Mcleod hydraulic throwout bearing

[Ibr8k4vetts]

I just installed a Mcleod hydraulic throwout bearing, started too bleed it and had fluid dumping out my scatter shield. So I pulled it all apart and it seems to be leaking from were the hoses go in to the housing. Has anyone had this problem, if so how do you fix it? Thanks Mike

[rbray]

Do you have the old style unit? I had an old one and it leaked from the banjo joints. Mcleod has a trade in policy for one of their new units.

[Ibr8k4vetts]

It's new, I just got it Wednesday.
Mike

[XXQQQME]

Make sure that the hoses are not /have not been rubbing on the pressure plate. It will wear right thru the stainless braiding. Inspect the hoses just to make sure they haven't been damaged in any way. I tied mine back with a "zip tie" thru the clutch fork holes. (Lakewood scatter shield) and had no problems.

[Karel289]

That is just what it has happens during my holidays traveling 3 weeks ago in Spain, in one of the stops I did move the hoses by hand and fix with a tie-wrap, thinking that is was better but because I did tensioned the braided lines that has rubbing the pressure plat and punch the internal Teflon hose.

That is all repaired but now I experience a problem in 4 and 5 gear the clutch slips.
Do you think that can happens because the clutch plat was contaminated with brake fluid?
How much will take to dry?

I hope that I don’t need to go thru the process of dismantling the throwout bearing again; it was a pain to bleeding.

Regards,
Karel289
DAX Cobra (The Netherlands)

[Pete Munroe]

Brakes for,

The t/o bearing you say is new...but WHAT SERIES IT...?

The old series...(which someone may have sold you new from stock), has
BANJO FITTINGS...they are worthless as manufactured...

The CENTER RAM that pushes the clutch is fine...on the older units the OUTER HOUSING uses banjo fittings for the lines in/out and they leak.

My t/o bearing banjo's...leaked from the word go...the lines in/out use banjo fittings...the center shafts were undersized...so sloppy the o-ring's could not seal.

The third time I leaned on McCleod for a solution...they reluctantly gave me the VERY FIRST pre-production "third generation" bearing...think this was April or so 2004...still works.

This one is GOOD...the outer housing with the in/out hoses is a copy of a GM Corvette bearing...no banjo fittins.

GM abandoned this patent and they jumped on it...good thing they did!

CALL McCleod and tell them what you have...DO you know what a banjo fitting looks like?

You may have a brand new but OLD series unit...if that is the case, send it back they will put the new outer housing on it and it DOES WORK.

My "pre-production" t/o bearing now has about 8000 miles on it and works great.

IF your unit IS a NEW series unit...you may have allowed it to "over extend" because your pedal stop is too far out...

If it has over extended now the "ram"...the telescoping center section has traveled so far as to go past the o-ringd and is leaking.

I used a 1/2 bolt through the front of the foot box...very adjustable...get just enough travel for clutch release and a TINY amount more.

The new series unit will work...call McCleod, figure out what you actually are working with for parts and be persistent...they will help you resolve it.

Pete

[proudlakester]

This is all good to know!

I've been thinking about dumping my current clutch master/slave system and going with the McCleod system.

Then I saw this thread..., and thought..., "oh, great..., another solution down the drain".

But not so!

So..., thanks!

Now..., if anybody can figure out how to make $400.00 make the same dent in my bank account as $80.00 or so..., that would be really great!

[Rick Parker]

Pete you are replying to a 2 year old topic??? It's History.

[Michael4yah]

What does a banjo fitting look like?

[Karel289]

Hi Pete,
Thanks for the information, like Rick say it is an old post, I think that hard disk failure from the last week has re-shuffle the posts.

At that time I did mail to McCleod and phone them but they didn’t react needier they did help me.
So I never will promote their products, I understand that I am far away from the USA but that is not the reason to treat me like they did.

I still have the T/O bearing but I don’t use it anymore.
I have changed for a normal hydraulic setup.

I did a lot of research regarding the pedal forces and strokes, you can see at my web page and there you can download an “Excel Spread Sheet” where you can calculate your setup.
http://www.donostia.demon.nl

Michael,
Here is a picture that I did download at that time, I have marked to show you the components.
A banjo fitting is just a old type of fitting used by brake, fuel and clutch systems.
It uses always the vulnerable cooper rings that if you force it to much it will leak.
McCleod use a more modern Stat-O-Seal.
The banjo systems use two components:
The banjo fitting and the banjo bolt.
In our case the banjo bolt has a very small torx head that is a pain to remove or fixing.

Regards,
Karel289 (Carlos)
The Netherlands

[Clois Harlan]

Karel,

Thanks for the spread sheets I found them very interesting and once I converted from metric to SAE I was able to understand your logic much better. Sorry, to hear about your experience with McLeod. I too have had both good and hurried experiences when asking questions. However, my overall experience has been great.


Clois

[Karel289]

Hi Clois,

I am happy that you like the clutch calculations. Sorry that you need to convert to inches, perhaps I need to update the sheet with a tab in inches and lbs.

It would be a day that you guys will change everything to metric.
The last week I was surprised with this fact. I was removing the Melling oil pump and I did select a inches socket to dismantle the pump cover, at that moment I though this socket doesn’t fit correct. When I did look to the bolt I found that is was metric.
I never did expect this, because my experience is:
Old basic stuff is Inches new technology is metric.
Like the engine block, it is inches, but the injection components are all metric.
So it is time to get crazy.

I hope this sheet will give you the required information, lots of people has used here in Europe and all say that it works very well.

There are some components like friction etc that are not take in account but the influence of those is minimum.

A very important item is the stroke at the slave cylinder, you should have some spare there for the time that the clutch and clutch plate start to get worn, at that time you will need more stroke at the slave cylinder.

Regards,
Karel289 (Carlos)

[Karel289]

I have updated the Excel Spread Sheet with the SAE units.
So if you download it from my site you will get the new version.

Select your choice via the different tab's INCH or Metric.

I hope this will help some one!

Let me know if it works for you.

Regards,
Karel289 (Carlos)

[Clois Harlan]

Thanks Karel,

You didnt' need to go to so much effort. Some of us over 50 are still learning the metric system but for me it is much easier to think in inches. Everything else here seems to be metric except our Cobra's. We will get there eventually. 16 cm/160 mm sounds a lot more impressive than say 6 1/2 inches.



Thanks,


Clois

[AC-460]

Can someone tell me does the Mcleod internal slave just hang by the hoses or is there something that stops it turning....
Cheers Mark

[Karel289]

Originally Posted by AC-460

Can someone tell me does the Mcleod internal slave just hang by the hoses or is there something that stops it turning....
Cheers Mark

Hi,
This is a long time ago.
But let try to explain.
The T/O bearing is located at the collar [box], and this one doesn't rotate.
The threaded part that take care of the position, has a "O" ring for fixing.

The T/O bearing main body, has a radial bolt and you get with the package a steel angle that should be fixed to one of the bearing collar bolt. [at the box]

So there is no rotation or sliding.
I am talking here about the first type of T/O bearing

Regards,
Karel289

[lal Naja]

I know this is an old thread but if your still stitching it would be good to hear any updates on the Hydraulic Throwout bearing (HTOB).

I looked at a few different HTOB's and at prices that varied across the board from $99.99 to $300+ After a couple of discussions with a few performance parts suppliers I opted for the $99.99 version. It arrived and looks very well made. You can check it out at the following link

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/GM-3-a...tml#tabcontent

It's interesting that the instructions are virtually identical to the Howe unit#82870 I wonder if it's made by them?

Anyway, The correct spacing adjustment process is done by a number of 0.050" thick cone shaped washers. Once I've got the spacing correct I'm thinking of machining up an aluminum spacer to replace the washers. Seems like an acceptable thing to do? Anyone got an opinion?

Also the installation calls for no clearance between the clutch fingers or slight pre-load. Why pre-load? The TO bearing would spin with the motor and would that not lead to a shorter bearing life?

Wold love to hear back.

Arthur

[jdean]

Go with Tilton TOB. End of problems. It cost more, until you figure cost to fix or replace something else.

[Pete Munroe]

Lal,

In your information it says you are running a Chevy 350. The t/o unit is a GM type replacement? Assuming the quality is good (the manufacturer may actually be the one that supplied the unit for GM in the first place) it seems it should fit and work ok.

The Tilton and the McLeod units are good, and apparently can be made to fit lots of different applications, but if a GM piece fits a GM engine/pressure- plate/disc assembly, sounds good to me.

If at all possible TEST it before you button everything up to verify the release is adequate and it doesn't leak. Be sure to use a pedal stop and adjust it so you do not overextend the ram.

Just noticed I posted a little earlier on this thread...4 years ago! Where in the H--L did FOUR? 4? years go...? No matter, people still have the same problems.

Anyway, my late version McLeod t/o ~2002/3? still works fine. ~13,500 miles on the car.

Pete

[lal Naja]

Thanks Pete,

Yes I'm running a Chevy 350 with GM clutch and a Super T-10 transmission. I don't know if the t/o unit is a GM type replacement? but it is sold for many applications like the other HTOB manufacturers.

I actually had a Tilton unit, but I thought I wasn't going to use it, so I sold it on eBay. After a number of attempts with trying to fit an external slave and fork set up, I gave up to to lack of space.

I plan on doing a test before final buttoning up to verify just your points. A a pedal stop is in the plan. This HTOB has a built in stop to prevent over extension.
And the pedal stop will prevent over pressurization.

4 years? Where did 60 years go? I was just 25 the other day!!!

When you installed your McLeod TO. Did you have a preload the bearings against the clutch fingers? Or does yours call for a space?

Arthur