Hello,

I am not finding much info online or in books so I thought I would post.

Have 1990 f250 with zf 5 speed and 460. Just replaced the clutch with a luk clutch # 07-910. The kit came with a new pilot bushing, throwout bearing, clutch disc and pressure plate.

I had the flywheel turned and it was in pretty bad shape but salvageable the shop said they removed 0.050" So I reinstalled the flywheel with the corresponding shim. installed the clutch components and also new slave cylinder because there was a leak in the seal between slave and hose joint.

Got clutch circuit bled out best i could and gave truck a test drive around parking lot did a few stops and starts, shifted 1st-3rd gear, used reverse. Everything seems to be working fine the only issue i have is that the friction point is very low. It is almost like maybe 1 inch or a little more off the floor, and I have to very gently ease the pedal up to let it roll otherwise it snaps forward (not that Im complaining lol) as best as I can tell the clutch is fully engaged after about another inch 1.5" of travel and then the last couple to three inches is just the pedal returning to the full stop. Before, the old clutch was almost completely worn out and so the friction point was near the top.

My questions:

1) Is this normal and i am just not used to the brand new clutch?

2) If it is not normal what is the problem and what can be done to correct it? Since it is hydraulic I thought there was not supposed to be any method of adjustment?

Thank you,

Thomas

 

I seemed to have the opposite problem a while ago on the way into tuscon I'd let the clutch out at a stoplight and it wouldn't move much I drove the last mile to the recruiting station with the clutch "engaged" with the motor doing about 4000 in second gear but your problem sounds normal to me

 

This is normal. Your old clutch was just very worn out. I just went through the same thing and it takes awhile to adjust to the new clutch.

 

While my 95 F250 has about 134K on it and is the original clutch, mine starts to engage about 1" off the floor and is fully engaged at about the midway point. I think yours is slightly off.
Did you check the plastic bushings on the pedal to make sure they weren't worn, cracked or missing?
Do you have sideways play on the pedal.
When you redid everything did you remove the cross shaft at the pedals and adjust the plunger rod to re-spline the shaft.
Are you certain you bled the system well enough, because they are a pain the get all the air out of.

 

Also, if you're still concerned. Check for fire wall flex. Common problem.

 

If nothing in the hydraulic system (i.e. slave cylinder) or pedal linkage was replaced along with the clutch, I would suspect it just needs to be bled. You are correct that the hydraulic system should be very consistent between a new disc and an old worn disc in terms of engagement point. It is possible that the new pressure plate requires more movement to fully release than the original, but I would start with bleeding the hydraulic system first.

 

thank you all i did find that the pedal bushing was broken. replaced it and made a huge difference. also i did notice some firewall flex from inside the cab and have the TSB in hand to fix that problem. thank you all for your support.