Clutch plate backwards or not properly bled clutch?

[RayInStl]

So I'm within spitting distance of finishing my auto to 5 speed conversion. Just installed the clutch master and bled the system several times. I'm able to shift through the gears easily with the engine off. But once started, I cannot shift into most gears.

I can shift into 3rd and 5th with some difficulty, but all other gears won't go. I have not tried releasing the clutch in 3rd or 5th. I don't want to screw things up. My brother installed the clutch disc and swears the flat side was towards the flywheel. But I know a backwards clutch disc will prevent shifting. But since I "kinda" get 3rd and 5th, I'm thinking it's just not bled well enough.

To bleed, we've been using the bleeder on the slave in the same way you bleed brakes. To bleed the master, I removed the c-clip that retains the piston and pulled the piston out until a little fluid came out and then reinstalled. This is the method we used on my brothers ranger with success. But his is an m5od and mine is the dreaded fm145.

This is on a 2.9L bronco 2. It previously had an a4ld and now has a fm145. The master and slave cylinders are new units.

 

[adsm08]

The FM145 is a bastard to bleed. Keep trying.

 

[RayInStl]

Is it likely the master or the slave that has air in it?

 

[adsm08]

The line is usually the big issue. There is a U where is goes over the the frame and that is where the air gets stuck.

 

[RayInStl]

Ah! Never would have thought of that. Any tricks to extracting that air?

 

[adsm08]

Ah! Never would have thought of that. Any tricks to extracting that air?

Got a vehicle rotisserie?

The physics of it make it so that the easiest way to do it is to hold the whole assembly upside down. Not exactly practical with an FM145 since the line has no check valve.

If you can get a rubber plug of some sort that fits the fluid reservoir you can pull a vaccum through the top. The 04+ Mustangs use a similar butterfly fitting on their slaves and they don't even have a bleeder anymore, you just suck a vacuum at the top and work the clutch pedal until the stupid thing works.

 

[RayInStl]

So I went and made things worse. I'm 100% confident the clutch was bled. It had no play and a good firm feel. I even took the master back out enough to tilt it upward and no more bubbles came out. But it didn't get any better.

So we took the trans back out to check the clutch plate direction. It was fine. Unfortunately whole removing the trans, we broke the hydraulic line. We both thought the other has removed it and we were in a time crunch. So now I have to find a replacement on top of figuring this out.

So here's my next question: the clutch kit I was using was the one from my 83 2.3 ranger. I used it because it was the same size and looked identical to what was in there before, plus it had less than 50 miles on it. I'm thinking there must be a difference though. I bought a new clutch kit from autozone and I'll be damned if I can see anything different, but I'm wondering if maybe the finger springs take a different amount of force to disengage or something. I dunno. This whole thing has me scratching my head. I could use some more guidance.

 

[RayInStl]

Another wall. Exedy's site says the FMD001U clutch disc and the FMC501 pressure plate are for all years of the Bronco II with the 2.8/2.9L V6. I don't have a clue.