sloppychicken

I swapped the motor in my friends 91 4x4 with the 22re. When we started up the motor for the first time it sounded great, but when the clutch was released it made a metal on metal grinding noise. We shut down the motor and pulled the tranny. There was a score mark on the pressure plate where the throwout bearing touches it. If you put a small amout of pressure on the clutch pedal, the sound goes away. It's almost as if there isn't enough pressure between the throwout bearing and the pressure plate to make it spin so intead it grinds. The clutch was newer at the time the motor was swapped. We swapped the clutch 500 miles before the motor went. Is there an adjustment to the clutch that can be made to put more pressure on the pressure plate when the clutch pedal is fully released? Am I way off on my diagnosis? Any ideas? Please help, I don't want to have to pull the tranny again.



Paul

TechWrench

Actually you need to do the opposite. When the clutch is adjusted properly, the throwout bearing should be pulled back far enough to just clear the pressure plate fingers when the pedal is released. The only time the throwout bearing should contact the pressure plate is when the pedal is depressed. Make sure the throwout bearing is clipped into the clutch fork properly so that it pulls it back, and make sure the fork return spring is in place and the freeplay is adjusted.

sloppychicken

how do you adjust the clutch? I didn't think that you could adjust hydraulic clutches? Thanks for the reply.

sloppychicken

I went under the truck and removed the slave cylinder push rod to see if there was a way to adjust it. Its a solid rod that connects directly to the fork on one end and the piston of the slave cylinder on the other. If the throw out bearing isn't supposed to rest on the pressure plate, shouldn't there be a spring or something that pulls it off?

cabbage

Whats a fork return spring?! Anyone have a pic? I didnt know you can adjust the clutch... (I only know how to adjust it from the master cylinder)

sloppychicken

How do you adjust it from the Master cylinder?

sloppychicken

I figured how to make the adjustment on the master cylinder, but could that be my problem? I haven't done it yet, I figured that while i'm attempting it you guys would come up with some prophetic words of wisdom that would fix my problem.

sloppychicken

Okay, I don't think its the throw out bearing rubbing on the pressure plate. I had my brother start the truck and I went underneath and pushed the fork so that it pulled the throw out bearing away from the pressure plate and the noise didn't change. When you put a little pressure on the clutch pedal the noise goes away. It sounds like it is coming from the front of the truck. Would that make sense? I used the screwdriver on the ear trick and couldn't locate it. The sound is severe like a lathe would sound. Could there be a problem form a poor rebuild on the motor? Why would it change when the clutch was pushed in?

TechWrench

From what you are now describing, there might be a tie into the engine rebuild. But what I am going to suggest is only a theory. I haven't rebuilt this type of engine, so others with more specific knowledge of this engine might be able to coment further. If the noise is in fact coming from the front of the engine, and it goes away when pressure is put on the pressure place, there is only one thing that is engine rebuild related that I can think of that might cause it. Most engines have thrust bearings for the crankshaft in addition to the crank journal bearings. These thrust bearings are designed to control forward/backward movement of the crank in the block. If you engine is designed with them and they were left out or improperly clearanced during the rebuild, the crankshaft could be moving too far backwards when there is no pressure on the pressure plate and allowing something (crank pulley) to rub something. Once you put pressure on the pressure plate, the crank is shifted forward and the contact in the front of the engine is eliminated.

Again, I am only suggesting this as a theory. I have seen some engines that can have as much as 1/4" front to back play if these thrust bearings are not right. I don't know if your engine even has these thrust bearings, but a problem with them could explain your symptoms.

superjoe83

yes, the 22r-re engines have thrust washers on the middle main, they are in 4 different pieces, two per side of the main, if left out the crank counter weights could rub the block, or like techwrench said it could be the crank pulley/oil pump rubbing where its not supposed to

sloppychicken

So due to the location and operation of the oil pump and if the thrust bearings were inproperly installed or out of tolerance, it could be the oil pump that is self machining and sending little pieces of metal throughout the engine. Man i hope that is not the case, i wonder if the rebuilder will swap it out if that is the case.

superjoe83

well, the oil filter should stop all of the particles big enough to do any damage, you could take off the filter, cut it open and see if there is any thing substantial in the filter media

sloppychicken

I will try that. How is the oil fed to the motor? Does it pass through the filter before it is fed to the motor or is it fed to the motor and then pass through the filter before being sent back through the pump?

superjoe83

it goes from the pan to the pump then to the filter, then is supplied to engine parts, then the oil runs back down to the pan where the cycle starts over again

TechWrench

If the problem is due to missing or misadjusted crank thrust bearings, it is fairly easy to check. With the engine off, us a pry bar to push the crank to the rear (find someplace to lever front crank pulley against frame). Then try to move it in the other direction. I don't know the specific spec, but I would think there should be less that a 1/16" freeplay front to back. If there is much more than that, that may be your problem.

cabbage

So Sloppychicken... Did you guys find the problem?

sloppychicken

It's been a while since I posted in this thread and the truck hasn't moved. I just got time today to play with it. I pulled the harmonic balancer from the crank and found metal shavings. The balancer was rubbing against the oil pump housing. How could that be? Did I crank it on too much? any thoughts? HELP!!