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Post by stooedwardes on Jan 26, 2008 23:45:37 GMT -5
OK, I managed to pull the clutch apart and it all seems fine (although fairly worn out). I pulled it apart because the clutch was heavy but not dis-engaging. When I sit the cover (sorry I do not know the tech terms for these things!) on without the screws and springs fitted and pull the clutch lever the push rod moves OK but does move far enough to connect with the cover and therefore dis-engage the clutch. Then my manual talks about "removing push rod 1 and 2..." but I only have the one push rod (as far as I can tell) and am thinking that I may be missing this mysterious push rod 2. Is this just a little straight bit of rod that adds a bit of length to my existing push rod?
I hope a. someone can understand my ramblings and b. help me!!
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Post by curly001 on Jan 27, 2008 5:29:37 GMT -5
The second push rod is the small rod with the mushroom type head that was behind the clutch cover held on with 6 bolts & springs
Curly
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Post by bigshingle on Jan 27, 2008 9:54:37 GMT -5
Take a look at the post last month by Gibbsy on clutch push-rod length.
He also had a problem getting a clutch to disengage.
It should at least give you some ideas of where to look for the problem.
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Post by stooedwardes on Jan 27, 2008 21:46:01 GMT -5
Thanks Curly and Bigshingle,
I went back down and saw three arrows on the case, I figured these should align with something, I tried a few different positions and strangely enough one of them worked. The case sat in closer to the plates and everything is sorted. I still do not know what i have done but I am happy!
The clutch is now slipping but I think with a little bit of adjustment it should all work out fine.
cheers
Stew
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Post by caferacercarl on Jan 30, 2008 2:15:12 GMT -5
Do the adjustment thing with the little phillips adjuster under the front sprocket cover, and have about 4mm freeplay in the cable at the clutch lever before worrying about spending money, these clutches are magic in stock form. regards Carl
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Post by gibbsy on Feb 12, 2008 6:46:53 GMT -5
As stopusingmyname has said the adjustment at the bottom of the cable is critical but if this is now correct (you assume) the slipping is probably being caused by worn plates, you can mike these to get a true indacation of wear as per the figures in the manual but in the meantime if your using the bike with a slipping clutch you may heat the steel plates up and buckle them so beware!
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Post by stevec5000 on Mar 30, 2008 9:36:41 GMT -5
Has anyone had problems with Clutch Push Rod #2 breaking at the outside end? I had the same clutch problems as the first poster but when I took the clutch apart I found the steel end broken off the aluminum rod at the actuator end. I have a parts bike and took the rod out of it and it was broken too so I assume that is a common problem. I tried making one from a solid steel rod and hardened the ends but it still doesn't work very well. Is there a better #2 rod to use than the aluminum one that breaks easily?
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Post by bigshingle on Mar 30, 2008 19:14:51 GMT -5
Both steel ends of the rod on my bike ('81) have spiral groves in them — I haven't thought about why they do, but they do. Maybe to pick up oil and force it (pump it) along the shaft. The shaft doesn't look like something a machine shop could easily duplicate. I mean, do you have access to a shop that can do that?
If there are no grooves on the shaft, that might be why it isn't working right. It might also be why the shaft is breaking. Did Yamaha make some push rods without the spiral groves? Dunno.
Have you checked with Yamaha parts? If there's a problem with the clutch push rods breaking, then it's almost certain replacements are still available, since there should be a demand for them.
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Post by caferacercarl on Apr 1, 2008 3:11:13 GMT -5
Even the new SR400 part is the same, it is unusual to break the tip off, but I have heard of only 2 others in 29 years so I haven't been able to look to see why, the stock part is OK, maybe they had the bottom adjuster riding without freeplay or the cable? will look into it for everyone.
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Post by stevec5000 on Apr 2, 2008 7:36:38 GMT -5
Any good machine shop could make one with grooves in it, I made one out of a solid steel rod but it doesn't have grooves. Anyway, I took apart the old rod to see how it was made. The steel ends are hardened and have a small pin extending out the back that's only about 1/16" in diameter that is a press fit in the end of the aluminum rod so it's easy to see why they break off easy when the cam pushes against the end sideways. The pin on the end that was in towards the clutch was even bent a little. You can buy the rods from Thumperstuff but I don't want to buy another one that is just going to break again so I'm looking into a better way to make them. Perhaps using a steel rod between the hardened ends instead of aluminum then brazing the ends to the rod to give them more strength would work better?
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Post by bigshingle on Apr 2, 2008 8:51:12 GMT -5
A few non-expert thoughts on this. There may be a problem in making the push-rod out of solid steel. Doesn't tubing resist bending better than solid rod? So the hollow aluminum tube may actually be better (stronger) than the solid steel rod. (  ) If you're sure the problem is that the push-rod isn't strong enough, maybe hollow steel tubing with solid ends would do the job. The body of the rod is smaller in diameter than the steel ends. Is the rod you made the same diameter the whole length? That might be part of the problem. I'll be interested to hear what caferacercarl finds out. It may be that the stock rod is plenty strong enough and there's another problem that is causing them to bend. I'm going to be at a Yamaha dealer today and also a great small shop, and I'll ask about the rods — if they're given to breaking and what other problems might cause that. I'm guesssing if you ask Mark Apland at Thumperstuff why the rod he sold you broke, he'll have some ideas. He'll certainly know how the rods are selling, which would be a good indicator if it is a common problem or if yours is an unusual case. I hold off a little before I put a lot of time and effort (and $$$) into making a custom rod until you're sure the rod is the problem. José |
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Post by stevec5000 on Apr 5, 2008 8:55:10 GMT -5
You guys shouldn't jump to conclusions. The aluminum rod isn't a hollow tube it has holes in the ends for the little pins on the end of the hardened steel ends to push into it but the rest is solid. The weak spot isn't the aluminum rod but the small pins on the steel ends that tend to break off. Also, I haven't bought a new rod from Thumperstuff yet, the broken ones are the original ones from the factory. They are still available for about $15 but have never been replaced before as far as I know. They must break fairly often since I have 2 broken ones in 2 bikes which is a failure rate of 100%. Maybe the factory just had a bad run of them but corrected the problem and the others are in better shape because I've never heard of anyone else having a broken one. Of course they wouldn't know unless they took it out and checked it. So far the one I made out of a steel rod is working OK but I'm looking at building a better one using the steel ends from the originals to use just in case the one I made goes bad.
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Post by caferacercarl on Apr 7, 2008 2:34:14 GMT -5
Now I know which end breaks off, good point about the cam activator pushing it sideways, the spiral grooves just push the oil back out the clutch end of the shaft like an oil slinger in a crankshaft application. regards carl.
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) If you're sure the problem is that the push-rod isn't strong enough, maybe hollow steel tubing with solid ends would do the job.