Pressure plate has separated?

[mookiex4]

I am adding some pics because I felt as thought my clutch was not disengaging. It is moving, but it appears that the two halves of the disc are separating and sticking to both the pressure plate and the Flywheel. Will replacing the friction disc fix my problem? One is the clutch sitting as is and the other is when the pedal is depressed. Notice the black gap in between the disc? I do not remember this being normal at any other time when I have replaced a clutch.


I feel like this is my whole Clutch will not Disengage problem since I am getting movement and the pressure plate is being depressed. 1965 GMC w/283 Chevy engine.

I appreciate any input or ideas.

[Sharps40]

It ain't worn down to the rivets yet and with some rust on the metal, prolly not much if any oil leakin on it. If it don't slip, grab, chatter or otherwise act silly, its very likely fine. Course, its not a bad job to yank the trans and check the faces of the clutch, flywheel and pressure plate. If its been in a long time and inspection causes ya to question its suitability, even with out grab/chatter, machine the flywheel to remove hot spots and scores and replace the clutch pack/bearing/fork/pivot ball/return spring with all new parts. A new one will give ya plenty of piece of mind.

[61K10]

sharps--not his first post on this. I would start over-----

[Sharps40]

Not sure what ya mean by won't disengage. If that's as far as it opens up, I'd check the adjustment. Pedal free travel (movement down w/o resistance) is about 1 inch or less and then you should start feeling resistance. Could be the clutch rod is out of adjustment. Also, if the wingnut on the rod that pushes the clutch fork has slipped 90 degrees to a horizontal position, the rod will now be "to Short". The wing nut pusher fits the v-groove in the fork and the wings are in a straight up/down position. If it turns 90 degrees to horizontal, (often occurring when the return spring is too loose at the clutch pedal full up position, and the nut bounces outta the groove) ya just lost 1/2" or more of your adjustment and it may not fully disengage..

Hang tight for a pic of what I'm talkin about.

[Sharps40]

Originally Posted by 61K10

sharps--not his first post on this. I would start over-----

Oh....I musta missed it. Helps to keep all the ongoing progress in a single thread via updated posts.

[ky-donzi]

Disc needs to be replaced I would say... Looks like it could have rusted and stuck to the PP and to the flywheel. When you push in the pedal it now pulls the disc apart... That would account for the funny pedal feel you have also....
Going to have to pull it apart.... Since these trucks don't have tranny cross members replace the tranny bolts with long bolts and slid it back
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[Sharps40]

Just for clarity, here is the wing nut lookin part that slips on the end of the push rod and presses in on the pivot. In these pics, its in the correct vertical position, centered on the outer v-groove.

Had one break on me...lost the clutch. I put in a lug nut and went home no worries. LMC carries the part, but the acorn nut worked fine for 15K miles and was cheaper.

But if ya just assembled it (or its been sittin and now runnin funny) and it ain't disengageing, something is wrong either in the linkage adjustment or inside the bell housing. I'd have to agree on the possible rust stick suggestion, I'd break down the clutch pack and go thru it with a Haynes or Motors manual and a good factory set of pics to be sure all the parts are good are in there and in the right order.

[Sharps40]

Mookiex4,

From one of your threads....

"2) The other would be that the adjustment to the linkage from the bell crank to the yoke arm has not been made. Currently it is all the way out to the edge of the treads. If it were any farther out the nuts would fall off on the ground."

I'd say ya might have identified yer problem earlier. Think ya need to check the pushrod length and adjustment...mine is a brand new clutch and the adjustment is such that the push rod sticks out 3" in front of the bell crank arm....with that funkey lil wing nut thingie on the pivot end.

Maybe ask a mod to combine yer clutch threads or keep posting in one only....that way more experience can come on line with the whole story in hand to help with analysis.

[padresag]

did you use the clutch and pressure plate from the V6 eng on the chev flywheel. if so the clutch disc is different. a chev disc will not work on a gmc so I would image that goes vice versa
ron

[jtrichard]

First the clutch disc does spread some when there is no pressure on it ....next what type of pressure plate do you have? 3 finger or diaphragm/belleville ? long or short throwout bearing? how much clutch rod adjustment do you have left? a pic would be nice ....if its belleville it should be a long throwout with rounded face and the push rod should be in the inner hole in the fork ..... from your second pic (released) it does not look like you are getting full throw on the pressure plate to release all the way so it will not shift..... and if it is 11' clutch the one from the GMC should be the same as chevy

[mookiex4]

Thanks Ky-Donzi. You win a cookie. HAHA. I did some real digging on the net and found some threads on stuck clutches. It had been sitting like that for a year while the High School kids worked on it as a school project. The Disc rusted to the Pressure plate and fly wheel. Great call on that one.

Originally Posted by ky-donzi

Disc needs to be replaced I would say... Looks like it could have rusted and stuck to the PP and to the flywheel. When you push in the pedal it now pulls the disc apart... That would account for the funny pedal feel you have also....
Going to have to pull it apart.... Since these trucks don't have tranny cross members replace the tranny bolts with long bolts and slid it back
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[ky-donzi]

your welcome,

Dont know if it would be worth the effort, but since these trucks do have open bottom bellhousings you could pull the 6 bolts out that attach the pressure plate to the flywheel and try to pry the pressure plate away from the disc and flywheel with pry bars... if you get it broke loose it may work after that... I wouldnt expect a nice releasing clutch tho... it will probably be notchy.

[64fleetside]

Happens all the time on farm trucks used once a year arond here, bust it loose like above, should be fine.