New clutch and pedal travel?

Hi
I just had my clutch rebuilt at the local Dodge dealer. I have a 1992 xj with 135k, the slave cylinder inside the bell housing and was loosing fluid. So I asked them to replace the master, slave and clutch.

So I got it back today and the pedal travel doesn't seem right to me for a new clutch. The gears don't disengage until I'm one or two inches from the floorboard. I get good resistance all the way through the pedal but it seems like it should disengage the transmission closer to the top of the pedal with a new clutch.

Is this the way it should be? Does having a new clutch plate act this way or did they mess something up?

They charged a pretty price for this and I would like to think they did a good job but it just feels weak. Anyone want to give me some advice?

Thanks
Marc

Take it back.

Mine disengages with just a few inches of travel.

Rev

I "BELIEVE" most clutches are counter-intiutive for pedal position and wear.

The fingers that pull away the pressure plate, they are levers that reverse the motion from fork/throw out bearing. Notice how the throw out bearing press's into the clutch to pull the pressure plate away (disengage) and throw out bearing pulls out of the clutch to let the springs push the pressure plate in (engage)?

So as the clutch disc wears, and there is less space between flywheel and pressure plate, those fingers extend further and further out and the fork/throw out bearing hit it sooner and disengage/engage the clutch sooner in the pedal throw.

If the clutch disc is new and thicker, and there is greater space between the flywheel and pressure plate, those fingers retract further into the clutch so teh fork/throw out bearing hit it later and engage/disengage the clutch later in the pedal throw.

Take that with a grain of salt, I haven't replaced a clutch, YET. But it sounds like it might be normal. New clutch materials, like brake materials, are much improved, but the penalty that comes along with it is a greater bed-in/break-in period, so your clutch might not seem as strong until it beds-in/breaks-in. Might want to look for advice on how to treat a new clutch that is breaking in?

That could be. My clutch has a "few" miles on it.

Rev

Rev Den said:

Take it back.

Mine disengages with just a few inches of travel.

Rev

Click to expand...

as does mine. Got it done about 6 weeks ago. Resistance on the top of the pedal, and half way down...nice and easy.

Thanks guys
I was wondering if it might break in and give me some more pedal but I am a little worried that it might get worse. It seems strange to get it back from the shop like this.

If I go into reverse with the pedal all the way down it will grind a bit every time.

I was searching last night and found a thread that says the factory service manual states not to resurface the fly wheel and if you do you will get symptoms like this. I was looking at my FSM and didn't quite find it stated that directly. It says to remove no more than .003 in. or something like that. And they did resurface the fly wheel when they had it but isn't that standard?

I took it to Dodge because I figured they would be better at servicing a Jeep than a small shop but now I feel they had a kid with little training and may have never done a clutch job or even drove a car/truck with a clutch before.

Then again I don't want to go back in there accusing them of wrecking my fly wheel and demanding they fix it if I have this all wrong.

Any more input?

Thanks again
Marc

Marc in Arcata said:

And they did resurface the fly wheel when they had it but isn't that standard?

Click to expand...

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.

The only "surfacing" that should be done to the flywheel is a little block sanding....at the most. Depending on how much they removed....that would be an issue. If the flywheel was worn...it should have been replaced. More expense to you...but that is the right way.

Rev

Rev Den said:

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.

The only "surfacing" that should be done to the flywheel is a little block sanding....at the most. Depending on how much they removed....that would be an issue. If the flywheel was worn...it should have been replaced. More expense to you...but that is the right way.

Rev

Click to expand...

My guy wouldn't even use the old flywheel...and the replacement cost to me was 36.00 and some change....

piece of mind is not always as expensive as you'd think.

was this at lithia?

No PapaPump I don't live in Humboldt anymore. I just need to change my sign in nick. This was at the Chrysler in Tracy, CA

And thanks everybody for the input. I always get great responses from my jerky questions here.

It might be as simple as having them bleed the air out of the system again. As the others mentions, the flywheel is not supposed to be flat or machined flat.