Clutch issues

We are having issues with a valair comp triple disengaging. It was purchased with supposedly 2 hooks on it and this looks to be the case. We put it in and it was not disengaging at all. I drilled a hole in the bellhousing to see what was going on and the fork was traveling far enough to slightly run the pressure plate. We pulled the trans and measures lever height which was .630 compared to valair's .565 +/- .040 spec. With the suggestion from valair I added some shim and got lever height to .560. I also inspected discs and floaters for flatness and verified they were installed correctly. Reinstalled pressure plate and with release bolts for installation still installed I can turn discs easily with alignment tool. Reinstalled trans, still doesn't disengage. Clutch fork is no longer hitting. We then pull the trans again and add more shim so lever height is way to high just to see what happens. Install trans and still doesn't disengage.

Right now I'm thinking the pressure plate is bad. Has anyone else ran into a similar issue? Just looking for suggestions before I send the clutch to valair so they can have a look

I bought dans old 4 disk and it had 3 bolts that held the pressure plate back that remove when its installed. Also you take the shim out behind the ball socket for the fork? Other then that not sure what can help you with. Maybe dan vallance will pop in with some insite

Is the pressure plate lined up correctly ? If the pressure plate was broken at least one of the levers would be fubar. It’s a fairly simple design. Have you tried to manually disengage the clutch using something like a steering wheel puller for a slave? That be my first suggestion. Run the slack out of the fork, continue in around 1” put in gear and see if you can spin the tail shaft. Sorta like a manual slave.

ramtough01 said:

I bought dans old 4 disk and it had 3 bolts that held the pressure plate back that remove when its installed. Also you take the shim out behind the ball socket for the fork? Other then that not sure what can help you with. Maybe dan vallance will pop in with some insite

Click to expand...

Yes these 3 bolts are removed. When I install them to pull back the pressure plate I can spin the discs by hand with the alignment tool, but it does seem that I need to hammer them in as far as they go to be able to spin the discs. I'm not sure if this is normal. I also do have the washer removed from behind the pivot ball

Valair1 said:

Is the pressure plate lined up correctly ? If the pressure plate was broken at least one of the levers would be fubar. It’s a fairly simple design. Have you tried to manually disengage the clutch using something like a steering wheel puller for a slave? That be my first suggestion. Run the slack out of the fork, continue in around 1” put in gear and see if you can spin the tail shaft. Sorta like a manual slave.

Click to expand...

Lined up correctly as in the paint marks lined up? I have not tried to manually disengage yet but before adding shim the fork would slightly rub the pressure plate. After adding shim and getting lever height to spec, I have maybe 1/8" gap between fork and pressure plate. I took a pry bar through the the hole I drilled and tryed prying the fork farther in but it would not move. The fork is definitely traveling an inch.

Do you also have the fork that came with the comp triple? I would manually check it before I did anything else. If you pull it out again shoot me some pictures before removing the clutch from the flywheel. my cell is 940-859-1496. with the levers set at .565 you should have not problem releasing the clutch. How much free travel do you have ? or how far does the fork move in and out by hand, you have to have free travel or it will burn up your clutch. How about your pedals, do they move side to side at all?

The fork did not come with the clutch so we ordered one from you, so I guess it is possible we got the wrong one. I will pull it back out tonight hopefully and get you some pics and get it shimmed back to .565. When we get the trans back in I will manually check it and check the free travel again. Cant remember exactly but I would say maybe 1/2". It was enough that I could pop the fork off the pivot ball. I do not think the pedal has side to side movement but I will check this tonight also.


I also want to thank you for your support, it is much appreciated!

Your welcome

Valair1 said:

How about your pedals, do they move side to side at all?

Click to expand...

How big of a problem would that cause? I also have your triple comp and after 10 hooks I had issues disengaging. Lever height was around .450”, took out .015” shim as per Gary’s suggestion to get back in spec. Working good now. But when I switched from a auto to manual trans I was missing the small bushing for the clutch pedal, so it’s a little loose. Same height as brake pedal but some side to side play. Would that cause premature wear?

OP not trying to hijack, just curious on troubleshooting these clutches a bit better

If it’s disengaging correctly your probably all right it cause stroke issues.

Well with Dan's help last night we were able to get it figured out. The last disc had a pressure plate side sticker on the flywheel side so I had it in backwards. Flipped it around and it works flawless. Can't thank Dan enough for his customer service.