Subject: Clutch springs
Author: joe jump
Date: May 30, 2001, 10:31 AM
Post ID: 1706923088
Just went through the drill on a V7 Sport and an 850T. I believe
construction to be identical.
My Sport had a slipping clutch, caused by gear oil migrating up the clutch
push rod. I replaced the friction plates, springs (cheap), and the clutch
pushrod seals, along with engine rear main & transmission input
seal/O-rings. The hub looked to have minimal wear so did not replace. Very
lightly lubed splines on hub, friction plates, intermediate plate & flywheel
with BMW spline grease, after cleaning all parts spotless. Put it all back
together following instructions in shop manual & verified with Chilton,
using Guzzi factory clutch spring compresor. Clutch no longer slipped but
would not disengage cleanly. Took it apart again searching for the problem.
Ultimately, I think my problem was that not all 8 of the clutch springs
were seated in the spring pockets in the pressure plate. On my machine, the
punch mark on the spline of the pressure plate will not align perfectly with
the arrow on the outside edge of the flywheel, so the pressure plate can be
installed in two positions and be alligned equal amounts off from "dead
nuts". This could have been a contributor. But the pockets on the pressure
plate are dimensioned pretty tight to the OD of the clutch springs (tighter
than those in the flywheel), and it seemed that I wasn't getting them all
seated correctly. I tried numerous attempts at assmbling, but I think I got
it right by fitting the springs into the pressure plate first, then mating
the pressure plate to the flywheel.
Another contributing factor may have been that the replacement
friction plates (new, not reconditioned) were a sloppier fit on the hub than
the oil soaked used plates that I had replaced. I decided to either clean up
and reuse my old plates, or replace the (almost) new 2mm spline friction
plates & the old hub with new 4mm plates & hub. To MGs credit, they swapped
plates (no charge) and sold me a new 4mm hub at a good price. The friction
plates are Sureflex, and the splines are a snug , free running fit on the
hub. These are the same parts I put in the 850T and quality was the same.
Only thing I can envision destroying the throwout bearing is incorrect
assembly-sorry, no help there.
To summarize, slipping clutch is probably caused from oil-contaminated
plates or extreemly weak springs. Clutch drag is caused by pressure plate
not lifting squarely (springs not located correctly) or notchy clutch
hub/loose spline fit. Can't help with the throw out bearing other than
improper assembly.
Good Luck!
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