themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

My clutch won't disengage. I promise, I've spent hours researching this and with tech support. The car is a 2002 Z28 with a T56 Magnum, T56 bell housing, F1 lightweight flywheel, Spec Stage 2+ clutch (with the slave spacer), Duralast slave, McLeod 13/16" adjustable MC and a freshly flushed system. Absolutely everything is brand new in the clutch system, mainly because I can't get the clutch to disengage to shift into gear.

I've tried the crack, pump, close, release method, the mity vac from the top method, and even some other wild bleeding procedure having to do with a weird pump, crack and close sequence. I've talked with tech support at Spec, anyone I knew who's worked with LS1s, and I've spent several hours right here at the computer, still with this system not working. The system currently holds 12IHG on the mity vac with no issue.

So on to the point: I've talked with Spec, they recommended some procedure involving mity vac from the top AND bottom. How do you go about mity vac'ing from the bottom? Wouldn't it just pour liquid through the system? I'm looking your way, SPEC01... Also, how do I go about adjusting my MC to the appropriate spot? Is there a procedure other than let it out, start the car, see where it engages, turn it off, adjust? Maybe some point to start from? I'm at my wits end, and I know many of you have dealt with this. What did it for you? SPEC01, I'm still looking your way.

Billy M

how about looking at the disc itself? may want to put a straight edge across it and make sure it's flat. if the disc is bent due to excessive weight being put on the disc while installing it, you can tweak the disc and at that point it does not matter how much travel you get from your hydraulics. it wont release.

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

Excessive weight? I don't understand, you mean over-torquing? I will say, if I pull this trans off again, I will get another clutch anyway...

Nmbr1GMfan

iTrader: (1)

An unsupported trans. will bend the disk during install.

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

Weak. I'm certain the clutch was aligned when I put the trans back in, and I had a trans jack allowing me to align the input shaft well. I'm certain it was well supported coming out and going in, but this reopened the "warped disk" argument... SPEC01, I'll be awaiting your response.

LS1-450

iTrader: (33)

Did you confirm the dimensional spacing when installing? The distance from the (1) crank shaft face to the throwout bearing seat on trans should always be confirmed against the dimension resulting from adding the (2) flywheel thickness from crank side bolt face to clutch side disk face, pressure plate thickness (flywheel mounting side to top of fingers when pp is torqued in place, throwout bearing retracted length & spacer thickness). Basically, dimension (2) should be 1/16" to an 1/8" less than dimension (1). If dimension (2) is signifigantly greater than what's noted, the clutch may not release. We cannot assume that theses dimensions are equal from set up to set up & vendor to vendor.

redtail2426

iTrader: (10)

seems like a lot of problems with these specs lately,let us know what happens

LS1-450

iTrader: (33)

It's not the SPEC's. It's the garage installers' assumption that every clutch is the same dimensionally.

Nmbr1GMfan

iTrader: (1)

This is so true, the installation of a clutch is a mathmatical experience to say the least.

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

Nice, thanks man. In researching the issue, I came across your post about the dimensions to measure, but since this is my first serious build and I'm still in a troubleshooting phase, those dimensions are unavailable what with the trans being in the way. I've learned a lot from all kinds of sources, thanks for that comment.

On the other end, I have calls into tech support lines for information on dimensions. Perhaps I could mathematically figure that out without taking my transmission out a third time.

SPEC-01

iTrader: (2)

I spoke with you over the phone and via PM and have answered your questions. I just didn't want others to think I was ignoring your post. Let me know what you find relative to our discussion on bleeding and measurements from your assembly.

It's also worth noting here, as I did over the phone, that you can check out a video showing how to check measured heights and need for a shim on www.youtube.com by searching "SPEC LS SHIM". Let me know if you have any further questions. Thanks,

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

Yes, thanks for talking it over. The guy in the video seems like he's done that a few times, lol. I also got a response from F1 stating that the crank mounting surface to friction surface on the flywheel is the same as OEM. Though he did not specifically give me the 0.820" dimension, he did say that this flywheel has that dimension the same as the OEM piece. I'm going to adjust the MC and try your bleeding procedure, hopefully that will do it!

BTW, sorry about that first message... I didn't mean it as a call-out, I was frustrated when typing it up!