Clutch Install gone BAD

[Anabolic]

sounds lioke you installed the TOB on the pivot arm incorrectly.. happend to me once. feels like there's NO clutch.. it has to slide UNDER the clip,
one DAY i removed the trans and re-installed it 6x and finally figured out the problem..

 

[Ukfox89]

Just take the inspection plate off and actuate the clutch and see what's going on. Why is it such a big deal. If you see the clutch fork moving back and forth with room to spare and the TOB seems to be riding well then that's not the problem. If your clutch fork isn't attached to the pivot ball correctly it will be movin all over the place.

 

[03 SeRpEnT]

well as for an update today I installed the quadrant and fireewall adjuster and played with the adjustment a little today. Final conclusion from todays briefing is that the clutch isn't disengaging. This goes back to why the car will sometimes shift through the gears when turned off but will not go into gear when running at ALL. When on though it does appear that the clutch is engaged however bc the back tires when up on a lift will spin no matter the cable adjustment when attemting to enter a gear. Calling spec tommorrow to see if there has ever been such an iissue with their clutch and a RAM steel flywheel. That or they sent me the wrong clutch/PP?

 

[Ukfox89]

have you taken the inspection plate off with the car off and watched the travel of the fork? like i said, i had to space my pivot ball out because there wasnt enough travel in the clutch fork to full disengage the clutch. you can shift any car when off with no clutch because nothign is moving, but hwen the car is runnign you have to have disengagement to get it into gear.

 

[03 SeRpEnT]

have you taken the inspection plate off with the car off and watched the travel of the fork? like i said, i had to space my pivot ball out because there wasnt enough travel in the clutch fork to full disengage the clutch. you can shift any car when off with no clutch because nothign is moving, but hwen the car is runnign you have to have disengagement to get it into gear.

My car will sometimes* allow me to shift through the gears when off but even more rare is it completely fluid gear entries. It acts alot like when the car is running in the sense that it won't go into gear. I have looked at it without the inspection shield on and had a few opinions and all say it appears somewhat fine. Someone did say today they saw alot of extra play in my shift fork(when jostling it back and forward). About the pivot ball, how do we know what clutch combos reccommend these types of changes? I've never even heard of that till now...

 

[can04cobra]

well as for an update today I installed the quadrant and fireewall adjuster and played with the adjustment a little today. Final conclusion from todays briefing is that the clutch isn't disengaging. This goes back to why the car will sometimes shift through the gears when turned off but will not go into gear when running at ALL. When on though it does appear that the clutch is engaged however bc the back tires when up on a lift will spin no matter the cable adjustment when attemting to enter a gear. Calling spec tommorrow to see if there has ever been such an iissue with their clutch and a RAM steel flywheel. That or they sent me the wrong clutch/PP?

Had this happen to me with a spec clutch on a viper spec 6 speed in my old foxbody. I bought an adjustable pivot ball to fix the issue but when I dropped the tranny the adjustable was shorter then the stocker. To fix this I ended up having to shim the stock pivot ball out with a washer and it worked flawlessy after that. Best of luck to you!

 

[powershifter]

I've had that problem before. can be the pivot ball not is too far in if you have an adjustable one, so it doesn't allow the clutch fork to go far enough to disengage the clutch, could be the cable too loose so you could adjust it at the clutch fork, firewall adjuster or clutch quadrant. In my case after i was done with the clutch install i had to put a bit of a preload on the pressure plate for it to fully disengage.

 

[03 SeRpEnT]

hmm so I need to 'shim' it out with washers? Anyone have the correct size washer handy? Gonna yank this thing back out in the next couple days hopefully. And
'how many' should I use???

 

[TRBO VNM]

OP, did you listen to the people and put a factory cable back in yet?

Why don't you take a picture with the inspection cover off and post that up. Would like to see a pic of the TOB on the pressure plate.

Usually just one washer is fine. But imo, you need to replace the cable and get that pic. Most of the time you don't need to shim it, but using the CORRECT parts is a necessity.

 

[03 SeRpEnT]

Well talked to spec support just to see if they recommended anything or if they had a list of combos that wouldnt work(flywheel/clutch) or something to get me closer to figuring this thing out but no. Very knowledgable but just said it all should work together but would check a worn out pivot ball/fork/mis-installed disc.

 

[03 SeRpEnT]

OP, did you listen to the people and put a factory cable back in yet?

Why don't you take a picture with the inspection cover off and post that up. Would like to see a pic of the TOB on the pressure plate.

Usually just one washer is fine. But imo, you need to replace the cable and get that pic. Most of the time you don't need to shim it, but using the CORRECT parts is a necessity.

The car was buttoned back up after the clutch install with the stock cable and NO firewall adjuster and NO quadrant. After gettign the feeling I wasnt getting enough pull on the fork and it not letting me go into gear I decided to install the nib Steeda Adj cable to help dial in a few diff adjustemnets to see if that worked. It didnt but since I had a few hours yesterday I went ahead and Put the quadrant and firewall adjuster in for when it does end up working. The cable at this point is not the issue.... Ill work on the picture.

 

[dsmith26]

I vote the TOB is installed wrong.....waiting for the pic.

 

[TRBO VNM]

The car was buttoned back up after the clutch install with the stock cable and NO firewall adjuster and NO quadrant. After gettign the feeling I wasnt getting enough pull on the fork and it not letting me go into gear I decided to install the nib Steeda Adj cable to help dial in a few diff adjustemnets to see if that worked. It didnt but since I had a few hours yesterday I went ahead and Put the quadrant and firewall adjuster in for when it does end up working. The cable at this point is not the issue.... Ill work on the picture.

I didn't do the install and don't know your skill set, but I can tell you from what I have seen from others that it could be the cable at this point. However, typically it wouldn't be when everything is done correctly.

I am recommending it, as well as others, so that you get back to the CORRECT base point and work from there. But if you don't want to, then good luck because then all I can recommend from here is to redo the install.

 

[03 SeRpEnT]

I didn't do the install and don't know your skill set, but I can tell you from what I have seen from others that it could be the cable at this point. However, typically it wouldn't be when everything is done correctly.

I am recommending it, as well as others, so that you get back to the CORRECT base point and work from there. But if you don't want to, then good luck because then all I can recommend from here is to redo the install.

Not knocking you but I've clearly already said I troubleshot with both cables and neither have done the trick. I've even stated I installed a new quadrant/firewall adj to give even more adjustment and experimentation to no avail. Once again it's not the cable at this point, the re-install is already on the books as something obv went haywire between the install to now. Ordering new clutch fork just in case plus why not have clean parts on the trans.

 

[TRBO VNM]

I know what you have stated, but doesn't appear you are listening. Either way, good luck.

 

[03 SeRpEnT]

I know what you have stated, but doesn't appear you are listening. Either way, good luck.

Not listening? About it still being a cable problem or not having a stock one back on my car?
1. It is not a cable problem at THIS point.

2. The stock one is ON my car lol Same problem with it on.

Like I said I have it planned to tear it all back down anyway bc whatever it is isnt a quick adjustment fix.

 

[Anabolic]

TOB is insalled incorrectly x2

edit: in your process of tearing it down be sure not destroy your pilot bearing. might find yourself wasting a bucket of grease and a loaf of bread. lol

 

[Tims97SVT]

Question to everyone that says the adj cables suck, have you used one on your car? Or do you jump on the band wagon and say they suck? I run adj cable with no issues. It's not the cable! It's incorrect adjustment or the tob is installed wrong.

 

[TRBO VNM]

Question to everyone that says the adj cables suck, have you used one on your car? Or do you jump on the band wagon and say they suck? I run adj cable with no issues. It's not the cable! It's incorrect adjustment or the tob is installed wrong.

Yup, used to use them all the time until I got tired of going through them and fighting with adjusting them. This was a while back when I had my fox body. So yes, I speak from experience. Either them stretching, breaking or horrible to adjust.

then I saw the info on MM's site(which I think now they offer a factory cable that has been modified to be adjustable) and it confirmed the problems I had.

So far, 4 terminators later and never had a problem with a clutch cable. I know some have snapped them, but from what I saw it was poor quadrant install.

OP, did you ever take a pic with the inspection cover off?

 

[Quicktime_GT]

TOB should look like:

(Except not covered with destroyed DFX dust)

I made a pic cuz i knew i would screw it up lol