I have question about old cars - pre year 2000. Some of them manual gearbox cars used "cable operated" clutch. In such systems there's supposed to be air gap between the fingers of the pressure plate and the throwout bearing contact flange. My question - why is this gap decreasing and it needs to be adjusted at given intervals. Is it because the clutch plate wears as i am thinking or is it something else? Second question - Can you estimate amount of clutch plate wear by the height of the clutch pedal? If the owner didn't adjusted the air gap ever , the clutch pedal will be higher because the fingers of the pressure plate contacted and pushed back on the throwout bearing and lever , which through the cable made the clutch pedal higher?
Good questions. On most vehicles a push release clutch mechanism is used. I use a push release design in this video. On cable and mechanic linkage clutch systems there should be a small air gap between the bearing and the pressure plate spring. This gap adds free play to the clutch system that can be felt and measured at the clutch pedal. Free play is required to ensure the pressure plate is applying full spring pressure onto the disk. As the disk wears this gap decreases and starts to apply pressure onto the throwout bearing. This will eventually cause premature wear on the bearing, clutch disk and pressure plate. This is why a cable or mechanical linkage clutch system periodically needs readjustment. Disk wear can not be measured at the pedal because the pedal has a pedal stop bolt that is used to adjust the maximum height of the pedal. The idea is that the clutch and brake pedals are the same height. Just an FYI clutch cables cannot push back from the bearing to the pedal. Cables can not push because a cable is flexible, cables can only pull. I'm going to start working on a video about clutch release systems and pedal assemblies in the near future.
If I ever got a bearing out of the box that sounded like the second one I would be very hesitant to install it. If it doesn't make noise right away it will before the life of the clutch is ready to be replaced.
That running transmission to simulate a running engine is great teaching.
Excellent video. Great teaching style and editing. Thank you. Jim in Oregon
Quality teaching!
Thank you for sharing.
I have question about old cars - pre year 2000. Some of them manual gearbox cars used "cable operated" clutch. In such systems there's supposed to be air gap between the fingers of the pressure plate and the throwout bearing contact flange. My question - why is this gap decreasing and it needs to be adjusted at given intervals. Is it because the clutch plate wears as i am thinking or is it something else? Second question - Can you estimate amount of clutch plate wear by the height of the clutch pedal? If the owner didn't adjusted the air gap ever , the clutch pedal will be higher because the fingers of the pressure plate contacted and pushed back on the throwout bearing and lever , which through the cable made the clutch pedal higher?
Good questions. On most vehicles a push release clutch mechanism is used. I use a push release design in this video. On cable and mechanic linkage clutch systems there should be a small air gap between the bearing and the pressure plate spring. This gap adds free play to the clutch system that can be felt and measured at the clutch pedal. Free play is required to ensure the pressure plate is applying full spring pressure onto the disk. As the disk wears this gap decreases and starts to apply pressure onto the throwout bearing. This will eventually cause premature wear on the bearing, clutch disk and pressure plate. This is why a cable or mechanical linkage clutch system periodically needs readjustment. Disk wear can not be measured at the pedal because the pedal has a pedal stop bolt that is used to adjust the maximum height of the pedal. The idea is that the clutch and brake pedals are the same height. Just an FYI clutch cables cannot push back from the bearing to the pedal. Cables can not push because a cable is flexible, cables can only pull. I'm going to start working on a video about clutch release systems and pedal assemblies in the near future.
Some of the bearings i get make noise out the box like the 2nd one
If I ever got a bearing out of the box that sounded like the second one I would be very hesitant to install it. If it doesn't make noise right away it will before the life of the clutch is ready to be replaced.