Clutch chatter
My F-250 seems to be chattering a little on take-offs lately.
How can you tell by looking at the clutch disc, if it's good or bad/has much life left. Pretty soon I'm going to take the transmission out and replace it with a different one...so while I'm there I'd like to replace the clutch if it needs to be replaced, otherwise I'll leave it as it's a beater spare vehicle. It's not my daily driver so I don't want to replace parts which have life left...if the clutch does die in 2 yrs I won't cry about the repair as it's not too hard for me to do the work...I'd rather save the money.
I believe the chatter is caused by high heat or fliud contamination. Over time I feel that the flywheel looses it's "flatness" from wear and heat and will chatter upon engagement. Also if you have a bad leak from the tranny input shaft or engine rear main seal the clutch disk will become tacky from oil and want to grab causing chatter. Same thing with brake pad/shoes.
The clutch disk has rivets that hold the friction material to the disk. They are recessed in small holes in the material so they don't come in cantact with the flywheel/pressure plate. This recess will wear away as the clutch is used. So, when you get it apart see how much material there is left before the rivet is exposed. You don't want these rivets to ever touch the flywheel/pressure plate as it ruins them.
When you R & R a clutch you should get a new disk, pressure plate, and throw-out bearing. Take a look at the flywheel and if it does not have too many heat cracks take it to a machine shop and have it "turned". This will true it back flat. If it was like my last one (with literaly hundreds of heat cracks) I replaced it with a new one. Finally, don't forget the pilot bearing in the rear of the crank. Replace it also.
Hope this helps,
Lee






