1995 F150 5.0 4x4. I am swapping out my old M5OD with a ZF5. Everything bolted together as expected. I bought a perfection clutch kit, specific to my year, make, and model. It included a new flywheel, clutch, master cylinder and slave (throw out). Clutch is 11-inches, 10 spline. Everything seemed to match the old parts. I was careful to torque everything and ensured that the clutch tool slid in and out very easily. The ZF5 went in without too much struggle - but a little as expected.

After bleeding the clutch I started the truck and got a very loud metal on metal rotating noise that was clearly coming from the bellhousing. I crawled underneath the truck, removed the rubber plug in the bellhousing looked at everything with an inspection light. Everything looked good, the throw out bearing was just touching the fingers of the diaphragm. I could see what looked like metallic dust on the boot of the throw out bearing. I wasn't sure what was going on, but it sounded serious. I decided to pull the transmission.

After pulling out the transmission I inspected the clutch and the disc was still perfectly centered. I removed the clutch and confirmed that the clutch disc was not backwards. The flywheel new pilot bearing all looked good.

What I noticed that a witness mark inside the bellhousing. It turns out that the cover of the pressure plate was hitting a wing of the casting of the bellhousing. I was able to measure the distance of the witness mark in the bellhousing and compare it to the clutch by measuring off of the dust shield / separator plate. I could see slight witness marks on the steel pressure plate. The noise would get much worse by letting the clutch out - this would cause the pressure plate to flex outward a little.

I clearenced the casting with a carbide bit, and I still need to reinstall the transmission.

BUT - HAS ANYONE EVER RUN INTO THIS? Is this common? Is this a sign of a larger problem? Should I run a 10-inch clutch?

NOTES: I also had to take a carbide bit to make more clearance for the hydraulic throw out bearing to clear the bellhousing - didn't seem like a big deal. Before I took the transmission back out, I added a shim to the starter to eliminate that as the source of noise - no signs of any conflicts with the starter. I also thoroughly bled the clutch with a mighty vac in case that was causing odd noises. The noise still persisted - it was obviously the pressure plate contacting a casting of the bellhousing that stuck out.



These two pictures show the "witness mark" in the bellhousing. I was in a hurry and took a black sharpy to mark the area I wanted to grind out to make clearence and started using the die grinder before I decided to take a pictures.

 

Here is a picture of the tag on the ZF5.

 

When you say you bought the clutch kit for your yr make and model, do you mean a 95 f150 or whatever the ZF came out of?

 

I replaced it with stock equipment that would go with my truck: '95 F150 4x4 5.0 MDO5. I was of the impression that these parts are the same when converting MDO5 to the ZF5.

 

What year did the ZF come from?

Reason for asking is other threads talk about slave cylinder bore size changed around 93.

 

Interesting… Can you expand on the change?
The build date of the ZF5 on the tag looks to read Jan 23, 1989.

 

I have zero first hand on this! I’ll say that up front! I came across this thread.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-zf5-swap.html

 

I did the same swap in my ‘89 F-150. I purchased the clutch for the truck that the ZF came out of (‘90 F-250) and did not have any issues.

 

As for my ZF5, I do not know what vehicle it came out of. But I know the build date is 1989 and that it bolts to a SBF. I went to RockAuto to compare parts. I compared the clutch for a 1995 F150, 5.0, manual, to a 1989 F250, 5.0, manual. Both came back with the same part number (MU641K - Perfection clutch brand). So the clutch is the same.

The master and slave (throw out) seem to be different.

The part number for the master and slave cyl for a '95 F150 (5.0, manual) is PF9017
The part number the the master and slave cy for an '89 F250 (5.0 manual) is PF9077

Here they are side by side:

________________________________1995 F150__________________________________________________ _______1989 F250


They are obviously different. I think this is why I needed to clearance the bellhousing for the slave cylinder to fit (In order to fit the yellow/orange aluminum piece at the end where the hose connects.)

By looking at the two it would seem that the master cylinders are not compatible, the plastic hoses look to have much different bends. The '89 master has male (bolts) that stick into the firewall, while the '95 master has holes for bolts that stick out of the firewall.

When I got the ZF5 it still had the old slave cylinder installed, and I can confirm that it looked like the one above on the right for the "89 F250 which can be seen in the first picture I added to this thread; on the left side of the transmission.

These two styles do not seem to have the same connection type, so I don't think I could run a '95 F150 Master with the '89 F250 slave unless I have some kind of adapter at where the hydraulic line connects to the hydraulic connection at the slave cylinder.

Something tells me that the parts I have are good to go. BUT DOES ANYONE WITH MORE EXPERIENCE IN THIS REALM HAVE MORE CLEAR ADVICE / KNOWLEDGE?

I am trying to think why different slave cylinders would cause a clearance issue between the bellhousing and the clutch pressure plate?????

I put the transmission back in last night. Still need to put the crossmember/ transfer case / driveshafts back in.

Here is a couple pics after I grinding more room where it was hitting:


Here is a close up of the ZF5 with the slave for a '95 F150 installed. You can see where I took a die grinder to make more room for the bottom hose fitting to clear the bellhousing.

 

What pressure plate did you get? Part number, complete clutch kit with pressure plate, 11"?

I just had a quick look, and the parts for a 5 speed are from 1987-1994, then 1995-1997.

I doubt the cause is the slave cylinder, you more than likely have the wrong year pressure plate/clutch kit for the year of the transmission.

 

If everything is working now,

I'd run it.

I also agree that it's probably the pressure plate/ flywheel stack- up-
but Ford made small running changes
like this, and changing the ribbing in the bell housing
to run a deeper clutch is totally believable.

A 5- liter is not stressing a ZF-5 at all, so me, I wouldn't worry.

t
not one for overthinking it too much.

 

That’s what it sounds like. As I already said I didn’t have any interference issues with my Luk clutch.

 

I bought a Perfection Clutch Clutch kit including the pressure plate and clutch disc. I bought this for a 1995 Ford F150. The part number is MU641K
The clutch kit for a 1989 F250 has the same part number: MU641K

Still using RockAuto, I looked up the part numbers for the LUK clutch kit (pressure plate and disc) for a 1995 F150 and 1989 F250. This shows two different part numbers:

1995 F150 LUK Clutch Kit PN: 07128
1989 F250 LUK Clutch Kit PN: 07057
Both are labeled "standard duty"

When comparing the two they seem very similar, but the clutch discs (at least) are different:
1995 F150 on the left. 1989 F250 on the right.

The only difference I can see is the clutch disc. The '95 F150 has 5 clutch disc springs, and the '89 F250 has 4 clutch disc springs. Both are 11-inch, and have the same diameters and spline count.

The Perfection Clutch thatI installed has 5 springs in the clutch disc. The spring count seems to be completely dependent on the manufacturer and not the year or type of transmission that it's going in. When comparing replacement clutch discs between a 1995 F150 and a 1989 F250, there are several options for each that have 4 and 5 springs based on the brand.

I also compared just the pressure plate part numbers. This stuff all seems to vary depending on the manufacturer. On RockAuto, when comparing just the pressure plates (À La Carte), only 1 brand pops up (M-Pact Brand) and they both have the same part number: 360064

So as far as I can tell, some manufactures differ part numbers between half-ton clutch kits (MDO5) and 3/4+-ton (ZF5) clutch kits, but many of the manufactures consider these parts interchangeable. I still don't know why I have/had an interference issue. I didn't come across anything like this when going through the forums. BUT I think it will work.

Maybe TobyB is right and I'm just overthinking it. I'll send it and cross my fingers

 

Thanks for the replies everyone! I would still like to get to the bottom of this.
I love this truck, and it's been out of commission for about 5-weeks now. Here are some "teaser" pics of other work I've been doing to keep people interested hahahaha

 

You had factory 24lb injectors or you added that? I don’t have anything to add about the trans except that’s odd. I haven’t seen anything anywhere while searching. All the differences are internal, not external which doesn’t change circumference. Yours does have the really deep granny gear, so maybe that changed what it came out of?