[79transam]

In the fall I rebuillt the 4.3 in my 1990 GMC 1500 truck. At the same time I replaced the cllutch and had the flywheel turned. I also replaced the clutch's master cylinder and slave piston. I have not yet been able to regain full travel of the clutch. It's been bled about 5 times with new hydraulic fluid. There is no resistance until the peal is extended about halfway. I've bled it with a vacuum gun, and using the traditional method. But the clutch still does not have resistance through the full travel. Any idea what might be wrong? Its becoming pretty annoying because it is real sensitive to the little movement it has making it a pain to shift. Any help is appreciated. Also.. the replacement clutch has one more spring than the origninal. I don't think this would have anything to do with performance other than how stiff it is?

[OneMoreTime]

Well I would look at just how much clearance there is between the slave cylinder and the throwout bearing..should only be about 0.060" of slack before the throw out bearing contacts the clutch fingers..if the slave cyl has to travel a long ways before it starts to disengage the clutch then you can have symptoms such as you describe..

My thoughts on this one..

OMT

[adtkart]

Is the flywheel the stepped type. Many times they are machined wrong. The step (undercut area) is not cut as far down as it should be. This gives the same results as the clutch disc being too thick. The fingers on the pressure plate will depress too far when it is bolted up. The release bearing then has to travel farther to release the clutch. Many of the bell housings have an adjustment on the opposite side as the slave cyl. This adjustment is for the pivot ball. You might try adjusting it out, and see if you can get the clutch to work properly.

[packratwrecker]

The techs at the dealership here, used to take out the master, line and slave, together, and bench bleed them. I was told that they are a pain to bleed, on the pickup.

Must be something to it. I watched it happen at least a dozen times.