robert chilton

There are 3 parts to this with all the info I can think off. Sorry it is long.
Part one. I recently put a Luk pro gold in the truck. I drove it easy for a couple hundred miles and then started putting some power to it. No problems. After 5-600 miles I started getting some slippage at 1500 RPM that goes away by 2000 RPM? I have noticed this in 3rd, 4th, and slightly in fifth gear. Fourth is the worst. And this is at 1/2 throttle, ie boost goes above 10 psi and the fuel starts to flow. The stock clutch held the power till it finally wore out at approx 250k. This leads me to think the Luk clutch is capable of holding the power.
Part two. The pedal has been funny since the day the clutch went in. The pedal has to be near the floor to disengauge the clutch but doesnt fully grab till its almost compleatly out. If you lift your foot slowly you can feel the clutch grab but if you start to give it much throttle it would slip for a split second then grab again. does this at around 1/3 throttle but the symtom is getting worse. Strange. Going into gear is not a problem and the shifting is silky smooth other wise.
Part three. It seems like the clutch will only start slipping within a few seconds of a shift. I have only noticed slipping when accelerating at a reasonable speed such as on ramps for the interstate. If I daily drive up to speed then roll into the throttle The clutch seems to hold. If it is slipping at this point I cant see it on the tach. Even at WOT!
This is confusing me to say the least. I would say the hyd are going bad and the new clutchs spring preasure killed them but there is no issues with shifting the trans. Nice and easy to get in or out of gear and no grinding/crash of gears. Is it possible that the hydraulics just arnt releasing correctly. Please help on this. I am lost on this issue.

robert chilton

TTT, It is supposed to be nice tommorrow and I would like to work on the truck.

mopar2ya

Have you tried to bleed the slave cylinder? If its bleeding down youd think the clutch would start engaging as the hydraulics bled down.

Any chance the T/O bering didnt get hooked to the release fork?

Also check the release fork pivot.

robert chilton

Thanks mopar. I havent done anything yet. Today I should have a chance to play with it and not have rain. I plan to bleed the slave but like you I have never heard of one acting slow, just not releasing. I know that the throwout bearing was retained in the arm when it was installed unless it popped off during the tranny install. Possible but I dont think so. I thought about the clip on the trowout beearing/ clutch arm. This was my thought for the problem initially. However I saw a couple of threads about people running with out one with no problems. I will post back and let ya know what I find.

gmctd

NAPA sells the identical master and slave cylinder as Dodge oem - napa 200 bucks for the pair, Dodge 380 incl the hose and a little fluid.

SBC has identical set, but with adj rod on the master cyl.

Pull the slave, make sure the dimension from the clutch housing surface to the release arm is less than the dimension from the slave flange to the minimum rod extension.

You can check for wet slave cyl indicating leak.

mopar2ya

I had some air in mine a while back when a seal went out on the slave, I had to pump the pedel to get it to fully release but would bleed down and start to partially engage and not fully disengage when I shifted.

robert chilton

GMCTD. Are you saying to measure from the preasure plate to the fork or the flywheel to the fork? As far as the slave rod distance I will have to measure the flange to the fork as the rod slowly extends out. I will definatly have a look at this today. If I need to get a new setup I will contact South Bend as I would prefer to have the adjustable set up. I never liked hyd clutches. I hope this is the problem as I am not looking forward to pulling this trans a 3rd time.

robert chilton

Where is the cup on the fork for the slave cylander supposed to ride inside the bellhousing hole? Mine is to the far left of the hole. Not centered. I tried prying it around with a screw driver and it wouldnt really budge. This pretty much makes me believe that its on the stud. However I couldnt get any fore or aft movement very easily either so it could be jammed. I pulled the slave and found something a little strange going on. The unit was not leaking at all but there was a wear mark about 1 1/2"s long down one side of the push rod! This is definatly new but I couldnt see any marks on the bellhousing or clutch fork?? I wonder if it some how came off of the fork and was riding the side? I couldnt tell how it is riding inside the bell housing before the hyd preasure popped it to far back on disassembly to tell.
I put the slave back in the truck and spun her around the block. The clutch seems to release on the bottom third of the pedal now. It grabs hard and I actually stalled the truck the first time I tried to take off in second gear. Felt it start to grab then all in within 1/2". I tried to slip the clutch with a few WOT runs in 3rd and 4th gear and everything seems good. It even held in 4th gear when I started at 1200 RPM (approx 20 MPH) and floored it to 60 MPH (testing only as this is far from my normal driving technique). She was rolling coal and built around 12 PSI of boost without slipping. However the top half of the pedal is really really soft. Like pushing the brakes pedal with a bleeder screw opened.
I dont know what to think about this. On one hand I want to say the clutch fork popped off but on the other hand it seems like it is working correctly Hopefully yall can share your opinions on this. If I need to pull the trans I want to wait till Wednesday when it is supposed to rain. My new truck needs a little TLC also. Fifth wheel hitch and exhaust brake installs are only half finished and she wont fit in the garage like the 95. Not to mention a good sized side job soaking up my so called spare time. I have way to much on my plate right now to be worrying about this. Once again do yall think I am fine or do I need to pull the trans again?

gmctd

If the arm was off the stud, the cup would be way left of center, and would also be way closer to the engine - farther from the slave.

Your symptoms appear to indicate that is the problem - be difficult to move the arm side-to-side as a test because of the spring-clips where it straddles the release bearing.

If you can grab it with a pair of long-nose vise-grips, the in\out action should be smooth, no popping\jerking loose.

The rod cup should be centered in the hole, and about an inch and a half from the outside surface of the clutch housing, where the slave cyl mounts.

You can re-center it to the stud with the long-nose -grips (couple bucks at harbor freight, 'bout 20 bucks at sears) and a long screwdriver.

Ain't many of us man enough to push the arm in once it contacts the clutch fingers, so don't worry about that.

But you can force the rod back into the slave cyl by pushing it against the trans or clutch housing - no valves, so the fluid will assume it's normal residence in the reservoir, and the system will be self-purged of air bubbles.

Hydraulic clutch linkage requires spring tension on the arm, or the slave cyl be internally sprung to remove any slack in the rod-to-arm-to-clutch interface - it is not enough to cause any premature wear.

robert chilton

GMCTD if I am reading what you say right the clutch fork should not be able to move in any direction. With a big screw driver prying the arm, using the bell as a fulcrum, I can rock it up and down vertically maybe an 1/8". No movement left to right or in and out. Those directions are rock solid. So do think that the arm is off the stud? I wonder if I can sneak a peak through the barring tool hole? New idea.

gmctd

If you can't rotate the arm - move it up or down more than that - it must be on the stud.

May see it thru the barring port - it's directly back from there.

Or, how about a dental mirror - think you can pick one up at shack.

That scored rod keeps nagging, tho - altho, you may have slipped the arm back on the stud when you were first checking it out.

If you need new cylinders, you'll notice the brand is AP, and the p\n VC17366 DB07ML016B is for the '94-'98 slave - same item in the box from Napa.

'94-'98 master is AP DB07HJ006A.

robert chilton

Thanks for all the help. I tried looking through the barring tool hole and no dice. It is a little low compared to the stud. There is a bolt on cover above it they may help some but it is probably shrowded by the fly wheel. I will have to look for a dental mirror as I dont have one.
I am trying to figure out the rod on the slave myself. The only way I can think that it would get ground on is if it came off the fork and was rubbing the clutch fork itself and actually having the friction engauging the throughout bearing. That would be alot of preasure. All the wear is to one side of the rod and lost maybe 20% of its thickness tops. I am going to run the slave for a few days and see what it does. I think that it will be fine. There is absolutly no visable wear to the bell housing. Hopefully she doesnt act up tomorrow on the way to work and that will put my mind to ease. I will still do some looking with a dental mirror in the next few days. I will post back and let ya know what I found. Thanks for the part numbers by the way.

gmctd

Check for rod damage to the slave cylinder itself, under the boot.

The part numbers for the '04 will be different - those are '96 - but Napa cylinders are the same items Dodge installed

These are for '00, yours may likely be the same -
M - DB07HF609 - slave DB07M6602

Check your numbers for certainty - part of the cast plastic.

Fairly certain SBC uses the '96 pair for upgrades