Clutches

Basic purpose
Used to disengage engine from input shaft
Flywheel
Bolted to crankshaft
Provides surface for clutch disc to work on

Clutch disc
Splined to transmission input shaft
Fits between flywheel and pressure plate

Basic purpose
Pressure plate
Bolted to flywheel
Applies squeezing pressure to disc
Acted on by throw out bearing

Flywheel

Flywheel
Acts as engine balancer
Works with crank balancer to smooth out firing
pulses
Some will be balanced to engine

Adds inertia to engine rotation

Works as heat sink for clutch
Ring gear for starter engagement
Some vehicles have dual mass flywheel

Flywheel service
Visually inspect for hot spots, grooves,
scoring and cracks
Check with dial indicator for runout and
crank end play
Most flywheels can (should) be resurfaced
Must remove dowel pins

Inspect ring gear

Flywheel service
Flywheel should be marked before
removing to maintain balance
On Front wheel drive cars a lot of
Flywheels are used for Ignition timing
marks. They should be marked before
removing. Some will only bolt on one way
dont take the chance MARK IT

Clutch disc

Clutch disc

Friction material disc splined to input shaft

Friction material may contain ASBESTOS
Friction material can be bonded or riveted
Friction is attached to wave springs
Most have torsional dampener springs
Normal wearing component
Normally a worn out disc will cause slipping

Clutch disc service

Inspect for wear similar to brake pads
Common to have loose or broken springs
Common failure due to oil contamination
Must find cause BEFORE repair

Normally purchased in kit containing

pressure plate, disc, throw out bearing

Clutch disc service

Clutch disc will normally have a flywheel
side
Disc must be centered with clutch
alignment tool before pressure plate bolted
down
Make sure new disc fits on input shaft of
the transmission before you install it

Pressure plate

Pressure plate
Provides clamping pressure to disc
Works like spring loaded clamp

Bolted to _________________
Can use Belleville spring acted on by
Throw Out bearing
Can use coil springs and levers acted on by
Throw Out bearing

Pressure plate service

Mark relation to flywheel if reused
Remove bolts slowly in criss-cross pattern
Inspect fingers for parallelism, cracking or
uneven wear
Inspect friction surface for hot spots, cracks etc
and with straight edge for warpage
Must be torqued to specs and in sequence
Uses hard bolts

Release/ throw out bearing

Release/ throw out bearing

Acted on by clutch fork - acting on pressure
plate
Moves toward flywheel when pedal pushed
Slides on front portion of transmission
called bearing retainer
Normally not in contact with pressure plate
until pedal pushed

Release bearing service

Very common failure - isolated by lightly
applying clutch and listening
Inspect for looseness or roughness
Most are sealed but some were lubeable
Clutch fork must be lubed at pivot point and
bearing contact points
Bearing retainer and input shaft should be lubed
Clutch fork must be secured at the pivot point

Pilot bearing / bushing

Used on some cars

Supports front of transmission input shaft
Can be needle bearing or bronze bushing
May be part of clutch kit

Pilot servicing
Should always be changed with clutch
Can be isolated by applying clutch in gear
Special pullers may be used for removal
Can be removed with grease

Should be lightly lubed on installation

Clutch linkage
Can be operated by cable, rods or
hydraulics
May be automatic or manually adjusted
Hydraulic will have a master and slave
cylinder
Will use brake fluid for hydraulic action
Will need bleeding with repairs

The End