Clutch Pedal Adjustment.

[jelag]

Lets go back..... 3 important point you need to get straight... .



1 - the release bearing is not designed to contact the cover unless the pedal is being depressed... . why - the design of the bearing is such that it would fail... ... . its not designed to go the distance with constant pressure.....



2 - lets say you had a check valve in the master cylinder like you have in a brake master cylinder with drum brakes. . that valve is set at 10 psi... . 10 psi would allow the bearing to contact the pressure plate all the time... doesn't sound like much pressure but if we have a fulcrum advantage of lets say... . 20 : 1, don't know what it is... . we're not talking about the fork here, we're talking the fulcrum advantage of the diaphram spring... a 10 psi times a 20:1 ratio that means that the pressure plate would loose 200 pounds of plate load...



3 - think of this as if someone was resting their foot on the clutch pedal... you know the damage to resting your foot on the brake... well the same principle holds true in this case... . any pressure would start to release the clutch... . the biggest thing that will damage a clutch disc is heat... . and heat comes from the friction slipping on the flywheel and pressure plate. . during startup or when you shift... .



Hope this helps..... please don't take this any other way then I'm trying to share with you how the system works... . There is a great SAE journal out... Diaphram clutches and related systems... . excellent reading... .



Jim

 

[South Bend Clutch]

1 - the release bearing is not designed to contact the cover unless the pedal is being depressed... . why - the design of the bearing is such that it would fail... ... . its not designed to go the distance with constant pressure... .



Jim

OUCH!



Folks, in the old days with mechanical linkage the throwout brgs. were not designed to run continuously and the system had to be set with free play (a little gap between the throwout brg. and the fingers of the pressure plate. Then, as the clutch would ware and the fingers would move towards the transmission, the linkage had to be adjusted to maintain the free play.



Today, we have hydraulic assemblies and self aligning brgs. , all the throwout brgs. do INFACT ride on the fingers of the pressure plate at all times. The hydraulics at a rest with your foot off the pedal only applies 2-3 pounds of pressure. The systems are self adjusting. So, as the fingers of the pressure plate move towards the transmission, do to ware on the clutch, the fluid will move back into the reservoir keeping the throwout brg. positioned correctly and at the 2-3 pounds of pressure. However, if you ride your foot on the clutch pedal, you will put more force on the fingers of the pressure plate and brg. resulting in accelerated brg. /finger ware as well as reducing the pressure of the pressure plate causing accelerated clutch ware.



Peter

 

[Bonham]

What about bleeding the system can it be done? And how?

 

[AABEN]

Ther is a clutche adjustment on the left side of the steeringwheel check that out. There is one on my 03