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T5 swap gone bad

2

2-3 Heaven

Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2012
Location
Golden Valley, ND
So my M47 went in my '90 245. I figured why not do a T5 swap. Got the fluid in it tonight and fired up the car to a slight squeaking from the trans. It wasn't bad and went away with light pressure on the clutch pedal.

The big problem comes in when I push the pedal in further. I get a couple of inches of travel without issue, but then I get some nasty grinding. I tried pushing the pedal in a little past where it started and the engine starts to die. Below is my setup. Please help guys. Oh, the pedal is adjusted so I have an 1/8" of freeplay at the fork which is basically maxed out the adjustment on the cable.

WCT5 from a '95 Mustang V6
'93 Mustang V8 input shaft
Trimmed bearing sleeve .68" to match shorter input shaft
Mustang V8 TO bearing
Mustang 4cyl turbo 9" disc
Stock Volvo pressure plate
Stock Volvo dogdish flywheel
M46 clutch fork w/ Kaplhenke blocks
Triangles Unlimited spacer
 
We'll on any manual transmission if you push the throw out bearing too far it will push the pressure plate fingers into the clutch disc. Common problem. You need to adjust something so your not pushing it too far.
 
The v8 ford TO bearing is really short and not a good match for the height needed for the Volvo pressureplate.

My guess is your clutch fork is hitting the pressureplate.

Other thing you should check is clutch pedalwear. Sometimes the hole becomes a slot and that can really mess up your engagement range.
 
sbabbs said:
We'll on any manual transmission if you push the throw out bearing too far it will push the pressure plate fingers into the clutch disc. Common problem. You need to adjust something so your not pushing it too far.
Click to expand...

I guess I should have mentioned that the clutch isn't disengaging, so I don't think that this is it.
 
blkaplan said:
The v8 ford TO bearing is really short and not a good match for the height needed for the Volvo pressureplate.

My guess is your clutch fork is hitting the pressureplate.

Other thing you should check is clutch pedalwear. Sometimes the hole becomes a slot and that can really mess up your engagement range.
Click to expand...

The clutch pedal feels good, but I'll check it out.

What TO bearing should I use instead? Will I need to change the bearing retainer as well?
 
Chewy said:
Disc too thick?

Able to measure stock disc vs mustang disc?
Click to expand...

I didn't measure them but did just take a quick look side by side. They looked incredibly close. I just swapped stock Volvo for stock 4cyl Mustang. The Volvo disc was only a few months old with basically no miles. How much difference would you need to create an issue?
 
blkaplan said:
That won't make any difference.
Click to expand...

2-3 Heaven said:
I guess I should have mentioned that the clutch isn't disengaging, so I don't think that this is it.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, sounds like the freeplay I mentioned is suspect...

Maybe you should adjust it within spec.

Also, when I did my T5 Conversions, I had trouble with the "aftermarket" style clutch cable...I couldn't get enough adjustment. I exclusively use the O.E. style, where the set knob, threads onto the cable housing itself....the other style, with limited adjustment on plastic fine threads doesn't get tight enough.

O.P. you mentioned grinding....as in grinding when trying to engage a gear or just in general? If the clutch doesn't fully disengage, then it'll grind going into gear...I'm sure you know this.

Sounds an awful lot, like the clutch cable adjustment is off. 1.5MM freeplay is SPEC for VOLVO
 
Mylesofsmyles said:
Hmmm, sounds like the freeplay I mentioned is suspect...

Maybe you should adjust it within spec.

Also, when I did my T5 Conversions, I had trouble with the "aftermarket" style clutch cable...I couldn't get enough adjustment. I exclusively use the O.E. style, where the set knob, threads onto the cable housing itself....the other style, with limited adjustment on plastic fine threads doesn't get tight enough.

O.P. you mentioned grinding....as in grinding when trying to engage a gear or just in general? If the clutch doesn't fully disengage, then it'll grind going into gear...I'm sure you know this.

Sounds an awful lot, like the clutch cable adjustment is off. 1.5MM freeplay is SPEC for VOLVO
Click to expand...

I can see your point, but it is grinding from the bellhousing without even trying to get it into gear, which I don't see happening if it is just an adjustment issue. I'll nail down the adjustment once the grinding is cleared up and I have a fork return spring installed. I have enough adjustment to get it within spec, but nothing more. I'm guessing once I have the proper length TO bearing installed, I'll gain a bunch of adjustment.



Damian
 
Check to make sure the bearing retainer is not pushing the clutch disc up against the flywheel. When I did my T-5 swap the clutch would not release even after adjusting the cable and shimming the pivot with no change we measured the distance to the center hub of the clutch disc and discovered the retainer was pushing on it, so I had to trim about 1/8" off the retainer to get the clearance from the clutch disc. Transmission was from a 91 Mustang GT so it should have fit without problems, may have just been a bunch of small variances that all added up to the interference.
 
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