95_SE_5spd

alright ladies and gents, in the course of 10 hours, i have removed the transmission, installed a new flywheel, clutch, pressure plate, and throw out bearing. hooked everything back up, bled the clutch, and all that good crap, fired up the mighty max...pushed in the clutch...can't get into gear. check the throw out bearing, it's working famously...turn off the car, it goes in gear, i fire it up, it's making a hellacious noise, release the clutch, which is feeling rather soft by the way, and squealing occurs...shut her down. in the same ten hours i got the car back on the stands, pulled the wheels, drained the tranny fluid, pulled the axles, unhooked all the sensors and doodamabobbers, pulled the bellhousing bolts unhooked the mount, and took the b*tch out again...only to find that the fingers on the new exedy pressure plate, seem to look pretty dern flat, not much of a mound to them...that would explain the weak clutch feel, lack of engagement, and all my other proverbial transmission problems. what i'm wondering, is there a way to bend those fingers out a bit, or has anyone else had an experience like this, or am i going to have to get a new pressure plate? i'm tired, and i'm cranky, and i just want my car back...any suggestions will be taken openly...thanks everyone.

J

oldngivout

iTrader: (8)

Did you install the clutch disc in the proper direction, with the flat part of the center hub facing the flywheel?

95_SE_5spd

yep, that's what i initially thought was the problem thinking maybe i wasn't thinking or something, but all the components were installed correctly.

oldngivout

iTrader: (8)

Did you pull the pressure plate in gradually with the bolts, alternating the sequence so as not to warp the cover?

The throwout bearing can sometimes be a ***** to get properly aligned on the release fork, especially if it has retaining clips on the ears.

Something isn't right, obviously. You don't want to go bending the clutch fingers to correct a mistake.

95_SE_5spd

yes i pulled it gradually, and i'm next to positive the throw out bearing was seated correctly, because that was my first inclination, i checked it through the fork boot, and whenever the clutch was disengaged it would press up against the plate, but i'm thinking not enough...i literally measured from the floor to the fingers of both pressure plates, the stock fingers were raised about another 1/4 inch, granted that's not much, but it still could be enough to mess with something like that.

oldngivout

iTrader: (8)

I 'm not sure about aftermarket clutches in Nissans, but when I used to work on older Chevy V-8's there were two different height throwout bearings available.

You can bet the short one would not properly disengage a clutch that was designed for the longer one.

I can say that with the stock Nissan clutch installed on the flywheel, the fingers at rest are very neary flat, before the bearing comes in contact with them to begin disengaging the clutch.

Without seeing it firsthand, I guess I'm out of ideas.

95_SE_5spd

i truly appreciate all your help, i'm going to have another go at it tomorrow, and be a bit more meticulous with things and see how it goes, it's becoming natural to pull the tranny, so what's a third time if need be? thanks again.

anyone else have any sort of suggestions? has anyone heard of a longer throwout? or am i just retarded?

J

oldngivout

iTrader: (8)

Sorry I couldn't be more help. I tried.

I will bump you to the top for some more views.

95_SE_5spd

well...i think i'm just retarded...according to the haynes manual there's only one bleeder valve...dirty b*tches...so after all my troubles...i didn't have to pull the tranny the second time...learn from the dummy's mistake kids...bleed from BOTH points. gotta go put the tranny back in, and hope that the bleeding was the problem because i can't figure anything else out.

J

Requin6

iTrader: (36)

you also dont have to relieve the clutch lines of pressure to drop the tranny. in the future if you ever have to drop the tranny again...leave the clutch lines in tact so you dont have to worry about bleeding the clutch lines. and yes...if you only bled from one of the valves you will have lots of air in the line. i am surprised your clutch pedal even came off the floor once ou pressed it in if you only bled one valve.

hopefully a proper bleeding is your problem...good luck!

95_SE_5spd

...nothing. i've got it all back together, bled both lines, triple checked everything, and the clutch is still very soft, and it won't go in gear. should i keep bleeding, or is it possibly the pressure plate? all help is appreciated.

J

oldngivout

iTrader: (8)

Can you possibly look inside the trans, through the clutch fork boot area, and see if you have sufficient travel on the throwout bearing?

You will of course need someone to press the pedal while you look at it from underneath the car. Also, look and see if the slave cylinder pushrod is moving as well. Check to see that your slave cylinder is not leaking down also. Pull back the dust boot around the rod and look for fluid. Sometimes new clutches overwhelm old slave cylinders and cause them to leak.

95_SE_5spd

what would be sufficient travel? i know it contacts the pressure plate, but i don't know if that's what i'm necessarily looking for. i'll have to check out the slave cylinder tonight after work. thanks alot for the help, hopefully i come up with something.

J

Requin6

iTrader: (36)

might need to keep bleeding...it took me a while when i did it last. (20 bleeds on each bleeder)

oldngivout

iTrader: (8)

At rest, the bearing should be very close to, if not touching the fingers of the pressure plate. When you have someone press the pedal, the bearing should move forward. I don't know exactly how much, possibly 12-15mm. You should see definite movement of the bearing and the clutch fingers.

You may also need to adjust the free play at the clutch pedal itself. After pushing the pedal down about 5-8mm, you should begin to actuate the slave cylinder. The pushrod on the pedal going through the firewall is used to adjust this. Sometimes after a new clutch install, this will need adjusting.

95_SE_5spd

i feel so stupid...

i got the problem figured out and fixed. i want to thank you guys for all the advice, but it didn't even turn out to be the hydralic system at all. i installed a fidanza flywheel along with the clutch...well, little to my knowledge, seeing as though this is the first clutch and flywheel job i've done, i wasn't supposed to put the centering hub back on the flywheel. so the clutch was pressing up against that the whole time, and the fact of the matter is, none of the friction material was pressing up against the flywheel...ever. i'm sorry i put you guys through mental turmoil, and i'm sure the flaming will begin. thanks again guys, i appreciate it tons.

J

oldngivout

iTrader: (8)

OK, great, you fixed it. Please explain what this centering hub thing is. I am interested in avoiding this mistake in the future. Is it something from the old clutch, or the new one?

95_SE_5spd

it's from the old flywheel. it's used as a spacer plate i guess. it's a plate with a lip that goes over the front of the flywheel and it bolts in. i'll take a picture of it tonight when i get home and post it up, it's kind of hard to explain. i'm just happy that it's fixed, i'm glad to have the max back. the aluminum flywheel rocks and the exedy grabs hard, so i'm pretty damn satisfied. thanks for all your help again man.

J

bearded

so you ended up dropping your transmission three times to replace your clutch! WOW

95_SE_5spd

haha, yeah, last night i had a buddy from work helping me out...nissan books clutch assembly replacement at 6.3 hours, we did in 4...so, if anyone needs to change the tranny in a 4th gen max...i'm sure i could be of use.

acj

Yeah, what’s the deal with this centering hub? I've replaced tons of clutches in our garage, have great mechanical experience and any tool imaginable…but I haven’t replaced a clutch in my max yet, so I was just curious on this.

I will tackle this during x-mas break, and was wondering about this centering hub before I dive in. I’ll be going back with an OEM clutch and will probably just turn the flywheel…and I hate having to do a repeat of a job because of a stupid mistake.

Side note: the last clutch job I did was for a 95 chevy, and I was in the same situation as you. however, bleeding the line fixed my problem and I assume its been running great since.

95_SE_5spd

if you use the stock flywheel, you need to keep it. i'd suggest marking it in relationship with the pilot bearing, just so it goes back and everything maintains balance. the only reason i ran into a problem is because i have an aftermarket flywheel that was manufactured to accept the flywheel bolts without this plate needing to be present. the stock flywheel has a recess in it for the plate, and because i was negligent, i didn't notice the mounting point of the fidanza flywheel was different. like i said, i'll take a picture of the stock flywheel and the plate i'm talking about, just to give you guys an idea, and if anyone does an aftermarket flywheel DO NOT INSTALL THE PLATE WITH IT don't be dumb like me.

later,

J

95_SE_5spd

as promised here are the photos of the stock flywheel and the plate that goes with it.





the small plate was my problem... enjoy

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Sorry to hear about the hassles. But thanks for the pictures and description. I'm sure it will at least help others avoid the problem in the future.