Can't shift into gear.

[desant78]

It was 4 years ago when I bought my ACT 2600 kit new, and I swear I had a small paper insert that said "extended slave required"

I just did a quick search, and the vendors who sell the rod claim it is needed for the 2100 to 2600 ACT set ups due to poor disengagement issues.

click

But then again, they are selling it! From my experience, I had a new master, slave, and ACT clutch kit installed at once. Once I adjusted the pedal to factory setting, the adjustment on the Master Cylinder was almost maxxed out, with 3 or 4 threads showing (don't quote me on threads). So without the extended the rod I'm not sure how well it would have worked.

With my set up, the car shifted beautifully. I also found a few random DSMtuners threads that say it's a must to use the rod, but nothing from actually ACT. Though the rod I use is from ACT to be used with there kits, nothing says it won't work without it. (Granted, this was a 5 min google search). Both ways, if you haven't tried the extended rod with the new master cylinder, I think it would be worth a shot, IMHO.

Good luck!

 

[desant78]

Quoting strokin4dr:
I've had a few cars with ACT clutches, my current VR4 included. Recently replaced the clutch master and slave. Stock length rod and good to go.
Your problem is somewhere else. Extended rods are bandaids that mask the real issue.



this scenario could be true, figured I'd just give citymunky my experience with the rod. On my Evo X, there is no rod for their clutches, and engagement feels great. But that is probably why no one makes them.

 

[FlyingEagle]

He needs someone to press the clutch pedal down while he confirms full lock on the clutch fork, and thus, likely the clutch being fully released.

If you have full lock/motion, then a longer rod will do damage to the system.

I am using the same setup he is using (but with a Fidanza lightweight flywheel with the insert), all new OEM hydraulics and a full length single section braided line.

1989 Colt pedal assembly. Adjusted to achieve a decent distance from the floor when the clutch is released.

I have full operation of the clutch fork. My pedal box has never been rebuilt and has 200,000 km's on it.

Clutch has been running for maybe a few thousand kilometers because other stuff keeps breaking.

 

[transparentdsm]

ive never used a fidenza, but i have removed one from a DSM before and whe i did there was a shim plate(.5-1mm thick) between the crank and the flywheel. i completely forgot about that till just now.

 

[Coltsfan]

If the clutch feels like it's dragging all the time, you may have a disk that doesn't slide freely on the input shaft. I had this happen to me before and it sucks. I went the reckless route by doing a couple hard clutch drops accelerating and decelerating, which loosened it up enough to solve the problem for me. This being said, I don't really recommend that as a repair, and I'm sure I twisted my front yoke of my drive shaft, but it could have been far worse.

 

[jpsp123]

In my Eagle tallon I had to take out the transmission and add lube to spine because of rust. After I reassembled it I misted a bolt and the engine and transmission were not perfectly aligned and the clutch rubbed on the housing Creating the same problem again. so i put it on a lift and replaced all the bolts and tighten them and now their is not a problem.

 

[citymunky]

Quoting transparentdsm:
ive never used a fidenza, but i have removed one from a DSM before and whe i did there was a shim plate(.5-1mm thick) between the crank and the flywheel. i completely forgot about that till just now.



Hmm, I'll have to look into that.

Quoting Coltsfan:
If the clutch feels like it's dragging all the time, you may have a disk that doesn't slide freely on the input shaft. I had this happen to me before and it sucks. I went the reckless route by doing a couple hard clutch drops accelerating and decelerating, which loosened it up enough to solve the problem for me. This being said, I don't really recommend that as a repair, and I'm sure I twisted my front yoke of my drive shaft, but it could have been far worse.



Hmm, I'll have to look into this too. I wish I had X-Ray vision to see what's going on inside the inside the bellhousing.

 

[citymunky]

Quoting jpsp123:
In my Eagle tallon I had to take out the transmission and add lube to spine because of rust. After I reassembled it I misted a bolt and the engine and transmission were not perfectly aligned and the clutch rubbed on the housing Creating the same problem again. so i put it on a lift and replaced all the bolts and tighten them and now their is not a problem.




I'm not going to lied, installing the transmission with the engine still in the bay is not my favor thing to do, the clearance between the bell housing and the front subframe sucks. From what I understand this job is easier on a 1g since there is more space to work with, but none the less the biggest pain in the ass I have is aligning the block and tranny. Truthfully I might pull the engine/tranny together next time.

 

[citymunky]

So I just had a long conversation with a local EVO guy who picked up a 1g not that long ago. He had a similar issue with the 1g with the car having bad clutch engagement issues. After fixing all the same things I fix, he was told to try longer clutch master cylinder push rod from a 2g. That ended up fixing his issue after nothing else he tried worked.


Has anyone heard of this before? I'm looking to be try this very soon.

 

[KiNgMaRtY]

Yes I have heard of using a 2g rod on the mater cylinder. That is on my to do list. I also welded a nut on the backside of the adjuster on the pedal to give further adjustability.

 

[citymunky]

Thanks, now the hard part is to find one.

 

[KiNgMaRtY]

Interesting mod.
click

 

[citymunky]

I was able to get my hands on a bad turbo 2g master cylinder. The 2g rod on the left is a lot longer that the stock GVR4 rod on the right.

I'll mess with on Friday.

 

[KiNgMaRtY]

Wow, that was fast!
Let us know how it turns out. I am also trying to track one down from someone parting there 2g

 

[citymunky]

I hope I'm have enough room to swap rods without removing the master cylinder from the car. I don't want to try to rebleed that system without help. Even using a vacuum pump is not ideal when dealing with the bleed screw.

 

[KiNgMaRtY]

I presume you may be able to get away with it by unbolting the master some and giving it some room to swap out the rod like you would on the slave when swapping out the rod.

 

[citymunky]

I was able to swap in the 2g clutch master cylinder push rod yesterday, and the result was being able to shift into gear very smoothly. I only drove the car up and down the driveway. I still need to preform Jack's Transmission clutch drag test, however I need to work out the vacuum leaks and fix some wiring before I start all of that.