Reply to "clutch adjustment"

The rod adjustment sets the position of the piston in the slave cylinder so it is in the working area. Too long and the piston will bottom in the top of the cylinder not allowing the free play to be set. When the clutch arm is on the correct spline on the clutch shaft it should all fit together so the only adjustment needed is the free play. The home position of the throwout bearing is controlled by the free play stop bolt. Because the slave is filled with hydraulic fluid it automatically adjust so that wherever the free play stop is positioned so the slave piston will move in sync with the master piston like a direct connection. Once you can grasp the concept of how it works and adjusted it is quite simple.

Things I’ve seen that messed up the clutch system:

1. Bad flywheel surface
2. Wrong clutch disc
3. Wrong clutch cover
4. Damaged or wrong throwout bearing
5. Throwout bearing retaining spring installed incorrectly
6. Front bearing in ZF slid back from case
7. Binding clutch shaft
8. Clutch arm on wrong spline
9. Broken clutch arm
10. Rod adjustment wrong
11. Free play set wrong
12. Missing free play stop
13. Leaking slave
14. Air in system
15. Master bypassing
16. Master leaking
17. Master push rod out of adjustment (too much free play/not enough
18. Clutch pedal set too low or too high
19. Oil on clutch plate

Mike