Help me understand the welded ball and pushrod Phenomena

[charles_in_houston]

I had a similar description in my previous post but it may have gotten lost. I did a search but I

[charles_in_houston]

I had a similar description in my previous post but it may have gotten lost. I did a search but I

[blowit]

Someone?

 

 

You are very close in your understanding. The problems lay in the fact that the push rod, at the point of eccentric actuation, is not buffered for rotation and was design for stationary operation. What I am saying is the clutch lever on top of the case that forces the rod over does not rotate. When the lever is actuated, friction is induced and causes the rod to hault any rotational motion it had from spinning with the trans axle.

 

Obviously the other end of the rod has to rotate somewhere, somehow to maintain force with the pressure plate that is coupled to the transmission. This is where the "ball" comes in. This is the part that uncouples power from the rotation of the pressure plate and the stationary tendencies of the opposite end of the rod at the actuator lever. The faster the trans is spinning, the more rotational difference there is and the more rpms the "ball" gets to decipher. The ball just cannot handle the axial frictional forces under high rpms due to a lack of lubing in that area. As the ball heats it wants to gauld which is a tendency of two similar metals wanting to weld to each other.

 

The fix for years has been to use a ceramic ball in plate of the steel to create dissimilar material interaction which would reduce gauling tendencies. Now a days a pancake bearing is substituted that can better handle the axial forces without over heating.

 

Hopefully this helps.

 

Brandon

 

Another thing worth noting is heavy clutch springs amplify this problem.

Edited May 8, 2007 by blowit

[blowit]

Just to answer your last question, yes, if you rev the engine WFO with the clutch in, you can weld the ball right where you sit. The rod is in no way coupled to the clutch basket. You should just have a exploratory day and take it apart and it will all make perfect sense.

 

 

Brandon

[charles_in_houston]

Just to answer your last question, yes, if you rev the engine WFO with the clutch in, you can weld the ball right where you sit. The rod is in no way coupled to the clutch basket. You should just have a exploratory day and take it apart and it will all make perfect sense.

Brandon

 

Excellent description! The piece I was missing was the pushrod and its inability to rotate with the clutch pulled in. It makes perfect sense now. Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me.

 

I

[blowit]

Excellent description! The piece I was missing was the pushrod and its inability to rotate with the clutch pulled in. It makes perfect sense now. Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me.

 

I

[charles_in_houston]

Not sure what you are looking for regarding the pancake bearing. Pretty straight forward. Replacement of the ball in the system with a pancake bearing. The load is then distributed over several surfaces and will handle much more axial load.

 

I am surprised I did not get too much shit for terminology. I figured if I took off talking about the "angular velocity" and "angular acceleration"

of the given mass I would have just confused a few. Just trying to get the point across.

Brandon

 

Well, I didn't even know the ball was removed from the mix when you installed it. I can't wrap my brain around how you can place that pancake bearing between the clutch adjuster and pressure plate with a captive nut on the out side holding it tight and get any relief from the rotational force. I guess I just don't know the specifics on how that sucker gets installed.

 

The terms you used are commonplace here at my work. I hadn't even considered it until you mentioned it. Thanks again and if you have time to describe how to install one of those, I think that would answer my questions.