lutch Chatter

Al 29Tudor

Al 29Tudor

Well-known member
I'm getting a lot of clutch chatter and I wonder what other model A owners have found is the cause.
Les Andrews blue book lists ten possible causes and I'm wondering if there is a common cause.
Thanks for your help.
Al
 
Al 29Tudor said:
I'm getting a lot of clutch chatter and I wonder what other model A owners have found is the cause.
Les Andrews blue book lists ten possible causes and I'm wondering if there is a common cause.
Thanks for your help.
Al
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Hey Al,
Don't know what 'common cause' is, but some have different rear motor mounts. I have FAM rear mounts.
I was getting a clutch chatter develop over a long period of time. I looked the rubber parts over on the mounts and decided that it was time for new rubber.
Just changed out all rubber parts, which I got from Snyders.
NO more chatter. The engine is sitting at the proper angle ...again,.. as compared to sagging, etc.
Hope this gives someone help. Good luck.
 
Al,
Try taking off Gently in second, for a month. That cured Minervas' chatter.
Let me know if that helps, if so, I'll explain WHY it helped.
Bill Smooth
 
If you suspect oil on the clutch, try a fairly aggressive start from a stop in 2nd gear. This usually applies enough heat and friction to clean things up. Then 1st gear starts work well for a while. It won't be a permanent fix, but if it helps, you can be pretty sure it is oil. There are dozens of threads on main oil leaks.
 
BILL WILLIAMSON said:
Al,
Try taking off Gently in second, for a month. That cured Minervas' chatter.
Let me know if that helps, if so, I'll explain WHY it helped.
Bill Smooth
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Hey Smooth,
Back when, we used to use an apple tree trunk to achieve same results..only quicker. Burning viscous junk and rust off of clutch surfaces is a bandage fix, till you can find enough time/money to do it right sometime. Rear main oil leaks were/are common (cause for chatter) and may need to be fixed when in there also.
 
Take the cover off the bell housing and see if your clutch disc is a solid one or the spring type, sometimes the springs break and can cause a lot of noise.

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The clutch disk photo shown in the above post is an example of the poor quality clutch disk that flooded the Model A market a number of years ago. They are prone to failure as there is only the spring pressure of each spring holding it into the window. I have seen a number of them fail. If a spring becomes dislodged it will jam the clutch.


The attached article explains the situation. The article was written a few years ago and since then most of the better suppliers now stock the better clutch disk.


Tom Endy
 

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Jacksonlll said:
Before you take things apart, make sure you don't have a broken rear spring shakle.
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Just curious... how can a broke rear spring shackle sound like a chattering clutch, you have really perked my curiosity here, and I know you have WAY more experience than I with A's, please elaborate
 
I was told by a friend from MN that an old farm cure was to run up to a tree or telephone pole and put it in second or third and let the clutch out ever so slowly. Not all the way because you want to burn off the oil a bit. It will smoke a bunch. Then let it sit for a spell to let things cool of before you drive it anywhere. Repeat as needed, but don't let it get too hot or it may warp something, then you'll have a bigger problem. Just get a cloud of smoke and quit. Often it takes a couple of times to cure the judder.
 
On the broken shackle, I ran across this last year. As the rear axle wants to move forward or rearward, the broken shackle is still holding up the car, but lets the axle on that side to move just a little in a slip/stick fashion and fool you. I don't know why the shackle did not break all the way, but it just fell off when we unloaded it.
 
On Minerva, I "think" the usual chatter caused HIGHS & LOWS in the lining material, the smooth 2nd gear take offs helped smooth them out level. ANYHOW, it worked for me.
Bill Smooth
 
Hi All,
Well I have some things to look at and try.
Burning oil off the disk, rear shackles and taking off in second.
I'm planning to change the rear end in the next couple months and I can check run out of flywheel and housing then but in the mean time there are things to try.
Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.
AL
 
Taking of in second helped mine 100%.
You need very little slip to get the Model A going in first. Some people like to really slip the clutch which is BAD!
 
Jacksonlll said:
On the broken shackle, I ran across this last year. As the rear axle wants to move forward or rearward, the broken shackle is still holding up the car, but lets the axle on that side to move just a little in a slip/stick fashion and fool you. I don't know why the shackle did not break all the way, but it just fell off when we unloaded it.
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It's a 'design feature' of these cars ;)
 
In my opinion, the most common problem is exactly what Tom Endy said. A poor quality clutch disc. A poor quality or poorly adjusted pressure plate would be second, and the third most likely problem would be with the flywheel.
 
My "clutch chatter" wasn't the clutch at all. It was a quarter inch of play in the universal joint.

But, I was a good boy and replaced the flywheel, ring gear, clutch, pressure plate, universal joint, throwout bearing, and all the trimmings for the next fifty years of touring. :)
 

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I tried the tree method today. My wife thought I had finally gone over the edge, but it worked. Substantial improvement.
 
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