Hot Rods SBC/T5 Problems, any suggestions

OK so update, had to bleed the brakes again from sitting I am guessing, and re-bled the slave to be safe. With the slave bled and the clutch in it seems to be fully engaging the whole length of the throw, and with the clutch pressed I tried prying it to see if it had more room to move like you guys said, but it did not move any farther back, with the truck running and foot in the clutch it still not fully releasing and still won't go into gear. Getting super pissed right about now, have about a 1/16" of clearance between the clutch fork and bellhousing so it's not hitting there, but won't move back anymore either.

Out of daylight soon and patience so any ideas would be greatly appreciated. It's been in the 30's and I dont have a garage and working 7 days a week so forgive my lack of progress haha

 

I don’t think your problem is in the hydraulics, that’s why I suggested to try and engage it manually somehow that way you take the hydraulic equation out of the issue once you figure out that is or isn’t it then you know which direction to go with your problem solutions

 

That's what I was trying to do with a prybar, but it did not throw any farther and looks like it was at the end of it's travel bc it was close to the bellhousing with about a 1/16th of clearance, is there another way to get more of a throw?

 

Is there any chance that your input shaft is bottoming out in the end of the crankshaft? Could it be binding in the pilot bearing/bushing?

 

Adjustable pivot ball to move the bearing forward?

 

If it was bottoming out would it be able to be flush from the bell housing to the block? I had to drill the crank out a little to be able to use a Ford T-5 Bearing bc the brass bushing inner diameter was to small, but the shaft seated in the bearing I thought pretty well. I think I am going to have to end up pulling the tranny and double checking everything.

I have never used an adjustable pivot ball, but am thinking it might be worth a shot, are the adjustable after everything is together ?

 

Also, after reading a few articles, it looks like there are possibly two different pivot balls for the T5, one for a mechanical setup and another one for a hydro setup, maybe an adjustable one would get me closer to where I should be?

 

And also, Speedway is showing four different length pivot balls, from 1.4" to over 2.5" I am no T5 guru but does anyone have a good suggestion on which would be a good pallpark starting size? Idk the stock length for a Ford T5, it's a non TKO from a 89-93 mustang. Thanks again for all the help everyone, if any of you are in shitty Long Island ever I have beer and whiskey ; ) I'll check back in the am.

 

Things to check for:

-Verify that the input spins fairly free in pilot bushing
- right throw out bearing
- correct clutch arm
- throw out bearing seated in arm correctly
- make sure disc can float freely on splines and isn’t bound up some how

 

Is there a specific dimension that the pivot ball should be from the flywheel ?

 

I did a T5 using a 55 Chevy bellhousing a couple years back.Its open at the bottom so it was easy to see what was going on by looking up.I found that I had to adjust the push rod length to get the bearing about 60 thousands away from the pressure plate when not engaged.This way all the slave cylinder travel was used to move the pressure plate when needed.If you have a modern bell thats closed so you cant see in there consider boring a couple holes on the bottom so you can shine light up there while looking in to see how far the bearing is away from the fingers on the cover.One other thought...I had to grind about 50thousands off the splined center of my disc for clearance on the side facing the bearing.

 

I sure wish I knew.

 

Do you have the correct throw out bearing for the pressure plate you are running?
From what I am seeing rigs with that bellhousing use a national 614083 or equivalent That looks like what we call the "short" bearing. Does it match the pressure plate you are running?
Clutch fork? Are you running the fork that matches the bellhousing or ? All GM clutch forks are not created the same. One would assume that the pressure plate, bellhousing, throw out bearing clutch fork and slave cylinder matched. It's what doesn't match in the mix that is the issue.

 

I sure wish I knew.

I have a dimension of 3 3/32" for a diaphram style pressure plate on a Chev application, not sure it is correct.

 

Check Speedway number 5503855 adjustable ball. It has about 3/8'' travel adjustment.One other thought...your push rod may need to be lengthened,or a longer one made up.

 

I don’t think confusing the situation with aftermarket parts is a good idea , that bell worked at one time with stock parts it should be able to again...

my knee jerk reaction is possibly an issue to the disc and imputshaft..

 

Thanks for all the responses guys! OK so here's where I am at. Thinking my best option is,

1, Jack up the rear and try and turn the driveshaft in neutral and see if its not fully disengaged

2, I was actually thinking the same thing IrishSteve, I am guessing I will have to pull the tranny to check everything's fitment anyway so might as well make a slot so that I can physically see the operation of everything when it is back together and also possibly adjust anything while still together.

3, Looks like an adjustable ball would be a good idea so that I have adjustability

4, MrChev I couldn't tell you 100% that everything is correct and matched bc the bellhousing is mid 90's chevy, tranny is mid 90's ford, so I went w a chevy flywheel, mustang disc (Wanna say 11" if I remember correctly) and a adapter plate, so I very well could have the wrong TO bearing, disc etc. Planning on taking everything apart at this point and putting pics up and seeing what my best options are from there.

5, Yes Thirytwo I agree with you about it working once already, but the problem is that the bell worked once in a chevy, and the T5 worked once in a ford, it's trying to make them work together in a GMC that I am having the problem with haha. But I am planning on taking it all apart and putting pics of everything I have on here.

6, 20 degrees for the high today and rain /snow tomorrow, no garage, so will try and beat the snow/rain and still have feeling in my fingertips but will post pics when I have everything apart

 

Had a minute before I headed to work, jacked up the rear and the driveshaft is spinning freely when in neutral, so that's a plus, also ordered the adjustable pivot you mentioned IrishSteve, Although I can't really lengthen the pushrod since it's already really close to the bell when I have my foot on it, but like Thirytwo said, I am just going to try and check the movement of every part and see that is not working, will have to cut a sight hole in to the bell when I take it out.

 

Keep in mind that there are two Chevy throw out bearings.The flat diaphragm cover uses a tall one,and the raised finger diaphragm uses a shorter one.You wouldn't be the first guy to get them mixed,and get no release.

 

Did not know that, although with my luck I have the wrong one haha, pulling the tranny out tonight when I get home, I’ll take the fork and bearing out and post pics and see what I’m working with


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Ugh.. I try to avoid pulling a transmission, but I think you are stuck in your case. One of the downfalls of the enclosed bellhousing is you can't see what is going on inside. What clutch are you using? Most come with the TO bearing these days, maybe you can still identify what you have. I believe there are 3 lengths of TO bearings for a Chevy and there are adjustable ones too. I know McLeod makes one for GM applications. So does Novak, who are good people to know.
https://www.novak-adapt.com/catalog/clutch/adjustable-throwout-bearings

 

Ok so don’t ask me how this happens bc it was starlight going in( famous last words) but it’s bent to shit. Got the tranny out and TO bearing, have to take the bell off tomorrow, have a dr appt and started losing feeling in my fingers and toes haha, but this is the beating and any theories how it got bent in open to haha.


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Gonna pulls the adapter, bell and clutch out in the morning and take pics hopefully I can piece together a setup that will work well together


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Bob that adjustable bearing looks like it would work perfect, between that and the adjustable pivot I should be able to get right where I need to be. The clutch is a mustang one bc I needed the same splines for a ford shaft bc the T5 is from a mustang, wanna say it’s an 11” you been back to studio 69 lately?


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I've never personally used an adjustable TO bearing before, I'm just aware of what they can do. I've never adjusted a pivot before either, maybe I've been lucky all these years. I'm in and out of the place, had some work done late last year, your artist has moved on as you may know. What did that lip get caught on, was it square in the fork?

 

I thought I had it pretty square on but obviously something was off, I’m going to pull the bell and clutch out tonight and check everything, but was not sure if I needed to measure anything before I disassemble it. Figure I would take the bell to work and make a notch in it and then put it all back and check clearances and go from there and hopefully that will do it. Yes Cort left there but I might have Gina do some more work on me next month


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Whether the clutch is engaged or disengaged makes no difference if the trans is in NEUTRAL , what pressure plate are you using ?? I would never recommend that you notch / cut / dill a bell housing !!

 

How hard did you pry on the fork? Was it in the direction that it is bent? D

 

I checked it in neutral just to be sure that I didn’t have any obvious problems or that it wasn’t moving at all, I will have to look up the parts I ordered it’s been a while, but if I remember correctly it was a camaro or s10 pressure plate and flywheel and a mustang 11” disc.

I didn’t wrench on the pry bar just gave it a tug to see if I had any more movement that it wasn’t fully throwing, but when I was under the truck I could see that it threw the fork pretty much to the bell with about 1/16” of a gap, so thinking it wasn’t the pushrod or slave not throwing it enough


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