clutch shudder

My van ('66 240ci) vibrates badly when feathering the clutch. I don't know if it's always done it because I just got it rolling. I drove it when I first bought it last year, but the throttle control was sooo bad, it could have been shuddering and I wouldn't have noticed it.

From my understanding, there are a few possible causes:
-bad friction disc
-bad surface on flywheel or pressure plate
-broken finger on pressure plate spring
-misaligned flywheel housing

I know I should really just drop the tranny and take a look, but want to be prepared to fix any of the possible problems before I incapacitate my van. Changing a clutch is no problem. Aligning a flywheel housing... that's a different story. The manual has pretty good instructions, but they are of course using a bunch of special tools.

Does anyone have experience doing the alignment? I think I'd be able to fab up any special tools required to do it, though I'm not sure exactly how the one tool fits into the friction disc. I'd need an explaination of that one. I'll scan in and post the page of the manual with pictures tomorrow.

Rebuilt pressure plates have a spring tolerance range so I was told by a local parts store. Springs are replaced if they don't fall in the acceptable range. So for instance,if one out of 3 springs flunks the test,it gets changed and the other 2 dont. What sucks about that is that they may be just a hair above the fail score. So say just as an example only,if the range was 60 to 100% and 2 springs scored low,like maybe 63 and 65 and one failed,they would keep the 2 and put in a new 100% one. For some odd reason that seems to be acceptable to somebody but its not to me. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to see that the pressure wont be equal and thats where a lot of clutch shudder comes from. I installed a rebuilt one once and it shuddered right away. I wound up replacing it again soon after with a new one and the problem was solved.

I'm trying to source a clutch kit. Rockauto.com has them listed for the '67 240ci, but not the '66. Are they the same?

The '67 listing specs a 10" friction disc with a 1 1/16" x 10T spline. I know the '66 is a 10", but I can't find the spline data.

I jacked up the van last night to inspect the motor and tranny mounts, all three seem ok. There is oil on the flywheel housing, and the rear tranny seal is leaking a bit. I think there's a good chance the front seal is leaking too. This might be my problem.

So has anyone ever done the flywheel housing alignment process? I'll post the manual description in a few. Must eat lunch first though, I'm starving.

Here's the scan... from the '61 manual since the other years manuals I have don't have pictures. In PDF format:

The special tool I was concerned with is shown in fig. 9, but I guess it's just the friction disc pilot. But maybe it has an expanding collar to grip on to the spline, else the indicator would be wobbly.

Ive replaced a few dozen clutches in my time but never heard of that before...very interesting....seems to me a very technical situation that very few people would ever run into or have the time/patience tools to execute properly..Im thinking if you don't have those tools just put the clutch in...in most of the situations Ive seen its the flywheel thats got hard spots/lumps in it and it will need to be resurfaced...along with the new clutch install...good luck and let us know....mine is shuddering as well and I'll be takiing mine apart soon enough.

I'm going to inspect the clutch in a couple weeks time. Unfortunately I just don't have the time to do it sooner. I'll post an update at that time.

Can anyone confirm that the '66 and '67 240ci clutches are the same?

Mine did the same thing. Today they found:

-bad friction disc
-bad surface on flywheel or pressure plate
-broken finger on pressure plate spring

3 out of the 4 things you said might be wrong. Like you said be prepared to replace it all. I got the clutch kit at NAPA for $130

dakeddie wrote:My van ('66 240ci) vibrates badly when feathering the clutch. I don't know if it's always done it because I just got it rolling. I drove it when I first bought it last year, but the throttle control was sooo bad, it could have been shuddering and I wouldn't have noticed it.

From my understanding, there are a few possible causes:
-bad friction disc
-bad surface on flywheel or pressure plate
-broken finger on pressure plate spring
-misaligned flywheel housing

I know I should really just drop the tranny and take a look, but want to be prepared to fix any of the possible problems before I incapacitate my van. Changing a clutch is no problem. Aligning a flywheel housing... that's a different story. The manual has pretty good instructions, but they are of course using a bunch of special tools.

Does anyone have experience doing the alignment? I think I'd be able to fab up any special tools required to do it, though I'm not sure exactly how the one tool fits into the friction disc. I'd need an explaination of that one. I'll scan in and post the page of the manual with pictures tomorrow.

dakeddie wrote:I'm going to inspect the clutch in a couple weeks time. Unfortunately I just don't have the time to do it sooner. I'll post an update at that time.

Can anyone confirm that the '66 and '67 240ci clutches are the same?

65 thru 67 240 all use the same clutch

ARE YOU SURE?????????? you really need to align the BELL HOUSING?????
there is a dial indicator and off set for doing it,, From yours I think you are really talking about aligning the disc,,,,, IF SO,,,, and if one is fighting me,,, I will put some real long bolts in the top two after using the alignment tool FOR THE CLUTCH,, not the "HOUSING"????????? lol.... install the two lower ones just short, and hit the clutch fork with BFH (gosh, I hope that doesn't offend someone),, sometimes, all it takes is to loosen it up while jamming it in there to get it,,, In the old days, we kept an old input shaft from a tranny and used it, or the universal kit, and or the plastic ones they usually give you with the clutch now,,,,
It sounds to me like you need to go through the whole clutch, bite the bullet, and only do it once. Also, the roller bearing type pilot bearing is the ONLY way to go for me, too many times the bronze ones hanging up here and there, hate dropping it twice for something stupid like that,, dratzzz
There should be two types of clutches?????? perhaps the easiest way is to just do it,,,, also,, a suggestion.....
MOST SHOPS grind the flywheels,, which I hope you do also?????? the problem with grinding a flywheel INSTEAD of cutting it,, is,,, all flywheels will have HARD SPOTS,,,, it has to happen. So,,, when you grind a flywheel, it grinds the hard metal to the same height as the soft metal,, and when, its used, the high spots are still there when the soft metal is worn away,,,, so,, its BETTER to make sure they use a cutter, which gets UNDER the hard spots and takes them out,,,,,, Also,,,, VERY IMPORTANT,,,,,,,,,, on the 240's and the 300's,,,,, the crankshaft rear flywheel flange is HIGHLY SUSCEPTIBLE to warping IF YOU DON'T "TORQUE" the bolts in the proper torquing sequence and in recommended torque graduations,,,, GOOD re builders,, automatically put a seal sleeve on the crankshaft rear seal area for that reason...
vic

Thanks vic.

Ya, according to the factory manual, the flywheel housing is to be shimmed so the input shaft of the tranny is aligned with friction disc... both offset and angle. Seems odd to me too that the housing wouldn't just be machined square... That's why I asked.

I've heard that these motor's flywheel flanges are susceptible to warping. Question, if a PO had warped the flange, what then? How do I fix that?

How does the seal sleeve work? Can they be purchased, or do they have to be made?

First off common sense would say that "THOSE DIRECTIONS" are baloney!!!!!!!!!!!!
The friction disc as you quote the manual stating, FLOATS,, inside the clutch when its open,,, the directions to the aligning you really mean,, should be, the center of the input shaft should align perfectly in the center of the pilot bearing and crankshaft, and ALSO be 90 degrees in all axis to the bell housing surface angle.
UN LESS YOU ARE HAVING A SPECIFIC PROBLEM????????DON'T WORRY about it,,, there is such a thing as being over picky for the situation and accomplishing exactly NOTHING. Perhaps that is a way of Ford trying to make people think they need to take it to a dealer to have it done correctly?? LOL Personally, over 45 yrs now, and have not had to do even one??? If it were a race car, and an ounce of resistance took speed away at all,,, THEN you MIGHT need it, but would make sure you didn't need it.
They make specialized stainless steel seal surface savers for many things,, one for sure is the big six. It goes over the crankshaft seal surface and gives you a brand new surface for the seal to seal against,,, wow.....
Big six one are pricey,, about $40 bucks or so. I cant close out of this to get you the link or loose this, so will post again.
vic

I googled this real quick,, as I tossed the info for ours,, this is just a detailed example of what a seal saver is for youre reference,,, its a common thing for all kinds of things and applications,,, Just about any seal surface that is knicked, grooved too deeply, DISTORTED,,, so on.
vic

http://www.lceperformance.com/Crankshaft-Rear-Seal-Saver-20R-22R-RE-RET-p/1013080.htm

Here are the NAPA PArt Numbers I used and got the correct 10 inch Clutch Kit.

NNC MU7346-1A

Rear Main Seal for 300 FPG BS40509

Hope that helps someone out. What I found at NAPA was, if you look it up as a Econoline, it doesnt show anything, however if you look it up as a Falcon or Club Van it shows.

http://www.uniqueclutches.com/aboutunique.asp

Just thought I would cross post this here...looks like a handy place to bookmark if your working on a clutch...I called them and the parts came in less than $100 bucks for a clutch assembly for my 67 econo with a 170.