Hey guys, I have a 87 western star, with a cummins 444, and a 8ll transmission. I used it all summer and near the end of the summer it was getting harder to get into first gear, after you stop and put it into nuetral. Do these have a clutch brake that I can somehow adjust, or am I looking at replacing the clutch itself? (I depress the clutch fully when I am trying to get it into gear, I make sure of that!) I have some leaks coming from the shaft on the pto underneath, and the problems appeared to happen at a similar time. (No i havent fixed the leaks yet, its on the list haha) Any thoughts, advice, opinions or discussions welcome!
You probably just need to adjust the clutch-at the clutch, not the linkage. How much freeplay do you have in the pedal-usually when the clutch pedal looses freeplay, then it gets harder to put in gear. When you adjust the clutch you will close up the gap between the throwout bearing and clutch brake, and get more freeplay at the clutch pedal. Depending on what brand of clutch you have will dictate how you adjust it.
Yea, I've seen this more than once where a supposed mechanic adjusts at the linkage. If that's been done you need to get the proper procedure and start from scratch with a complete adjustment. Also very possible clutch brake is worn out. This can be changed without pulling trans. Not a big deal, just nasty.
proper adjustment is 9/16 inch between the bearing and clutch brake when released.
A problem I have run into many times is that a lot of drivers in dump trucks, water trucks, and the like is that the drivers have never been taught how to properly use the clutch, and they wear out the clutch brake. Then the call comes that they can't get the truck into gear when it's sitting still in neutral. If the pedal travel is good, and the clutch doesn't slip, then your symptoms sound like a worn out clutch brake to me. If you use the clutch to shift while driving, or when you push it in to roll to a stop, you should only push it in far enough to disengage it. If you push all the way down while your truck is moving, then the clutch brake engages and the little 4" or so diameter disc tries its hardest to stop the whole truck. Of course it can't, and it don't even do enough for you to feel, but it wears itself out trying all the same. You should only push all the way down like that when you are first putting the truck in gear. That stops the input shaft from spinning, and allows easy gear engagement. When you are moving, never push the pedal in far enough to engage the brake. The good news is that the brake is a split disc, and on most modern trucks it can be changed by unpinning it and pulling the two halves out through the access hole in the bellhousing, then putting a new one in and checking the proper adjustment. When it is all set right, the clutch brake should only touch the last inch or so of pedal travel. I had a water truck driver wear out a new clutch brake in less than 2 months once. He had 10 years experience, so I didn't think he needed driving lessons. I was the one who got schooled though. Now I check all the drivers out better. If you drive without a clutch, and just stick it into neutral to roll to a stop, then only use the clutch to put it into gear when you first start out, then the clutch brake should last a loooong time (the clutch too).
JDOFMEMI has it right about the clutch brake. Once I was riding with a new driver and I saw him slamming the clutch pedal all the way to the floor while we were rolling between gears. I asked him what he was doing and then explained to him what he was doing wrong, and that he was damaging the clutch brake. I don't use the clutch except to start out from a stop, and maybe on a steep hill with a heavy load to break the torque between gears with a quick stab.
Thanks for the replies fellas. I dont use the clutch when I shift either, maybe very rarely, and I always knew/know not to push it to the floor to harm the clutch brake. It was working fine at the start of the year, and Im the only one that drives it, so Im not really sure what may have happened to it, and really not to concerned about eh cause, more of the repair! Looks like ill have to crawl under there and start looking around to see what i can see. Im just hoping it wont be too bad of a job to fix it, cause I actually plan on selling the truck and upgrading.
Look to make sure the clutch brake is in there, and then adjust the clutch, neither job is bad, just dirty. Try adjusting it first, you may have to cut the old brake out and replace with a two piece clutch brake if the clutch brake is worn, I betting all you need to do is adjust the clutch.
clutch Yep, sounds like the clutch needs adjusting, you should have about 2" of free play, when properly adjusted. I bet you dont have any free play now. I got a call from one of my drivers about 2 weeks ago, "clutch is slipping, cant get it to pull the load" I told him to take it to a mechanic that he was close too. Nothing wrong with the clutch, bolts had worked out of the bell housing and tranny was just hanging on/in. Boy you see anything in this business.:Banghead
Driver should been able to tell the bellhousing bolts were loose man the shifter will move all over the place when that happens