3 Ton Clutch Adjustment

[PatS....]

My nephew has my old 46 Fargo 3 ton and has switched engines. He is having trouble with the clutch. The pedal will disengage the clutch but only at the very bottom of the pedal travel. There doesn't seem to be any more adjustment on the pedal, but he seems to thing there is some at the throwout bearing.

Is there any there??

He thinks there is adjustment at the "fingers". I have not seen it apart to say.

Any pointers to get that pedal up higher???

Thanks alot!!

Pat

[Young Ed]

There are no adjustments other then at the pedal on my 1/2 ton

[grey beard]

Hi Pat,

The lowermost photo you posted shows the clutch adjustment - those two set screws that have jamb nuts on them and work against the ear on the clutch pedal - set completely bass-ackwards to get more pedal. The two set screws must both go the opposite direction to get more pressure on the fingers.

From your description of the problem, it sounds like you are not getting enough throw-out bearing travel into the fingers. In order to get more travel in the clutch-release direction, you need to move this adjustment in the direction that will move the clutch shaft counter clockwise as viewed from the driver's side running board end of things. This means the rearward of the two set screws must go forward a lot more. It appears to be almost at the end of its travel backwards, or towards the rear of the truck.

These adjustments are pretty effective. You do not need to move the two set screws a great deal to move things at the pedal end quite a bit. The hest way to know a clutch is adjusted properly is to mesure the free play at the top of the pedl when it is released completely. You want a minimum of one inch. Two inches won't be too much. In the case you describe, I'm guessing you have bunches of free play at the top and are not going into the pressure plate fingers with the throwout bearing deep enough. Pressure plate finger adjustment is usually done at the factory or remanufacturer, and is set to a mfr's spec. It is not considered to be a commercially adjustable spot to cure problems. In other words, if the normal adjustment won't fix the issue, you likely have a worn out clutch disc.

Hope this helps. Let us know how it works out. I think adjusting the two set screws in the opposite direction will cause you to smile.

Good luck.

[PatS....]

Thanks Dave, we're going out to the truck tomorrow. I'm a bit confused on the pedal adjustment. As it is now the clutch is right at the bottom of the pedal travel but does release completely.

To my addled mind it seems that adjusting the pedal other way would mean the pedal would hit the floor before the clutch released.

I will have him try adjusting it the other way to see if it makes a difference.

If it were still mine I would be putting in a new clutch just to eliminate that part of the equation. Maybe I'll just get one and give it to him...at least I don't have to install it!

He has replaced the engine with a runner that I had given to me from a Fargo 1/2 ton. He started it on the stand and it ran great but of course now that it's installed, it won't start. So we'll try to address that tomorrow too.

As soon as it's running and back together, I'll repossess it:eek:

Edited May 17, 2009 by PatS....
spelling

[Merle Coggins]

In that picture it looks like it's already adjusted as far as it'll go. It sounds like something is off if it bearly released the clutch at full stroke.

Merle

[PatS....]

OK, now I get it!!!

When I was looking at the adjustment, I was thinking by adjusting it the opposite of where it is, it would move the pedal closer to the floor.

The pedal stays put, it's the clutch shaft which moves, just like Dave said.

So, by adjusting it the other way the pedal will move the shaft further and the free play will lessen.

Amazing what a glass or two of Jim Beam will do to your perception!

Thanks Dave. Your explanation was bang on, it just took some thin'in' to get it into my head.

We weren't able to get to the truck to work on it today, and the weather is going into the dumper tomorrow but we'll get there this week for sure.

I'll update the results of the adjustment then and hopefully we get it running again.