Pressure plate adjustment??

hilltopfarm · Oct 17, 2013

So i'm ready to install my tranny on my 03' 4.0L SOHC. Looking at the shop manual it says that the clutch pressure plate needs to be adjusted before install. It says this is accomplished my putting the plate in a press and depressing the fingers, then sliding the springs all the way to the left.

Can anyone confirm that this is indeed necessary?? What does this accomplish??

adsm08 · Oct 18, 2013

If you are using an old pressure plate with a new friction disc you need to put the plate in a press and push the fingers all the way down until the face resets to it's "high" position.

Not doing that will cause the clutch to not disengage correctly as the plate will be adjusted to a position much closer to the clutch disc's center line.

If you are reusing your existing friction disc there is no need to reset the pressure plate.

alwaysFlOoReD · Oct 18, 2013

Is this something that is common to all transmission clutch systems? Or specific to the SOHC? Where can I find more info?

Richard

hilltopfarm · Oct 18, 2013

adsm08 said:
If you are using an old pressure plate with a new friction disc you need to put the plate in a press and push the fingers all the way down until the face resets to it's "high" position.

Not doing that will cause the clutch to not disengage correctly as the plate will be adjusted to a position much closer to the clutch disc's center line.

If you are reusing your existing friction disc there is no need to reset the pressure plate.

Well since I'm reusing everything, then I guess I'm OK. Thanks man!! :icon_thumby:

hilltopfarm · Oct 18, 2013

alwaysFlOoReD said:
Is this something that is common to all transmission clutch systems? Or specific to the SOHC? Where can I find more info?

Richard

Richard: I think that all rangers have this type of pressure plate. See the image below to see the springs in question. The ones in the picture are in the "reset" position.

plate...

gw33gp · Oct 18, 2013

I am pretty sure you can get pressure plates for the Ranger that don't have the adjusters but OEM and equivalent normally do have them. I did not buy a Ford clutch when I replaced mine but it ended up looking exactly like the Ford clutch that was in it from the factory, including the adjusters. It was a Sachs clutch kit which I think is the same thing you get at the dealer.

My new pressure plate adjusters were not in the correct position when I received it. I followed the instructions and set them correctly. It works great. I have no idea if it would have worked as well without adjusting it.

hilltopfarm · Oct 18, 2013

Come to think of it, i'm pretty sure that mine were not in the correct position when I initially installed it either, I did not adjust them and have had some trouble shifting which I accredited to the hydraulic system...but maybe it was this.

Should I adjust them now before I reinstall everything?? Will it negatively affect the operation of the clutch if I do so?? Thanks!

BTW: my clutch kit is made by LUK. The clutch kit I took out had the LUK logo stamped onto it as well as the FORD logo... Guess it was the original?

$T2eC16VHJHIE9nyseFJCBQbJ8JoFwg~~60_57.JPG

gw33gp · Oct 18, 2013

From what I understand, you should be able to adjust it to the correct position. Once it is installed it will readjust itself when you disengage and re-engage the clutch. It is self adjusting so there should be no negative affect if you reset it.

I don't think it can readjust itself if it is set in the wrong direction. That is why they instruct to set it incase it got knocked out during shipment.

hilltopfarm · Oct 18, 2013

Thanks for the reply!

I brought it to my local independent shop, and they reset it for free.

UPDATE: Just found out they adjusted the damn thing the wrong way...

hilltopfarm · Oct 18, 2013

Did they do it right??

Now i'm second guessing myself. Did the shop actually "reset" the pressure plate??? :icon_confused:

Looking at the thing and then reading my shop manual, it seems maybe they rotated it the wrong way, shop manual says to compress the springs, however it looks like they decompressed them. :annoyed:

Can anyone that's done this procedure confirm or deny that it was done correctly and that the picture below is what a "reset" pressure plate should look like?? Thanks, I really appreciate it. I want to get this thing installed tomorrow and start the new engine up...but I want to make sure that it is correctly adjusted!

Here is what the "reset" plate looks like:

Here is the procedure that the shop manual lays out:

LearjetMinako · Oct 19, 2013

According to the shop manual instructions, the shop you took it to and have it adjusted did it backwards. Springs should be compressed, not uncompressed and fully expanded.

When I did my clutch a few years back, I didn't readjust the springs. They were already about 3/4 compressed. My clutch did have a chatter for a while when breaking in, but that went away after 2 weeks of driving and never had a clutch issue since. I also replaced everything in the bellhousing and had the flywheel resurfaced.

hilltopfarm · Oct 19, 2013

Yep, thats what I thought. I wanted to get someone elses opinion on it before I took it back. I'll have to bring the shop manual with me this time...And since this clutch only has about 3-4K miles on it, I'm not replacing anything. I can still see the machining marks on the flywheel!

Thanks!

Andy D · Oct 19, 2013

I used a Luk rep set with a new flywheel, pilot bearing, rear main seal. I missed the part about the setting of the PP. I'm very satisfied with its operation, so I guess I LUKed out

hilltopfarm · Oct 19, 2013

Andy:

The pressure plate is shipped from the factory with the adjusting ring in the reset position. I'll post a picture of what mine looked like after I got it adjusted (the second time). I think the only reason that they say to adjust it is in case the thing somehow slipped during shipping, or like adsm08 said:

adsm08 said:
If you are reusing your existing friction disc there is no need to reset the pressure plate.

In my case it did not need to be adjusted, but I did it anyway... if you're putting in a new friction disk while reusing the old pressure plate then yes it does need to be adjusted.

adsm08 · Oct 19, 2013

gw33gp said:
I am pretty sure you can get pressure plates for the Ranger that don't have the adjusters but OEM and equivalent normally do have them. I did not buy a Ford clutch when I replaced mine but it ended up looking exactly like the Ford clutch that was in it from the factory, including the adjusters. It was a Sachs clutch kit which I think is the same thing you get at the dealer.

Ford gets some of their clutches from LUK, some from SACHS. It depends on the application.

We just replaced the clutch in a Focus (manual trans, not that stupid automatic manual) that had been ridden so bad it melted the slave. The Ford replacement disc had LUK stamped in the plate.

I just finished putting a new clutch in a GT500. That also came in a Ford box, but it had SACHS printed on it.

Pressure plate adjustment??

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