Kennedy Stage 2 clutch/pp install - Adjustment FAIL

[9dreizig]

Hey Justin, don't forget to put the borescope back through an autoclave before you return it to the hospital

And don't feel bad buddy, I"ve had to pull a engine/tranny 3x!! before I got it right!! Although you CAN fix this if it's the fork without pulling the engine, it's just not fun

[JFairman]

is that a cup holder on your brake service stool?

classic

[jwasbury]

Originally Posted by juicersr

Anyhow, will keep u guys posted... just got pull the motor.... again... Friday afternoon... the first day of Turbopalooza I'm gonna get the car there this weekend come hell or highwater

Get'r done man! The car's still up in the air right? I think getting it up high enough is the hardest part of dropping the engine.

When I assembled my trans and engine, I had my buddy doing the "pushing together" from the end of the trans while I looked through the hole with my flashlight to verify 'successful insertion' of the release fork to TOB. IIRC, something was off on the first try, so the two halves had to be pulled apart and we tried again. The second time, I had a hand on the splined end of the shaft at the bottom of the trans (where the clutch release arm attaches) and I carefully controlled the angle of the release fork as the two halves were coming together...this is the key, I think.

[willtel]

Originally Posted by jwasbury

The second time, I had a hand on the splined end of the shaft at the bottom of the trans (where the clutch release arm attaches) and I carefully controlled the angle of the release fork as the two halves were coming together...this is the key, I think.

That is how I did it. Use the arm to move the fork into position as the two assemblies come together. That little window in the top of the bellhousing is a life saver in that situation.

Juicersr, is your interior gutted? If so maybe you could create an access panel in the rear seat area to view the window from above while your helper aligns the fork from below.

[A930Rocket]

Try doing the engine R&R by yourself and mating the trans to the engne by yourself. It sucks. Maybe thats why it takes so long to mate them together. It either goes right together or it's a b*tch.

BTW, I had a buddy who's clutch fork had a small crack in it. Took awhile to figure out why it wouldn't operate correctly. He was using a hydraulic setup though.

[juicersr]

Originally Posted by 9dreizig

Hey Justin, don't forget to put the borescope back through an autoclave before you return it to the hospital

And don't feel bad buddy, I"ve had to pull a engine/tranny 3x!! before I got it right!! Although you CAN fix this if it's the fork without pulling the engine, it's just not fun

LOL, thanks Todd, i feel much better about Friday now

Funny thing is, when i was in surgery practice, i used to have two nasopharyngoscopes lying around and got rid of them when started doing ER... had no idea they could have been so handy.

[juicersr]

Originally Posted by JFairman

is that a cup holder on your brake service stool?

classic

Good eye Fairman... that was acutally the most important tool at the end of the day Sunday when we were trying to figure this stuff out.

[juicersr]

Originally Posted by jwasbury

When I assembled my trans and engine, I had my buddy doing the "pushing together" from the end of the trans while I looked through the hole with my flashlight to verify 'successful insertion' of the release fork to TOB. IIRC, something was off on the first try, so the two halves had to be pulled apart and we tried again. The second time, I had a hand on the splined end of the shaft at the bottom of the trans (where the clutch release arm attaches) and I carefully controlled the angle of the release fork as the two halves were coming together...this is the key, I think.

Jacob, thanks for the encouragement. I WILL be there this weekend.

i actually was manipulating the pivot arm like you described, but at the last half inch of space, i let go, assuming that i was a done deal...grrrrrrrr.

[juicersr]

Will, while the interior is not gutted (has a thin veneer of RS interior) i think we are just going to use the boroscope.

Had to work the ER tonight, but my buddy is going to go take a look and see what he sees.

Either way, we are going to pull the motor again Friday, and i am probably just going to install a new fork anyhow to eliminate cracking as a variable. Stay tuned dudes.

[xbmwguy]

thats the cleanest ive ever seen yor motor burn that midnite oil bro. i didnt want to drive 800 miles to get my hands dirty!!!!!!!!!

[juicersr]

Originally Posted by xbmwguy

thats the cleanest ive ever seen yor motor burn that midnite oil bro. i didnt want to drive 800 miles to get my hands dirty!!!!!!!!!

LOL Frankie baby, dont worry, it wont stay that clean for long.

Oh, and have no fear bro, ur gonna 'get your hands dirty' all right, on Saturday nite that is....

[Ken911]

Just pull the tranny out and re mate it to the motor out of the car. I have done 3 clutch changes Stock, SPEC, Imagine Auto, and it's always tough getting the fork aligned to the throwout bearing. I would think it's almost impossible with the tranny in the car and actually would take longer to do the removal and install. Oh wait make that 4 i also put a new clutch in the 911 just before the ex took it. I think my next one will be a KEP.

[cole930]

Justin,

I was wondering where those Turbo plumbing pics. you were going send me were at. Appreciate the pics, but you really didn't have to drop the motor, in car would have been just fine.

Cole

[juicersr]

Originally Posted by cole930

Justin,

I was wondering where those Turbo plumbing pics. you were going send me were at. Appreciate the pics, but you really didn't have to drop the motor, in car would have been just fine.

Cole

Cole, hey buddy. i sent u about 10 different pix of the plumbing on my last email to ya. u didnt get??? I will send to you again, sorry bro.

[juicersr]

Well, here is the problem.

Just confirms what most of you fellas have been saying. If you can enlarge or look at this pix closely, you can clearly see that the 'ears' of the TOB are just a **** hair away from being seated on the notch of the clutch fork fingers.... Mo-Fo!



So, basically what we need to do, is separate the motor from the tranny just about an inch or so, and rotate the TOB counterclockwise just a few degrees until it 'sets' into its proper location. We hope we can do this without having to drop the motor again. What do you guys think?

[willtel]

Originally Posted by juicersr

Well, here is the problem.

Just confirms what most of you fellas have been saying.

Yup, you missed.

Originally Posted by juicersr

So, basically what we need to do, is separate the motor from the tranny just about an inch or so, and rotate the TOB counterclockwise just a few degrees until it 'sets' into its proper location. We hope we can do this without having to drop the motor again. What do you guys think?

That should be doable, as long as you can verify that everything is correct before you bolt it up and the guide tube wasn't damaged during your previous adjustment process you should be ok. Good luck.

[A930Rocket]

If you can do it with the engine still in the car and using a mirror to install it, you'll be a SUPERSTAR! I have a hard enough time doing it on the garage floor.

Let us know how it goes.

[juicersr]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

If you can do it with the engine still in the car and using a mirror to install it, you'll be a SUPERSTAR! I have a hard enough time doing it on the garage floor.

Let us know how it goes.

Yeah, keeping my fingers crossed that it is doable as well.

Hopefully, the hard part (getting the clutch fork in right position) is done, just gotta be careful in massaging the TOB ears onto (but not past) the clutch fork 'finger' slots. I guess the hard part will be moving the motor back just far enough to get some 'play' in the TOB but not too far. I used to do endoscopic sinus surgery, so working in small holes is not new for me, but i am limited in my instrumentation here, LOL

[cole930]

Justin,

It's most important to get you on the road. I did not get the pics and would appreciate your resending them after you get back from the weekend.

david.cole@teamqualityservices.com

THANKS - AGAIN !!!

Cole

[juicersr]

Just realized that i never provided closure to this thread.

We were able to successfully separate the motor from the tranny (which remained in the car) by about 1.5 inches, and this gave us just enough room to manipulate the TO brearing into proper position over the ears of the fork. It took a couple of tries to get it right using a strong magnet to manipulate the TOB arms, as we would shove the engine and tranny back together, and then check postion with a mirror, but we accomplished in the the end.

This was my first time replacing the clutch with the tranny in the car. i have to say that knowing what i know now, it was fairly straightforward if you can jack the car and motor up independently of each other to get proper alignment. The 935 style motor mount with 'balancing bars' at the bottom made the job easier however.

BTW, there was another reason why we had difficulty with clutch adjustment. Due to the ridiculously high stiffness of the pressure plate that i took out of the car, over time, the lever arm which attaches to the clevis pin had BENT rearward so that clutch adjustment would have been pretty much impossible. Furthermore, the cotter pin that holds the lever arm to the clutch pedal was also bent I should have known that this was going to be the case when my clutch pedal snapped due the the high pressure plate loads last year.

Anyhow, loving the KEP S2 clutch. Super smooth, no more annoying on/off in stop and go traffic, and reassuring to know that it can handle anything i throw at it or whatever boost i am running.

Cole, my apologies, will get those pix to you again.