franklin 11b hard shifting gears

[joel landy]

hard to shift grinds gears clutch well adjusted about to refill with 680w gear oil. Any other suggestions?

[HarryLime]

Clutch dragging. Not fully disengaging.

[PFitz]

5 hours ago, joel landy said:

hard to shift grinds gears clutch well adjusted about to refill with 680w gear oil. Any other suggestions?

Thicker gear oil is a Band-Aid, not the cure. If everything is working as it should, then gear oil as light as SAE 85-140 works fine in that transmission.

 

Many reasons that gears grind that fall into two categories. 

A. Operator error.

1. Some drivers not used to early straight-cut gear boxes try to shift too quickly, like it's a modern synchromesh box. 

2. Shifting at too high of an engine RPM, like a more modern transmission allows.

 

Cure is, shift at lower engine rpm, and shift more slowly. 

 

B. Mechanical problems other than mis-adjustment of the clutch linkage (most common problem). 

1. Clutch disc warped from excessive slipping and overheating.

2. A mix of clutch friction facing dust and oil "paste" buildup in the narrow gap between outer edge of disc and inner wall of flywheel housing causing drag. 

 

On all but some of the earliest Series 10,  through to Series 130 clutch discs.

3. The rubberized flexible fabric rings that attach the outer disc to the hub becoming old and too stiff to allow the disc to "relax" into alignment when in use. makes it act like a warped clutch disc

4. Cotton fibers in original flexible fabric  rings rotting and breaking down unevenly. 

5. Uneven rust buildup under fabric rings causing misalignment of outer ring of disc and it's hub.

6. Wrong thickness of friction facings used as replacement.

7. Whoever riveted replacement facings didn't check disc for being flat and straight, thus causing friction facings to not be seated properly. 

 

A good working clutch disc has to have very close tolerances. 

 

If you want to know how to fix the mechanical problems, PM me. 

 

Paul