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    #1

    Pressure plate woes.

    This is a similar problem to the one I am having:
    http://r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=115115&highlight=pressure+plate+fail


    In short, they are talking about the straps of the pressure plate failing, and having a difficult time to put the car into gear. Granted it is in the 24v section, they are still using the m20 clutch and pressure plate. I have had this problem in the past several times, and it just happened to me again this morning. In the past I have came to the conclusion that the front crank bolt had not been tightened, causing all sorts of vibration which in turn would blow the pressure plate apart. I have been very nervous now of my front crank bolt being loose so i check it occasionally. Recently it came loose again(about 2 weeks ago) and I cleaned the bolt off and used red lock-tite to keep the bolt in. I was unaware at the time that the bolt needed 300lbs of pressure, so I put the car in gear and stood on the brakes while my friend tightened the crank bolt as much as he could. He was tightening it enough that the motor was starting to spin and create compression. After the motor was trying to spin we used a BFH to create impact force on the bolt, hoping that it would create a good amount of tightening power. So today I pulled into traffic and brought the car up to 6500rpms and well, I heard a noise and what do you know, the selector rod is doing the same damn thing it did last time the pressure plate broke. I was able to drive it to the train station, but did not have enough time to pop the hood to check the crank bolt, because the train was about to leave. All the pressure plates and clutch parts have been OEM sachs.

    Did this happen again because my crank bolt is not tight enough?
    Who knows of a good machine shop that will add thicker tabs to a pressure plate?
    Any suggestions of a stronger pressure plate?
    Questions, comments, suggestions?

    Thanks in advance.
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    #2
    If your crack is lose I think your pressure plate should be the least of your woes. An impact gun is your friend.
    Originally posted by Beej '86 325es
    every time an M-tech 1 spoiler is destroyed, a baby seal dies.
    Originally posted by Jparkr
    The last thing we need are more of the retards on here thinking they are engineers too.
    87 325:83 jetta coupe:99 volvo c70:99 volvo s70

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      #3
      The crank is not loose anymore. It was tightened(before this event) It may not be tightened to 300lbs of pressure though. Impact guns don't fit without taking the rad out. Extension bars on a torque wrench does though. When I get it up on a lift I will be going that route.
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        #4
        The crank bolt would have to be awfully loose for it to cause a clutch failure. I rather think that you'd have noise from the engine (a deep knocking) if it were that loose.

        There are reasons other than a broken strap that will result in difficulty in selecting gears. A problem with the clutch hydraulics, worn shifter busings or a cracked selector rod, worn transmission or motor mounts, or even a problem with the clutch pedal or bushing can result in less than full disengagement of the clutch and shifting problems. Best to eliminate those as suspects before removing the transmission. In the clutch itself, an almost worn out clutch may not fully disengage. Of the pivot pin for the clutch fork could be worn off.

        Failure of the pressure plate straps is most commonly caused by reverse loading of the pressure plates from poor rev matching on downshifts or making it a practice to decelerate the car via engine braking. Less common is strap failure from an out of balance condition in the clutch/flywheel assembly.
        The car makes it possible, but the driver makes it happen.
        Jim Levie, Huntsville, AL

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          #5
          Thank you Jlevie, I do engine brake a lot... The only reason I think that I is the PP is because this same thing has happened multiple times in the past. The first time I money shifted. Second time it just broke as I was accelerating, same with the third, so i looked into it and some people were talking about how if the crank bolt was loose you would blow pressure plates, and I found that my bolt was indeed loose. So it may have been a combo of the two factors, the bolt being loose, and my engine braking. well damn. I guess I will know for sure what is wrong when I look at it next week. It would be nice if the pivot pin were just broken, but I have a feeling its the PP again.
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