My clutch pedal dropped. 1930 A

dynaflash_8

dynaflash_8

Member
So i pulled the floor boards out today to adjust the fingers on my clutch, and grease the release bearing. I gave each nut one full turn, and that was enough to bring my pedal right to the top. I readjusted the linkage between the pedal and release shaft, and re-assembled everything. Hopped in it to see how the clutch felt and on the second push, it went to the floor and stayed. Unhooked the linkage between the clutch pedal and release shaft, and was able to move the release shaft up and down once before it caught again. Hook the pedal back up, clutch good for 3 full range of motions before it went to the floor. I'm able to move the release shaft in and out of the housing about an 1/8th inch. So what happened? I guess i have to pull the ******, which means the rearend has to come out. oh joy.

Anybody know ? :confused:


Marty
 
Turning each nut one turn doesn't sound good.. The nuts are just lock nuts, that is if we are talking about the right nuts.. If you adjust the pressure plate fingers in the car[thru the hole] then they get set so all fingers touch the plate at the same time when the free-play is just taken out of the release/throw-out bearing..The free-play in the pedal is set on the external trunion linkage.. So the pressure plate may have come apart.. Or, the release arm may have cracked or a pin sheared.. Look in the 'hole' and watch what happens.. Hopefully this can be fixed without removing the transmitter..
 
One full turn is a LOT.You shouldn't be adjusting the free play of the clutch with the pressure plate anyway.Unless something actually broke,it sounds as if the throwout bearing is getting into a binding situation now that you changed the adjustments.Watch it through the hole,when the when the pedal stays down,or is just floating,see if the throwout bearing stayed out jammed into the center of the clutch.If a pin or key sheared,it would most likely just quit altogether,not come and go.
 
When you turned the nuts on the pressure plate fingers I doubt you changed anything. In order to affect a change you would have to take a hack saw blade and clean out the slot where the end of the threaded stud exits the nut. This area is usually swaged over to prevent the adjustment from changing on its own. Then you would have to hold the nut with a wrench and turn the threaded stud with a screwdriver to make any readjustment. Just rotating the nut would cause the shaft to rotate with it and should not have changed anything.

From what you are describing the release arm may have cracked, or the pin sheared, or the same could have happened to the fork and pin that actuates the throw-out bearing. You should be able to determine which it is without taking things apart. I have never seen a pin shear in either, but I have seen a number of release arms crack, especially if someone followed the Ford service bulletin and drilled out an early arm to accomodate the later larger size pin.

Tom Endy
 
Patrick L. said:
Turning each nut one turn doesn't sound good.. The nuts are just lock nuts, that is if we are talking about the right nuts.. If you adjust the pressure plate fingers in the car[thru the hole] then they get set so all fingers touch the plate at the same time when the free-play is just taken out of the release/throw-out bearing..The free-play in the pedal is set on the external trunion linkage.. So the pressure plate may have come apart.. Or, the release arm may have cracked or a pin sheared.. Look in the 'hole' and watch what happens.. Hopefully this can be fixed without removing the transmitter..
Click to expand...

The free play on the trunion linkage was taken all the way up. When i got the car, the clutch would only release once the pedal was on the floor. It was bad. I adjusted this all the way up and it got better. A local model A guy around here said that you can adjust the clutch through the inspection plate. I used a screwdriver to hold the bolt and got about one turn on each nut. That brought my pedal all the way up. I then adjusted the trunion (pedel) linkage back down to accomidate.

Sounds like i may have sheered the roll pin. I dont think the fork is broken, because i can still see it through the inspection plate.

Whats the best way to get to this? I was thinking of unbolting the rearend and ****** all as one.

Marty
 
Marty,
REREAD Tom Endys' reply !! In it he tells you how to adjust CORRECTLY!
Your last entry says that you did the adj ...just the opposite..i.e.-backwards,eh!!
THAT IS: hold nut..adj with screw(correct); you say that you 'held screw and turned nut'.
 
I would check the clutch arm and clutch fork both for any sign of cracking. Press the clutch pedal to the floor and look to see how much the throw out bearing pushes the pressure plate fingers. It sure sounds like a crack in the arm or fork. As Tom said, the arms should not be used for adjustment once they are properly set out of the car.
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
I would check the clutch arm and clutch fork both for any sign of cracking. Press the clutch pedal to the floor and look to see how much the throw out bearing pushes the pressure plate fingers. It sure sounds like a crack in the arm or fork. As Tom said, the arms should not be used for adjustment once they are properly set out of the car.
Click to expand...

"as Tom said"....precisely! But , he did adjust and improperly, according to his words...ergo , his current situation.
 
I had this situation with a customers 29 pheaton and the problem was that the trunion was stripped out. I put a nut on it to get him by for a car show and then changed the trunion. Also sometimes the throwout bearing collar catches the fork and is not centered in the fork. It will act like you have a well set up clutch and then when the shaft moves out a bit, the throwout bearing collar will fall into position and you have a clutch pedal that falls to the floor until it is again readjusted. If you have to take things apart, pulling the engine is a whole lot simpler than pulling the transmission and rear end IMHO.
 
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