The clutch pedal in my 48 Super six, grabs up near the top of the pedal stroke. It seems to work OK, but does grabbing at the top of the stroke indicate that I will need a new clutch soon? Can this be adjusted to grab closer to the floor? If I am reading it correctly, the adjustment procedure in the shop manual seems to simply give the correct amount of free play in the pedal, at the floor board, but it doesn't appear to correct for clutch wear. The car has 56,000 miles on it. I understand that these clutches are not the easiest things to replace. I am a bit reluctant to get too far into it, but I will if I have to. What do you think?
Moved to the "Hudson" forum category.
Mike,
Does your clutch engage smoothly?
Have you checked to see if it has liquid in it? There is a plug in the flywheel which you have to remove to drain the liquid that (hopefully) is in it. Then you put in 6 ounces of liquid. Hudson first specified half motor oil and half kerosene, but later sold small cans which they labeled Hudsonite. Most people now use automatic transmission fluid. It would be good to collect and measure the liquid that comes out. If not much comes out, you'll have to keep track of it, to see if it has only a slight leak, or a faster leak
Hopefully the instructions in the manual are clear.
Per
The free play adjustment IS to compensate for clutch wear, up to a point. Try setting the clutch free play at the specified 1-1/2", and the clutch should start engaging near the middle of the pedal travel rather than at the top. The reason is as the corks on the clutch disc wear thinner, the throwout fingers move out more, making the free play less, and the clutch starts engaging with the pedal higher up. And as suggested , drain flush and refill the clutch with 6 oz of Hudson Clutch compound, available from Doug Wildrick. In fact, flushing and refilling the clutch often makes the corks swell a bit as they absorb the new fluid, and then the clutch engagement will start with the pedal closer to the middle of travel. I suggest you drain, flush, and refill the clutch, drive it a bit to see if the corks do swell a bit, then do the clutch linage adjustment to get the 1-1/2" free play at pedal.
Make sure you adjust the free-play as Ken posted. This is very crucial.. Is the car equipped with Drivemaster?. If it is, you have to make that adjustment as well.
[quote="Kenneth Ufheil" post=8846]The free play adjustment IS to compensate for clutch wear, up to a point. Try setting the clutch free play at the specified 1-1/2", and the clutch should start engaging near the middle of the pedal travel rather than at the top. The reason is as the corks on the clutch disc wear thinner, the throwout fingers move out more, making the free play less, and the clutch starts engaging with the pedal higher up. And as suggested , drain flush and refill the clutch with 6 oz of Hudson Clutch compound, available from Doug Wildrick. In fact, flushing and refilling the clutch often makes the corks swell a bit as they absorb the new fluid, and then the clutch engagement will start with the pedal closer to the middle of travel. I suggest you drain, flush, and refill the clutch, drive it a bit to see if the corks do swell a bit, then do the clutch linage adjustment to get the 1-1/2" free play at pedal.
Hi Doug. thanks for the advice. Can you tell me what to flush the clutch out with? I heard acetone or a mixture of acetone and something else. I want to get it right - don't want to melt my car in two!
Thanks!
Mike Patterson
Yes, this is very helpful information. I'll be home in a week, and that's what I'll do - the flush and fill. Then if the fluid runs out, I'll kind of know where I stand then......
Mike
Hello Per,
I have read about cleaning out the clutch. This was already on my list. What do you use to rinse it out? I already have some Hudsonite to put in it. The clutch seems to run fine. It engages smoothly. I have only had the car a few months and have not driven it much.
Yes, as per your advice I will watch to see what comes out of the clutch before doing anything else
Thank you for your help
Mike
Mike,
Since your clutch operates smoothly, my guess is that some amount of relatively clean reddish-brown liquid comes out. If that is true, I would say to just put in the Hudsonite you have.
If what comes out looks really dirty, or if very little comes out, I would suggest flushing it with about 6 ounces of automatic transmission fluid. Since 6 ounces does not fill the whole clutch, it is good to do something to help it get distributed onto the corks in the clutch disk. One way is to have the car rolling slowly in 3rd gear, with the engine off and your foot on the clutch. This way the disk turns slowly while the rest of the clutch is stationary.
To have a little of the same effect, I always start my car by having my foot on the clutch and the car in gear, so the rest of the clutch rotates but the disk doesn't.
Per
Like Per has recommended, I think you should just drain and refill it. The clutch works, but seems to be at the very top of engagement. Make sure it doesn't have any old drivemaster parts still in place,if it was equipped with them. Take note of the fluid when you drain it. Make sure the drain pan is clean.
Leave a reply
