Page 1 of 2

Clutch adjustment question

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 10:13 pm
by Wagon19
Guys I have read all of the advice and looked at the pictures and reviewed all of the measurements on adjusting the clutch. I have a 1950 magneto Cub "Jenny", negative ground and she is running just fine, but the clutch adjustment is in question. I had her split and a new clutch installed by the IH Dealer. She worked okay for a couple of weeks around the house, hauling a trailer around while I picked up debris from the recent ice storm. she never shifted quietly before or after the new clutch install. So, I pulled the very small Clutch cover off and discovered that two of the three lock nuts were missing from the clutch fingers.I found one of the missing nuts up next to the flywheel, but not the third. It is about a 65 mile trip to the dealer, so rather than load Jenny on the trailer, I decided to fix her myself.
I made a tool to measure the 1 1/4 inch distance from the clutch base to the end of the pressure plate finger, and began to adjust the threaded bolt after loosening the lock nut. When the measurement reached 1 1/4 inch I tightened it up. After a few rounds all of the fingers were the same. Next step was to set the clutch pedal at 1 inch free play. Jenny still scraped the gears when going into first gear and reverse at this point. What to do now? I decided to read the owners manual, and the shop manual. The shop manual says there should be 1/8 inch clearance between the fingers and the throw out bearing. I made this adjustment, and she is almost perfect, but with a little scrape when going into first gear.
The free play in the clutch pedal is also adjusted to 1 inch. Is there something I am missing here? Any suggestions?

Re: Clutch adjustment question

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 10:17 pm
by cub47
Did the dealer replace the clutch release bearing also?

Re: Clutch adjustment question

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 10:26 pm
by cub47
Just my opinion, but if the dealer performed the repair initially, they should be able to back their work, I would take it back and have them correct the issue.

Re: Clutch adjustment question

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 10:45 pm
by Eugene
cubguy47 wrote:Did the dealer replace the clutch release bearing also?
Throwout bearing? Check the condition of the throw out bearing - it should look new and have a flat face.

cubguy47 wrote:Just my opinion, but if the dealer performed the repair initially, they should be able to back their work, I would take it back and have them correct the issue.
My opinion also.

Take a copy of your post on loose and missing nuts and your copy of the repair bill.

Suggestion and a thought. Cub fests. Couple of experienced Cubers, two hours or less to split the Cub, replace the clutch, reassemble.

Re: Clutch adjustment question

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 11:10 pm
by Tinkertoy
My thought is to bring her back to the dealer and let them know, she isn't right from the start....you do know that first and reverse have no syncros and will shift smoothly ONLY from a dead stop?? ...I too, before replacement of my clutch assembly (clutch, pressure plate and throw-out bearing, I tried adjusting the fingers on the clutch...I succeeded in getting the transmission to shift without grinding hamburg, however, the fingers did blow off the pressure plate after a quick spin around the yard...too much chatter from the clutch due to miscalculating on the adjustment....nearly impossible to adjust without getting chatter from the pedal afterwards....I say bring her back to the dealers for a new clutch or try to replace it yourself as I did...good luck and I'll say a prayer to St.Cubster for you !! LOL... this too will pass !! wish you luck...Tinkertoy

Re: Clutch adjustment question

Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 5:05 am
by Rick Spivey
It could be that your input shaft is still spinning, from a tightness in the pilot bushing. Either the shaft has a slight bend, or burr, or the bushing needs replacement. If your PTO works, and there is nothing attached, engage it, put trans in neutral with clutch out, then clutch in, watch PTO shaft to see how long it takes to stop. If it is turning, there will be a slight grind when shifting.

Re: Clutch adjustment question

Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 5:27 am
by twotone
Mine used to grind when putting in gear also. I lubed my pilot bushing and problem solved. There's a post on here somewhere on how to do it.


Tom

Re: Clutch adjustment question

Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 11:30 am
by bythepond88
Ditto to what Rick and twotone said about lubing the pilot bushing. That was my problem, as well. You can try to squirt some of your favorite penetrating oil with a can and long straw into where the input shaft slips into the pilot bushing if you don't want to do another split.

Re: Clutch adjustment question

Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:40 pm
by Boss Hog
stand the cub with the back as high as you can safely get it above the front stuff runs down hill :D

Re: Clutch adjustment question

Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:56 pm
by cub47
Eugene wrote:
cubguy47 wrote:Did the dealer replace the clutch release bearing also?
Throwout bearing? Check the condition of the throw out bearing - it should look new and have a flat face.



That is what I normally call it 8)

Re: Clutch adjustment question

Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 6:36 pm
by Wagon19
I have been away for about five days without a chance to try your suggestions. Today I worked on Jenny for a couple of hours. first we used the grease gun and lubed the TOB . Next sprayed the TOB with synthetic oil till it ran out of the inspection hole. Adjusted the TOB to 1/8 inch from the pressure plate fingers.Also have 1 inch free play in the clutch. Engaged the PTO and the shaft was spinning when I pushed in the clutch. She scraped going into reverse. I backed her up and pushed in the clutch and the PTO stopped. After this there was no scraping and I drove her around the yard. Let her sit for about an hour and repeated the same process with the same result. After the initial move out of the barn, she was okay. What is the pilot bushing, and where is it located. Thanks, Wagon

Re: Clutch adjustment question

Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 6:44 pm
by cub47
It is a bronze style bushing in the rear end of the crankshaft that the front end of your spline shaft spins in. This fit being restricted for one of many reasons is why spraying lubricant in that area has been suggested previously.

Re: Clutch adjustment question

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 7:20 pm
by Wagon19
Okay Cubguy, I will keep throwing grease and lubricant to her. The shaft that the TOB is riding on really looks dirty. Can't imagine why the Dealer did not clean it and make it shine. Sometimes you don't get what you pay for. Jenny is running good with plenty of power with the Mag distributor. If I can get this problem solved, I will be a happy Cub owner. Thanks

Re: Clutch adjustment question

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 7:50 pm
by cub47
Wagon19 wrote:Okay Cubguy, I will keep throwing grease and lubricant to her. The shaft that the TOB is riding on really looks dirty. Can't imagine why the Dealer did not clean it and make it shine. Sometimes you don't get what you pay for. Jenny is running good with plenty of power with the Mag distributor. If I can get this problem solved, I will be a happy Cub owner. Thanks


Grease, dirt, bugs, among other things, are commonly found in this area when a Cub is split, if your Cub was missing the hand hole cover at some point, that can be one reason why it looks like that.

Re: Clutch adjustment question

Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 8:30 am
by Scrivet
Wagon19 wrote: .........I will keep throwing grease and lubricant to her. The shaft that the TOB is riding on really looks dirty. Can't imagine why the Dealer did not clean it and make it shine.
Sometimes you don't get what you pay for..........
First be careful where you are "throwing grease" as you can get it on the clutch disc and create all kinds of problems. Second, if you paid for a clutch replacement from a dealer why do you expect to have the inside of the torque tube shinning? They're not going to spend an extra hour and all the rags, chemicals, and wire brushing etc to perform a cosmetic job for free in a location that rarely gets seen, will look the same in a few months anyway, and doesn't impact performance in the least. I think expecting them to make it shine is a little much. Now if I was in there doing any work on one of my cubs, yeah I would clean out the worst of it. That's the difference in doing work yourself and hiring things done.

I do think that if it had only been a couple weeks since they had done the job and I started having clutch problems, THEY would have been loading it on THEIR trailer and taking it the 65 miles to fix it. I wouldn't be trying to fix it myself. This is where you should be applying your comment (slightly modified) "I will get what I paid for" to the manager and/or owner of the dealership, not about a shinning driveshaft.

Good luck, just make sure you know where to put the lube.