Clutch pressure plate bolts

[shomesomesho]

Clutch pressure plate bolts fiasco

I just finished doing the clutch on the Plus. New PP, disk, rev B TOB, flywheel.

I took a chance and re-used the old pressure plate bolts. Yes I did loctite them and stage torque as recommended.

Started the car and observed that the clutch pedal vibrates.
D@mmit! Apparently this is due to PP bolts backing out or
being faulty in some way (LINK).

Looks like I'm gonna have to get back in there and replace
the PP bolts, right?

Question - will any high strength M8 x 1.25 x 30 bolt suffice, or do I have to specifically use the Ford manufactured PP bolts? Unfortunately the local Ford dealer
doesn't have them (part no. N806606-S100).

 

[Ishodu]

You could check the bolts by pulling the starter and looking at them there. A crows foot should be able to tighten them up too. If you did indeed locktite them and put them to there correct TQ I douth that would have came loose. How long was it before the vibration started? Instant? What kind of Flywheel did you put in? Also I see No issues reusing the bolts unless they are damaged or stretched in someway.

 

[shomesomesho]

The vibration started instantly. The flywheel is aluminum 9lbs
Fidanza. The threads on the tips of the bolts did look a little thin when
I first took them out. At the time I thought "maybe I should
replace these" but was too impatient to get the clutch done.

 

[pjtoledo]

Did you adjust the clutch pedal? Pulling up on the pedal is how it's done. The light weight flywheel may be contributing to the vibration, some of the guys with one installed will have better answers than me.

Perry

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

What kind of disc are you using?

Did you have the entire assembly (PP and flywheel) balanced together?

 

[Ishodu]

Did you make sure all the little screws holding the insert in the flywheel where tight? Did you use the dowel pins with the flywheel? Were they too long? Did you get them in the right holes the first time?

 

[shomesomesho]

Yes, I adjusted the clutch pedal.

The disc plus pressure plate are new Spec Stage III (same setup as in my '91 Mocha - never had problems on that car).
TOB is Josh's ceramic.

Yes, I checked all the screws on the flywheel insert - every single one was tight..
Yes, I did use the dowel pins for the flywheel and yes I put them in the correct holes (this is the 3rd Fidanza flywheel I have used so I'm pretty familiar with them).
I did press the dowel pins all the way in and used loctite.

I've done 6 clutches on my own and this is the first time I've encountered the "vibrating clutch pedal" problem.

This is driving me nuts so pretty much I'm thinking I'll need to replace the PP bolts they did look pretty worn and I'm a dumb@ss for re-using them, but my question really is can I just use high strength m8 x 1.25 x 30 bolts from the hardware store or do they absolutely have to be Ford manufactured bolts?

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

I have reused the PP bolts in my SHO multiple times. (ive put 3 clutches in it) ****, they may even be original. (the car has now had 6 clutches)

And I have never had any PP bolt issues.

And you said that these vibes started IMEDIATELY, right? I cannot see this being a PP bolt problem, if it started the instant you fired it up.

I do know, however, that the last clutch I installed (SHOnut HD PP and Fibertuff disc) did exactly what you are describing. Vibes thru the pedal upon startup.... imediately.

In my case, it was (is) the disc. And it took a few thousand miles for it to smooth out. I spoke to Josh about it, and it has something to do with both the construction of the disc, and how it centers (or does not center) itself. It has smoothed out though. Zero vibes thru the pedal now.

The Stage 3 Spec has a disc that is very similar to that of the fibertuff.

 

[shomesomesho]

That's a good point you bring up. But the first Spec Stage III I installed (in the MOcha '91) didn't have this problem, it was smooth as silk (and still is).

Nevertheless, I drove the Plus around a couple hours today and the clutch pedal vibration seems to have gone down a bit, but it's not totally gone.

It's still bugging the cr@p outta me though, everytime I shift, I feel this vibrator attacking the ball of my left foot. Eeeek.

Debating whether to give it a little more time or tear it back apart and inspect.

 

[jedhead]

I went to a shop and bought the same grade of fasteners and used loctite 272 on my pressure plate.

Bob

 

[shomesomesho]

I went to a shop and bought the same grade of fasteners and used loctite 272 on my pressure plate.

Bob

Cool, that's what I wanted to know..

 

[SHO#7]

My local dealer directed me to a compay called greensales. They make parts that Ford discontinues. Or something along those lines.

I bought new bolts from them. They had over 80 or so in stock. If you need help with getting some, let me know. I would be glad to assist you in getting new bolts.

Mike

 

[shomesomesho]

I couldn't take it anymore so I took down the clutch again.

Turns out one of the flywheel dowels either did not get pressed in all the way, or was too long. This prevented the pressure plate from evenly mating with the flywheel, causing the PP fingers to be uneven, i.e. not on the same plane, where they contact the TOB. This is what caused the vibration.

I took my grinder and shortened the dowel to proper length, and this time made sure the entire circumference of the pressure plate mated evenly onto the flywheel..

I put in fresh PP bolts as well, found the equivalent size/grade at Autozone.

All is well now, and the clutch pedal is smooth as silk and totally vibration-free.

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

Good to hear you got it figured out , and even better to hear it was an "easy" fix.

 

[Ishodu]

Good stuff. I shorted all my dowels on my flywheel, they seemed all too long.

 

[SASHO91]

hmm.. i believe i found my problem now as well... made a thread about the same problem.... the fingers were "bent" ....

thanks for the insight....

 

[dstig1]

Hmmm. I had the same problem when I did my clutch 4 yrs/~50k miles ago. Instant vibration. I just did a stock clutch, nothing special. Been living with it ever since (it seems not quite as bad as initially, but that could easily be just getting used to it). I figured I didn't get something quite right or aligned, but it was so much damn work to do the clutch I vowed I would never do it again. Perhaps it was the dowel pins as you describe, or just not quite seating the PP all the way somehow.

I still won't take it apart again. The tranny is my "fold" point with this car. I won't take the tranny out myself again. Just too painful. And I had a helper. I do all my own work, and I never have a helper.

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

I do all the work myself. Tranny removal/install is quite easy if you have the car off the ground far enough to get yourself in there. It pays in this respect to work at a lumber yard. I grab 6x12 header stock and make blocks Rasing the subframe back into place is always the fun part for me

Good stuff. I shorted all my dowels on my flywheel, they seemed all too long.

Now that I think about it, so did I.

 

[dstig1]

Sorry, but I will strongly disagree. I had my car jacked up as far as I could (lots higher than I ever had for any other work) and didn't feel there was a problem with room. Just too many parts to pull to get there, many of them are the PITA parts to get off (that damn lower ball joint, exhaust studs, etc) and I do not regularly bench 220 (subframe, tranny). Hey, I'm not saying it's impossible by any means - I did it after all. Just that it is too much work to do again, for me. And I have done a ton of work on this car over the years (maint & some mods), so I am no stranger to it.

I call the tranny my "line in the sand" on the SHO. It'll probably last the life of the car at this point anyways. It's closing in on 14yrs, driven year-round in minnesota. Rust will **** it before anything else.

"A man's gotta know his limitations" - Some Clint Eastwood character...

 

[jedhead]

We my brother and I rebuilt my tranny we took it out the driver's side wheel well. The only bad things that happened was the brake fluid reservour was broken ($10 at the junkyard). It was a pain to put the tranny back in because we had to lift it over the subframe rails. We didn't drop the subframe and did not drop the exhaust.

Bob