Clutch won't disengage even with good pedal pressure

[Paul18181818]

I am finishing up swapping my 1993 xlt 2wd from an a4ld to a m5odr1. I installed a new clutch line and clutch slave/throwout bearing. I installed the transmission, clutch plate, flywheel, and master cylinder from donor vehicles. I just got the clutch bled properly and the pedal seems to have good feel to it, but I still cannot get the truck in gear when the engine is running. I looked through the transmission opening and it looks as though the slave is pushing on the pressure plate when the pedal is engaged, but I'm not sure if it has enough travel. Any ideas? Could I have installed the clutch plate on backwards?

 

[4x4prepper]

> but I'm not sure if it has enough travel. Any ideas?

It has been years, but, I think I solved one of my problems like that using a 2.3L pilot bushing with a 2.8L. Here is the info from that build sheet.

Clutch Set Up:
flywheel
50-701 (new) 1988 b2 2.9l

pilot bearing for 1986 2.3L
Advance 18441409
National fc-65354
dimensions
.57-.600/14.40mm I.d.

Pressure plate
(used)
1988 Bronco II 4x4 2.9L

Clutch Disc (new)
1988 Bronco II 4x4 2.9L
LUC?-148801

Notes:
Perfection flywheel 50-701
6 bolts dia 11.661 138 teeth
Perfection flywheel 50-703
6 bolt dia 11.275 T132

Starter clockwise 9 tooth

 

[Paul18181818]

bump

 

[Shran]

Unlikely that you installed the clutch disc backwards. It is VERY likely that although you think you got it bled completely, odds are, you did not. This video explains the the proper bench bleeding technique as well as the amount of movement you need in your slave cylinder:

I don't have anything against using used parts but from your description I would be suspecting that your used master cylinder could be the issue. That said these clutches are very difficult to bleed, even on the bench. The last one I did had zero pushrod movement but I left it overnight... the next day I gave it a few more pumps and some large air bubbles came out.

 

[scotts90ranger]

That's a good video, good representation of what has worked for me in the past... when my master gave out a couple months ago I just bench bled it then gravity bled it a little more after install and it's been good to go...

 

[Paul18181818]

Thanks for the replies,

Since posting I have tried various methods of bleeding the clutch. It is possible that it's still not fully bled, but I have decent pedal pressure and I can see the pressure plate moving about 1/2 to 3/4 inch through the access hole in the transmission (about the same amount of movement as shown in the video above). I made sure to bench bleed the master as shown in the video before putting it in the truck. I also removed the master cylinder pushrod and let a little bit of fluid out on the cab side of the firewall which seemed to help. In addition, I rented a vacuum bleeding tool and pulled a couple of pounds of vacuum on the fluid reservoir. Is it possible there's an issue with the pressure plate installation? With the clutch fully pressed down in gear and the motor off, I can't get the car to roll at all.