More Clutch Problems

[angliagt]

Still having problems with the clutch working properly.
Had a good mechanic liik at it,& he said something about
using a smaller diameter bore on the master cylinder.
Any thoughts on this?If my records are correct,These
are the sizes:

Clutch M/C - 5/8" (what's that in inches?

Slave Cylinder - .875"



- Doug

[canzus]

Clutch M/C - 5/8" (what's that in inches?

Slave Cylinder - .875"



- Doug

Hey Doug, 5/8" is .625"...

How much travel are you seeing at the slave? You may not have
enough fluid volume with the .625" master to push the slave far
enough out to release the clutch completely...

Did a little sniffing around on my favourite parts site, and found that
Ford used a 1 1/8" (1.125") master and a 1" (1.000") slave on the
'57 F100. Now that truck had a Borg and Beck type clutch cover, and
I never found it hard to disengage the clutch. Am I right in thinking
that your clutch is a diaphragm style? If so, you need a larger master
cylinder...

[garyeanderson]

Hi Doug

Those sizes are stock Lotus Cortina and Elan sizes and work just fine, do you have an adjustable push rod?

Gary

[angliagt]

No - not adjustable.
As per another suggestion,I think that
I'll just drive it as-is,& replace the disc,
pressure plate,t/o bearing,& have the trans
rebuilt when I can afford it.
I'm just a little burned-out on dealing with
this on top of everything else.Whenever I even
think that I'm a mechanic - something like this
happens to remind me that I'm not!

- Doug

[Dave A]

No - not adjustable.
As per another suggestion,I think that
I'll just drive it as-is,& replace the disc,
pressure plate,t/o bearing,& have the trans
rebuilt when I can afford it.
I'm just a little burned-out on dealing with
this on top of everything else.Whenever I even
think that I'm a mechanic - something like this
happens to remind me that I'm not!

- Doug

Did you try bleeding it like I mentioned in a previous posting?

[angliagt]

Dave,

Yes - it was done.
I think that I'll just drive it as-is,& when I can afford
it,I'll get a new disc,pressure plate,throwout bearing,
& have the transmission rebuilt.
I'm just kind of burned-out on these problems.It
seems to be one thing after another,plus I've got 3-4
other vehicles that need work.

- Doug

[105Speed]

That combination of a 5/8 or 0.625 Master Cylinder with a 7/8" bore slave cylinder is a well used combination and should give a nice light clutch.


Question would be, did the car have a Spring Clutch originally ? or a Diaphragm ?

If the car originally had a Spring Clutch and a diaphragm clutch has been fitted subsequently, then you will have a problem where the release bearing is having to go that much further up the input shaft of the gearbox it ends up pivoting over centre.

The cure for this is to either re-fit a Spring Clutch or space the release bearing forward on the carrier, or if you can find one fit a clutch cover with a thrust pad on it.

We do this all the time for people who are fitting crossflows in Anglias and Cortinas.

[RS.Escort]

Hey Doug.. Make yourself an adjustable push rod.. It's really the only way to go.. the stroke on the slave is so short, you need a fine adjustment to get the best out of it.. The hardest part is drilling a small hole through the clutch fork for the push rod to pass through ( which it has to do to provide you actual adjustment with the nut on the inside )

It is also possible as mentioned that you have a mismatched pressure plate and throw out bearing.. If it comes down to checking this, just let us know what you have.

Just a question... How far do you push your clutch pedal before you can feel it starting to push on the clutch? Oh and is your problem clutch slip, or clutch drag?

Mark