I have a John Deere 2750 of which I had the flywheel face and pressure plate mounts refaced. After complete reassembly, I found that the release bearing isn't able to go far enough forward to release the clutch, as the cross shaft lever hits the cab mount. I did a quick search for flywheel shims and found they do exist. I come here for the expert advice available as the Ag and auto sites are full of geniuses who couldn't find their *** with both hands. So, here is my question; is shimming my flywheel a good idea as I need to move the assembly back to account for the resurfacing (mine and maybe previous). I don't see any other viable mods that could be done.
Am I missing something here? When you bolt the pressure plate to the flywheel, the diaphragm spring, or release arms, or thrust plate or whatever you've got that the release bearing pushes against moves forwards towards the crankshaft, right? If you skim the flywheel and/or pressure plate then the release arms don't move as far forward, meaning that the release bearing has to be further to the rear of the machine to allow the clutch to fully engage. As far as I can see, moving the flywheel away from the crank would make the situation worse, would it not ?? All that said, if I'm barking up the wrong tree and you really do need to get the release bearing closer to the clutch, I think I would rather alter the release fork, or release bearing, or cross shaft, or lever, or anything before I start putting shims between the flywheel and the crank.
I just did a clutch in a Massey 265 that had a factory shim between the pressure plate and the flywheel mount. The shim was about .030 " thick. If that shim was missing it would put the forks a lot farther away from the release bearing .
Shim the release bearing fork(L32029). It bolts onto the shaft(see AL31912, it updates a couple of times per SN).
Cmark; I had found shims online for other engine applications for this problem, and yes, I do need to move the whole assembly back as with the resurfacing, the clutch is further forward and the release bearing won't travel far enough to reach and release it. The flywheel has a counterbore for the crank to fit snuggly into so it can't go anywhere. Mobiltech; JD doesn't show any shims but it should work if available. d9g; I had considered that but didn't think that option would be strong enough with the torsional load applied. Probably would be the better way to go though than playing with a balanced flywheel.
Pull the flywheel and measure the distance from the pads to the face. I suspect that the distance was machined wrong. Could also be something simple like disc in backwards or hanging on a spline or bent center.
I finally got the clutch to release and the machine will soon be headed out the door. I made a shim plate which is sandwiched between the plate steel fork and the cross shaft, then I had to shim the slave cylinder froward with 3 5/16" lock washers before it would finally release properly. I have a suspicion that with a pressure plate and metallic disc that weren't very old, the flywheel had already been machined once very deep and really screwed distances up inside the bell housing. I had to go into it originally because the bolt and stud nut on one of the 3 legs of the pressure plate had loosened and was keeping it from releasing correctly. Thanks for all the advice!
I guess you told the owner what the deal is when you were putting it back together and that the warranty is real short. A new flywheel is $567, and he'll need one next time. A good used one would be cheaper. I think those tractors had a pretty good reputation except for hydraulic pressure at low rpms.
d9g; definitely a short warranty. As the clutch wears in, shims on the slave cylinder may have to be removed to maintain freeplay but for now, it's working correctly. Other than dealing with a loader and sub frame in the way, a split on them is a quicky and easily less than new major parts. I've built a reputation for being able to fix stuff like this without breaking the bank, and it not being a high use machine, will probably well out last the owner as repaired. Sad thing about it is it's going home without first gear as likely the previous operator he bought it off of ground it into gear until first was gone due to the bad clutch. That job means a cab pull and trans repair $$$.