Installed a new clutch and slave today. Kept the same master cylinder.

The problem I am having is that the clutch pedal will not go to the floor, and therefore the truck won't start. The slave is moving back and forth roughly 3/8 inch, maybe more. I am pretty confident that there is no air in th system.

If I loosen the pressure plate a little, the clutch will go to the floor. But tighten it back up, and it again only goes down about 75%.

This is a late '95 so it has the self adjusting clutch. I did get the correct kit for it, as well as slave. It's like the self adjusting part is too far adjusted and won't let my slave travel as far as needed.

In troubleshooting, I did notice that I failed to get the dowels in the flywheel aligned in the pressure plate. I am old school and not used to dowels in th flywheel! The dowels are not hitting anything and are not preventing the pressure plate from seating on the flywheel. But it is something I'm going to fix if I have to pull the trans again.

Any ideas are welcome. For reference, I replaced the clutch because the slave cylinder was hanging up and preventing the clutch from getting fully released. Aka clutch slipping.

 

Let me ask a question that may make me look dumb.

There was a blue plastic sleeve on the new release bearing/slave. My old OEM did not have this sleeve at all. Is that blue plastic sleeve supposed to be removed before installing?

 

If my slave is pushing the pressure plate 3/8 of an inch, is that the maximum it should be pushing?

 

Here's a pic of what I found today after pulling the trans again. The 3/8 inch that the slave travels is limited by the release bearing pushing on the diaphragm spring, and it's associated stop in the pressure plate (I assume that's what the ring is behind the diaphragm spring).

Does anyone have pictures from there clutch install to compare to? Should there be more than 3/8 inch between the diaphragm spring and the stop? Is the slave trying to travel too far? I'm getting desperate here!

Does anyone know how the self adjusting clutch actually works?

 

I reinstalled the old pressure plate. It has 7/16 of an inch between the fingers and the stop.

Taking a closer look at the new one, that's more like 3/16 of an inch. Hmmmm.

 

Reinstalled the original clutch and pressure plate. Problem solved.

Moral of the story: if your clutch is getting hung partially engaged/disengaged with the pedal fully out, it might be your slave cylinder. And, if it is like mine and dirty with oil from a leak, it could probably just be cleaned and soldier on for more miles.
And if you install a new clutch and can't get the pedal to the floor, check to see if the pressure plate fingers are bottoming out.

As to what would make the pressure plate fingers bottom out, I still have no idea. I bought this clutch kit three years ago when I first started having clutch problems. Can't take it back but it looks like it can't be used? Any suggestions? It is a Beck/Arnley kit with a Luk pressure plate (same as OEM) and Valero disk. I swear the self adjusting part is already adjusted to a worn setting. Wish I knew how to unself-adjust!

 

what is the white piece of plastic in the photo? Is that what is keeping the spring from going down?