pilot bearing and install a sealed ball bearing in place of the pilot bearing by machining the flyweel... the sealed ball bearing we install handles about 2X's the load and will last 3X's longer as it's sealed...



Jim @ Pacific Clutch

 

[GCroyle]

Ryan,



To my knowledge ALL hydrauylic release systems have the bearing in constant contact with the diaphragm spring. When the bearings started being designed with a self centering bearing and angular contact of the ball bearing to the outer and inner races constant contact allowed hydraylic and self adjusting cable systems to be used. If you can get a look at the Ford Ranger, F-Series, lots of Jeeps and GM pick-ups (96-) concentric slave cylinder systems, you can see the preload spring right behind the bearing. Old mechanical release systems used return springs to pull the fork and bearing away from the clutch.



GC

 

[rbattelle]

Ryan,

To my knowledge ALL hydrauylic release systems have the bearing in constant contact with the diaphragm spring.

I didn't know that. I guess I'm "old fashioned" when it comes to clutches.



BTW, our trucks don't use a concentric slave cylinder (as you may know). For me, that was one of the selling points for the vehicle. I hate concentric slave cylinders - seems like the harder a part is to change the more likely it is to break.



-Ryan

 

[GCroyle]

Ryan,



You are right, we don't have the Concentric Slave Cylinder (CSC) and I personally hope DC does not put it in our full size trucks. The CSC's have been considered very difficult for even experienced shops to get them to bleed fully, and a transmission R&R is required. The constant contact (IMHO) is due to the design changes in bearings that allowed the constant contact to be sucessfull, 1st, angular contact geometry between the outer race, ball bearing and inner race, 2nd, self-aligning, which allows the centerline of the bearing to line up with the diaphragm spring tips. This reduces friction and heat in the bearing which allows this system to be sucessful, just keep your foot off of the pedal when you are driving



Why doesn't my signature show up when I post?

 

[LEnglish]

I would never use ware the clutch disengauges as a gauge of how much is left int the clutch. It sounds to me like it just needs to be adj the clutch but DC does not let us do that which I can't belive. I have worked on 100s of different hyd clutch systems any you just adj the rod above the pedal to set the clutch ware it is needed.



I know SBC sell a ADJ rod for your trucks. I have not looked under there for sure but some cars have switch or stops ware the pedal stops. You may be able to screw one of those out to let the clutch come up futher so you can get the slop. I have seen cars run a high enough preload from a mis adj system to cause the clutch to start sliping.

 

[rbattelle]

Why doesn't my signature show up when I post?

It only appears in the first post on a thread.



-Ryan