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New clutch - short engagement and noise (Super Carry SK410)

Discussion in 'Suzuki Carry' started by Gravy, Apr 1, 2020.

  1. Gravy

    Gravy New Member

    I just replaced my clutch as the old one had very short and sudden engagement and it made a subtle noise that stopped when clutch was pressed. However, after replacing the whole clutch kit, engagement is still almost as short as it was before. It does engage softer now though. The noise turned down a little but it's still kinda there. Disk, pressure plate, release bearing and pilot bearing were replaced with new ones so I'm wondering if this is just how the clutch is? I got my Super Carry just last summer so I don't know if this is normal for it :D
     
  2. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    I haven’t worked on a Carry. But some things are universal. Sounds like a clutch cable adjustment isn’t right.

    By short, do you mean close to the floor, or close to the top? And, is the connection from the pedal to the throw out cable or hydraulic?
     
  3. Gravy

    Gravy New Member

    I mean there's very short engagement range in the pedal's movement. When pressing the pedal, first there's a couple of centimeters of free play and then within the next 3 centimeters in, clutch is already completely disengaged. It has cable but I can't see how adjusting that would change the range.
     
  4. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    Get down under and adjust the clutch cable to have more play. I’m guessing that the noise you are hearing is the throw out bearing constantly spinning with almost no load.

    You want to adjust the cable until you have about an 1/8th to 1/4-inch of wiggle room at the throw out lever. This will move the clutch release point more towards the floor.

    You need this slack because as the friction plate wears, the fingers on the pressure plate raise away from the flywheel side. Without some slop, the clutch will eventually start to slip because it can’t ever fully engage.

    One of my ex-roommates was a line mechanic for a Toyota dealer. Lots of folks had to have the clutch replaced, and flywheel dressed at about forty thousand miles. Because, while they had the oil and filters changed, they never had anyone adjust the clutch, and it would get to the point it was never fully engaging and slipping. Then they would smell the smoke and the vehicle wouldn’t accelerate well, and they would bring it in.

    A thousand dollars later they were back on the road. Some learned the lesson and started to follow the maintenance intervals in the manual, some were back again in 40,000-miles.
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2020
    Limestone likes this.
  5. Gravy

    Gravy New Member

    Thanks for advice, I didn't take in consideration that cable adjustment could have something to do with with the noise! While it will be nice to have the pedal closer to the floor, this doesn't alter the engagement range, right? I'd still like to know if other Carry owners have their clutches with such a short engagement range or if there's something wrong with mine.
     
  6. fmartin_gila

    fmartin_gila Well-Known Member

    Depends kinda on what you are refering to as "short engagement range". A 11 or 12 inch single disc or 16 inch double disc clutch will have somewhat longer working range than these little 7 inchers just because of the size & leverage of the components which make up the pressure plate. The total pedal travel is also quite bit shorter on our little vehicles as this is also a result of physical size of the components. That being said, these do in acuality have a short engagement range compared to most vehicles and is just a matter of getting used to, then you won't even think about it.

    I changed the clutch in my van a few weeks ago and found that the new one (aftermarket - Aisan) had a bit shorter working range than the original (factory) setup. Had to make the cable adjustment a bit longer in order to keep the throwout bearing from pushing the fingers into interferance with the clutch disk when the pedal is pushed completely to the floor stop, this resulted in a slightly larger free play which really makes no difference.

    Fred
     
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2020
    Limestone likes this.
  7. Gravy

    Gravy New Member

    I understand that this might be completely normal due to the size and whatnot of the components but I'm asking since I don't have prior experience with this type of a vehicle.

    Like I explained before, it's only a bit more than an inch in the pedal's movement where the clutch is disengaging/engaging. Would you say the range is as short in your newly replaced clutch? I too installed aftermarket parts.
     
  8. Limestone

    Limestone Well-Known Member

    Fred,
    My thoughts exactly!!!
    Limestone
     
  9. fmartin_gila

    fmartin_gila Well-Known Member

    Did not actually measure it but it does seem to be about an inch of pedal travel from disengaged to engaged. I wound up with close to 2 inches of pedal travel as free play in order to eliminate the fingers touching the disk when disengaged. The service manual calls for a bit more than a half inch of freeplay, but it really makes no difference as long as all is working and there is no interference between any of the parts while in operating mode and the throwout bearing is running clear of the fingers when it is engaged and your foot is not touching the pedal.

    Fred
     
    Limestone likes this.
  10. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    On our little trucks the clutch adjustment isn’t really critical, and it is better to have it a bit engaging closer to the front than the back.
     
  11. fmartin_gila

    fmartin_gila Well-Known Member

    Just happened to remember a story about this situation. Back during the early 70s tooling across northern New Mexico between Las Vegas & Santa Fe about 2AM in those big rolling hills & valleys around the Glorieta area. Topped one of the hills and could see down at the bottom about 5 miles ahead were 4 way flashing lights. Pulled up behind as I would do whenever I saw something like that. A young man (late teens/early 20s) comes running back to where I was in a panic. Yelling "PLEASE CAN YOU PULL US TO THE NEXT TOWN". Got him calmed down enough to find out it was 3 college students from Tempe, Az. who were trying to get back for classes at ASU. The clutch had slipped so bad they couldn't get over the next hill and they had rolled back down to the valley. They wanted me to pull them into Santa Fe where they might get the clutch replaced( don't know how they were going to do that as they confessed they barely had enough gas money to get to Tempe). I felt the clutch pedal, hard as a rock, asked him when he adjusted it. He says "what's that" so I explained a bit to him and he said he never heard of it. Dug in the trunk and found the jack and a couple rocks to block the wheels. Some kind of Jap car(Toyota, Datsun or whatever). Slid under and adjusted till I got some free play. Dropped it back on the ground and gave it a small test, seemed good, those 3 were jumping up & down with joy and yelling Thank You over & over so told him to get moving and I would be behind them just in case he had ruined the clutch. Followed them into Santa Fe where we stopped for breakfast (had my family with me, we were on vacation), they kept going and I never saw them again. At that time, we lived in Mesa (next town to Tempe) so guess they made it as I didn't see them along the way. Sill hard for me to accept that they would be going long distance like that without any tools other than the screwdriver & pliers in the little tool kit that come with the cars back then.

    Fred
     
  12. Limestone

    Limestone Well-Known Member

    Fred,
    Great story! My oldest son and his good friend are currently on a cross country hunting trip, and same type of story, as I put together a customized tool kit that he already used twice, for a few smaller repairs! I can't understand, traveling without tools, stuff, and what if, or go to kits!!!
    Limestone
     
  13. Gravy

    Gravy New Member

    Thanks for replies everyone! Adjusting the cable so that it will engage/disengage closer to the floor did make it easier to use. So basically the issue was that it was difficult to get used to knowing when the clutch would engage as that was happening too far up, in terms of pedal movement. Honestly, I didn't think adjusting it to engage/disengage a couple of centimeters closer to the floor would make such a big difference! :D
     
  14. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    I think the problem was that the adjustment was so high, it wasn’t disengaging all the way. Thus hard shifting into first, and probably reverse, and a constant noise.
     
  15. Limestone

    Limestone Well-Known Member

    As you experience this, you learn your vehicle, and will not only know what to do next time, but also prevent further, unnecessary wear, and or possible damage!
     

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