Clutch vibration and chatter

[California Charlie]

What would be some of the causes of clutch vibration and chatter when I am starting off in first gear? Otherwise everything else after first gear appears fine. Hopefully it's something simple and not a task of pulling the trans and clutch. Thanks CC

[Tom Wesenberg]

My 29 Tudor had the worst case of clutch chatter that I'd ever seen. I didn't want to pull the rear end more than once to fix it, so I did everything that was related to chatter. I dialed in the flywheel cover, replaced the clutch disc even though the one that was in the car looked like new and didn't show any oil or grease. I replaced the pressure plate with a good looking used one I bought at a swap meet. And I used my palm sander to lightly sand the surface of the flywheel. Now my Tudor is as smooth as an automatic.

[Stan/MO.]

I have the same problem with my coupe. I took off the inspection plate, and the cluch is soaked with oil. Is there any way to clean it without taking out the transmission? I was thinking I could start the car and let someone else push the cluch in while I sprayed brake clean on it. Or would that make it worse? I found that if I take off in second gear it helps.

Thanks,
Stan/MO.

[Tacoma Bob]

MMMMMMM You may want to have a Buddy push the clutch in and out with the engine off and check if the crank pully is moving back and forth. Usually not a good sign as the rear main flange could be worn.

[Stan/MO.]

I'm sure there is plenty of wear. It really needs to be rebuilt. I was just hoping I could help that clutch chatter until I can take it apart and do it right. I just hate to take it apart, it's too moch fun to drive. I did a brake job on it over the winter, and I drive it almost every day about 25 or 30 miles.

[Tacoma Bob]

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Stan, as long as touring season is here go for it. I have talked with lots of guys that drove for a very long time before they fixed it. In my case I knew what I wanted and the movement was enough to make the call and tear into it. I can't say if the break-kleen idea is a bad one, what the heck. Make sure your cotter pin is in place on the bottom of the flywheel housing.

[Dave in MN]

Charlie, Did you remove the clutch inspection cover? Is the surface of the disc or pressure plate greasy or oil laden? Are all of the pressure plate springs in good condition? Are all of the clutch fingers making contact with the throwout bearing? Please get us a bit more information so we can give you better pointers. It will be hard to make much, if any, improvement in the clutch without splitting the bell housing from the clutch housing. With a bit of pre-study and some parts available, you should be able to fix the problem in a day with some help from a few friends. Note the suggestions Tom Wessenberg did to his clutch. If you do not want to replace the pressure plate, at least have it checked by a shop specializing in this work. You can tune up a pressure plate, but if you have not done it before it takes a lot of reading to discover the requirements. Good Day!

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

It has been my experience that probably 90% of all 'clutch chatter' is caused by either a worn pilot bearing, --a worn input shaft, ..OR both.

Generally speaking, oil-saturated clutch discs that slip enough to generate heat and warp the pressure plates will cause the clutch pedal to vibrate (pulsate) upon slight pressure but when you think about it, if the pilot shaft & bearing along with the input shaft bearing are within specs, the clutch will spin parallel with the flywheel face, and the pressure plate no matter how warped will still engage the disc without chatter. Again, a slight pedal vibration may be felt but that is all.

Now HERE is something that we have found quite a bit of, ...many Model A's suffer from pilot bearings that are worn off-center. This is likely caused by incorrect flywheel housing alignment where the input shaft is actually cocked within the bearing.

[Bob K. St Paul]

I just completed a clutch replacement Saturday because of chatter. The disc was unused but old with it was installed during restoration. It had a slight chatter initially and worsened quickly. I had the flywheel machined, replaced the disc with new and the pressure plate with a rebuilt and it is smooth now. Once you decide to do it the replacement is not that bad, just time consuming. It took about 2 1/2 hours to remove it and a little over seven to install including dial indicating the flywheel and housing to make sure it was true. It was worth it!

[Stan/MO.]

Originally Posted by Tacoma Bob

Stan, as long as touring season is here go for it. I have talked with lots of guys that drove for a very long time before they fixed it. In my case I knew what I wanted and the movement was enough to make the call and tear into it. I can't say if the break-kleen idea is a bad one, what the heck. Make sure your cotter pin is in place on the bottom of the flywheel housing.

Thanks for the response Bob. The cotter pin is there. The car sat for a lot of yrs. so the oil ,or grease has probably taken root. I'm going to saturate it with brake clean, and see what happens. There's no problem once it gets moving, it just happens while letting out on the clutch. I just hope it dosen't make it worse. When I get it done I'll let you know the results.

Thanks again,
Stan/MO.