Clutch Adjustment

The factory instructions were in the owners manual and also in the Tech Service Bulletins, of which all Pantera owners should have a copy. But beyond what they describe, you should check the disengagement distance at the flywheel. In a Pantera, this is done with a feeler gauge thru the bellhousing access hole. With the clutch fully depressed, you should be able to insert a 0.040" feeler gauge between the disc & flywheel. This means 0.020" clearance on both sides of the disc: barely-enough. If not, you have too much slop in your system and no amount of adjustment on the slave cylinder will help. Less than 0.040" means that the clutch drags at each shift, wearing the synchros in the ZF trans. ZF synchros are all-steel so when they wear out, they take the mating gear with them. A trans overhaul with gear replacement will likely cost $2000-4000, so it behooves everyone to adjust for maximum disengagement, regardless of 'freeplay'. Many modern throwout bearings are designed for constant-contact so clearance or freeplay is unnecessary with these. Additionally,'L' models have a complex overcenter linkage under the dash. It's made of multiple all-steel links & pivots, all of which have likely not seen grease since the car rolled out of the factory and will be severely worn. Some pieces will need rewelding & redrilling to remove wear and slop in the linkage, as the individual parts are irreplaceable.

Thanks Jack. I will have the wife depress the clutch, and see if I can get in there to measure. I checked my owners manual, but it is too basic and doesn�t really describe the two screws on the slave cylinder. No one seems to know the difference between the two screws on the slave cyl. Maybe Ill just toss out the small one and see how it drives, as it seems to serve no purpose anyway.

I added more info to the page on the Pantera Place. Hope it helps.

Thanks for the info Mike (also your website is great).

I can adjust with the slave cyl screw alone to get 1/16" free play, by keep tightening the slave cyl screw alone. So there seems to be no need for the small post screw.

I understand what you are doing with the slave cylinder piston adjustment. I would recommend that you find a Pantera tech manual first, so you can see how the factory was trying to make it work and then decide how you want it to work. They go into detail on how long the adjustable piston rod should be. The stop adjustment on the arm was designed so that the slave cylinder piston does not bottom out in the slave cylinder. I�m not sure why they did no want the piston to contact the top end of the cylinder. As I recall the seal is not in the way but it would be very close to the end of the cylinder. The stop on the arm may provide a more precise stop than going through the piston linkage. Some of the early cars did not have the stop adjustment on the arm or the spring and then they added it early in 1971. This is a very critical adjustment and you will want to make sure it is correct. I've added a new page that covers the adjustment in more detail.




[This message has been edited by Mike Dailey (edited 06-25-2001).]

Thanks for the detailed info. It seems that I need a tech manual to read this section in particular. Is the service manual perfered over the tech bulletins?

The manuals can be purchased from Pantera International. I would recommend a complete set of manuals; owners, parts, service, ZF and TSBs. I have a page on the website that explains each book.

Thanks for the update on your website Mike. However, the only way I could get pressure to build up on the clutch peddal was to screw in the small post screw beyond any free movement of the post. So where it is now, I can not move the post back and forth by hand, yet it shifts great. However, my other alternative is to losten the bolt some, get slight freeplay, resulting in barley any peddal pressure and grinding gears. I thoroughly blead the system too. I wonder if the slave cylinder that I have may adjust differently, because it sure does not work with any free movement of the post.

Expect that your master is leaking pressure so that you are not getting the full amount of fluid transferred to the slave.

Mike,I think you are correct about the master cyl possibly taking up air somewhere. There is no air in the slave cyl when I bleed it, however the peddal still gets soft. I can pump it up hard again (that's what she said), but then it gets soft again when driving. So, any tips on how to bleed the master? This car has had over $100K in restoration, so everything is new, so I would suspect air is in there somewhere, rather than needing a new master. It has braided hoses, so not sure which bolt on the master to bleed, do I loosten the bolt on the braided hose closest to the master, or one of the next bolts down on the braided lines? Thanks for your help, I am getting tired of grinding gears.

You bleed the master the same way you blled the master on the brakes. You pump up the master then crack the line were it enters the master. this will bleed off any air that has not already entered the system. I bleed my whole system by using a vacuum pump on the cylinder end and pulling the fluid from the master cylinder res. Good Luck

See the page on my website that covers the Pantera Hydraulic Clutch System. There is a section on the page that shows how to bleed the system.

Mike, all I saw on the site was how to bleed at the slave cyl. But according to david, it doesn't seem too difficult to bleed at the master in the front trunk area. This is my last hope, otherwise...garage/trailer queen.

The entire hydraulic clutch system is bleed at the top of the clutch slave. You need to keep bleeding the system and adding fluid until all of the air is out of the system, e.g. the master, the line and the slave. Bleeding the system is a fairly easy process so in your case it sounds like something else is wrong. With all of the air out it should work so you must have a bad seal in your master that lets some of the fluid bypass when you move the clutch in. Try pumping the clutch pedal a few times when you shift and see if that helps disengage the clutch. If pumping the clutch pedal helps the problem you most likely have a bad master seal. I would talk to the vender that did restoration on the car and see what help they can give you, e.g. provide advice, a seal kit or a new master. Replacing the master is not a real easy job because of its location.

Thanks Mike. I was told by a very reputable Pantera mechanic to bleed at the hose connection at the Master in addition to the slave cyl. (since bleeding numerous times at the slave cyl didn't help much). So, I may try that also...I guess it couldn't hurt to give it a try.

Not really satisfied with my clutch adjustment yet, thinking I may have to try and replace the master and slave next if I can't get major improvemnets. I blead the system, for what I could with the wife at the pedals complaining. But when under the dash looking around, I noticed that the clutch pedal has about 1/2 inch of initial travel of complete slack (no pressure) measured at the bottom of the pedal. Should this be adjusted to have no initial free travel? Maybe that would give me greater pedal travel under pressure? Please help before I shoot at it like Elvis.

To Bad you did not live in oregon, I could help you. I spent two days straight cussing mine after a put in a clutch reduction kit. I finally hooked up a vacuum pump to the clutch slave cylinder end by the transmission. I found that it was highly important to make sure that all the connections were tight. I then took out the bleed screw completly and applied and adapter that the vacuum kit pump gave me. After a couple of hand crampings I was able to completly bleed the system. After I did that the system was fine. It also helps toi make sure that the salve cylinder is lower than the master. AGian good luck and dont shoot your car.

Thanks for the info, I am going to try and pick up a pump at PepBoys today ($39), as the wife complains too much when pumping (the pedal). How about the pedal under the dash? When mine is fully released, there is about 1/2" of total free play at the pedal (with no pressure), even when I get all the air out. It looks like some adjustment can be made at a bolt at the pedal under the dash to give no free play at the pedal when the pedal is released. Seems like this would give greater pedal travel, or is there some reason that some free play should be at the pedal?

I dont have to push mine all the way to the floor. I only depress it a couple of inches and the clutch releases. I cant see the 1/2 inch making that much difference.