175 clutch issue

[skiracer]

Had my 175 out last weekend, and I started having problems with my clutch, as in extremely hard to pull the lever in.  Upon getting it home, I did a quick check on the lever, cable and actuator; all good. I drained the oil looking for either metal bits or dark coloring; none.  So, before I pull the clutch cover, as suggestions on what I should be looking for?

1976 250 MC5 Original Owner
1976 Penton 175 XC

[Carl Hill]

I had a ball bearing weld itself to the clutch push rod a couple of years ago. You may want to check it.

[KJDonovan]

James,

Like Carl said, check the push rods and ball bearing - could be a slightly bent rod too.  Would also recommend taking a good look at the fingers on the clutch basket, could be dragging on groves and need to be filed or ground.

Thanks,

Kevin

[skiracer]

Thanks guys.  I'll take the cover off this week to see what is going on...

1976 250 MC5 Original Owner
1976 Penton 175 XC

[skiracer]

So, I opened up my clutch cover to see what was going on.  Here is what I found:
push rod and ball bearing came out easy, and look okay
clutch plates measure 3.21mm book says they should be 3.5mm
steel plates measure 1.4mm very slight ridge on the outer edge
fingers on the basket and clutch plates look okay.

So, not seeing anything major, what else could be causing the pull to become so much harder?

1976 250 MC5 Original Owner
1976 Penton 175 XC

[KJDonovan]

James,

3 things I would check -

1) Length of push rods - are the worn down?  I think the total length of the push rods and ball should 222MM (do a search here for that number I know Kip posted it a couple times)

2) Bent Bolts - Check each of the bolts the springs slip onto, make sure none are bent.

3) Pin inside actuator - Look inside the hole in the clutch actuator the push rod slides into - there is a little pin in there that wears, even if it is worn by a little as .025" it should be replaced.  Al Buehner has these.

Thanks,

Kevin

Kevin J. Donovan
Foster, Rhode Island
72 Jack Piner
72 Six Day
73 Berkshire
74 Hare Scrambler