What is wrong with my clutch

I had a new clutch installed in my '95 Chevy S10 pickup (4.3L V6, 4X4). The shop installed a new flywheel (old one had hot spots and seemed warped), pressure plate, clutch plate, throwout bearing, pilot bearing, and slave cylinder. While driving home I noticed a lot of clutch chatter and for full disengagement the clutch peddle must be pushed against the floor. What could have been done incorrectly to cause these problem? Thank you for your help.

Sorry but I can’t help you. The 1975 Chevy PU I bought in 1975 still has the original clutch and it is my only vehicle. Lucky I guess. I like to tell people 20 more payments and that baby is all mine. :slight_smile:

The chatter could be caused by contamination of the of the clutch friction surfaces. That is, grease on the friction surfaces caused by careless handling of the parts and failure to clean them. Or possibly the new flywheel or pressure plate had a rust preventative on it that was not cleaned off prior to installation. Perhaps the flywheel or clutch disc or pressure plate is warped.

As to the pedal travel, maybe there is air in the hydraulic line that wasn’t completely bled out when the slave cylinder was installed.

I bleed the hydraulics using both the gravity method and having someone else slowly push the peddle down when the valve is open (ensuring to close the valve before the peddle hits the floor). No improvement was seen after either of these. Is is possible that a warped flywheel or pressure plate could also cause the problems with disengagement? I would only need like 1/4-1/2 in. of peddle travel for disengagement to feel like it should.

It is possible a warped flywheel or pressure plate could cause a rough disengagement. It is also possible they installed the clutch disk backwards. A backwards clutch disk could account for both the rough engagement and long pedal travel.

For lack of a better suggestion at this time, you could try bench bleeding the clutch master cylinder. Maybe while the hydraulic line was open, most of the fluid drained out and air entered the clutch master cylinder. So, like a new one you bench bleed it. But that does not account for the rough engagement. I am leaning toward a hardware problem or faulty installation. Either way it would have to come apart again.

Put the front bumper against a stout pole or tree. Set the parking brake. Rev the engine up and release the clutch quickly (don’t just dump it) in high gear. Do it again. Let it cool off for a few minutes and see how it drives…

If the problem persists, chanced are during the installation, the “mechanics” let the transmission “hang” on the clutch before the transmission mainshaft was fully inserted into the clutch disc and pilot bearing. This can bend the clutch hub so it will not engage smoothly and it will tend to “drag” even when the pedal is fully depressed. For proper installation, transmissions must be supported on a jack and slipped into the clutch and mated to the bellhousing with little or no force involved. Strongarm methods are NOT required…

OK, so now I have more problems. After taking it back to the shop they told me after extensive test driving that they don’t feel it is the clutch causing the vibrations but the drive train, but they don’t know where. This seems strange to me as the only time any vibration is felt is when engaging the clutch from a stop, no matter if in 1st, 2nd, or reverse. All other times things are smooth as silk. Is it really possible something in the drive train is causing these problems or does this have to be the clutch? Also, before anyone touched my truck I never had a vibration.