Hand clutch problems!

[TiTiKo]

Hi guys,

We designed our car with a hand clutch system very similar to the motorcycle system (almost the same ratio of the lever), however we get a problem, the clutch doesnt engage. When we squeeze the lever to engange the clutch, the clutch pin (clutch rod) doesnt do anything and the lever gets hard, I really dont know if it has to introduce a little to engage the clutch or how does the pin work? Could it be a problem in the clutch? or maybe is it a problem with the travel of the cable that should be longer?

We have tried many things to solve that but we dont get a solution. We have adjusted the clutch several times, we remove the cover and we checked the movement of the clutch cable and it isnt lock, it moves easily.

Note: We are running a Suzuki GSX-R600 05

Has anyone experienced something like that? what do you recommend us to do? maybe drive a while the car and probably the clutch unlocks itself?

Regards,

Aristides

[James Morris]

How long is you cable and does it loop back on itself? This can really increase the amount of effort at the leaver.

Try one of these's http://www.nsdpowerballs.com/

James Morris
Swansea Metropolitan University

[exFSAE]

I believe you mean disengage the clutch. Engaged is when the clutch plates are squeezed together and transmitting torque.

I'm not familiar with the Suzuki motor but I assume the clutch works similarly to the Honda.

When I think "clutch pin" on these motors I think of the lifter device inside the engine that pulls the spring pressure off the plates. This connects to a rotary arm mechanism on the F4i, which then connects to the cable to go to the hand clutch.

So you're saying when you put tension on the cable, that rotary arm doesn't move? It just feels all bound up?

[TiTiKo]

the cable lenght is about 45in.

Yes, i mean disengage the clutch, and when i said "clutch pin" is the pin #19 of this schematic: http://www.bikebandit.com/assets/schematics/Suzuki/SU-04-2005-2333.gif
and the clutch cable is connected to the part # 22... and when i put tension on the cable that part #22 moves but just a little, i think that happend because the pin doesnt rotate and neither introduce inside the clutch.
Could you explain me how does this part work?

in addition, when we adjust the clutch, i place the bolt too close to the clutch pin as the manual indicate, almost in contact each other.

[TiTiKo]

Maybe the cable stretches when I squeeze the lever because its travel in the lever is about 1in-1.5in and in the other side of the cable the movement is just a little, about 0.5in.

Would be a good idea trying with a thicker cable?

[Nik]

I am still a little confused on what the problem is you are describing, but I might have some pointers. Disengaging the clutch happens when pin #19 is translated inwards along it's axis; I don't think it has anything to do with rotation. When part #22 rotates it engages a cam in the black cover (I think it's actually made of magnesium) that also covers the sprocket. Thus rotating #22 pushes pin #19 inward.

Try taking the cover off and manually pushing in on the pin (this will take a lot of force). If the pin doesn't go in I would say the problem is internal to the engine/tranmission.

We have a '03 GSX-R. Clutch disengages fine, but there is absolutely no feedback when you let it out, so starts are tricky.

[Michael Palaszynski]

How much mechanical advantage are you gaining with your clutch system? I know on our motor (F4i) if you were to manually open the clutch, it's a good 30-40lbs of force.

Although, I have experienced that whole idea of "letting the engine warm up, let oil get into the galleys of the motor" kind of thing (on a shifter kart).

But i have a feeling I'm not understanding your question....

[TiTiKo]

I tried taking the cover off and pushed manually the pin inward but i could not move the pin inward... maybe it needs more force to go in

[Nik]

I'll try pushing the one on our car in tomorrow and let you know if it can be done with hand tools on a clutch that works.

[mario_rbr]

Originally posted by Nik:
I'll try pushing the one on our car in tomorrow and let you know if it can be done with hand tools on a clutch that works.

We would really appreciate it!

[Steve O]

If your clutch has worked before, then I would say that you are probably right in regards to the cable stretching.... you need a pretty beefy cable for your clutch, its requires quite a bit of force to move it. We have a similar setup but with a yfz 450 and it works fine, just required us to keep adjust cable position and tension to get it to fully disengage/engage. Our hand lever was a little stiff, but really a moot point as we are using an autoclutch now and its only for launch and smoke shows http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/osuch/shifterclutch.jpg

[UHM Racing]

Did you wash the engine by any chance...when we took our engine out and cleaned it up we ran into the same problem, but found out that the clutch pin had just rusted in place or soemthing. Try to see if you can see any movement in the pin when you do pull the clutch. I think your cable should be ok because we're using a regular mountain bike brake cable. If you think it may be the same problem, try running the engine to warm up the oil and hopefully the vibration losen it up. If not...then good luck!

[Drew Price]

We are using a bike brake cable for the clutch in our 450 single also, hasn't been a problem yet. From a few people I talked to the bike cables will break at the joint sometimes if you put the cable on a hard edge, or nick the cable and the strands start to fray.

Best,
Drew

[Ecks]

Make sure you have the correct number and arrangement of clutch friction disks.

[Steve O]

We've had a bike cable snap on our yfz 450 single.