Also
I had never worked on this style of transmission, where it can be removed from the engine, with the engine still in the frame, and the cases not need split.
It is a Very good design, and is Very easy to work on.
And, I feel like quite the expert, as I've done this job 3 times now! lmao!
Reason being, no clutch function after putting it all back.
So, back apart it all comes, and disassemble the transmission again.
I did this all 3 times to no avail.
Every time, everything was correct.
WTH??!!
Any of us that have done a clutch before know that you must adjust it after a new install, at the pusher/center of basket, and sometimes the lever or adjuster mid cable.
But, the clutch looks and measures like new, I wasn't in there to work on the clutch, it was just in my way and had to come out...so Everything will go back as is and not need adjusted...right?
....Kind of.
It turns out(lucky me) that I am fortunate to usually find all the unlikely flukes that you only hear about, and you think can't happen...lol.
Why? Well, it turns out that the clutch pushrod wasn't long enough to push the pressure plate out from where it was currently sitting, so, the set-screw in the pusher(in the center of the basket) had to be threaded in/lengthened, to make contact with the pushrod, allowing the clutch to function.
I adjusted it too tight on purpose, then backed it out, so that I had just enough lever free play, and I didn't have to adjust it at the lever or line either.
I was holding the hex with a wrench, and tightening the phillips head set screw, and counting the turns.
Guess where I ended up at?
If you said 'back where you started'...yep!
But why? How?
Because; even though assembled correctly, the adjuster had to be moved so the pressure plate could push out, from the inside of the engine, and let the clutch springs snap it back into place...which seated All the plates enough, allowing the clutch pack to settle correctly into position.
The reason this one was a pain, is anyone's guess.
The real reason they are a little more tempermental is because they are a slipper clutch, and on a slipper, the pressure plate does not move straight out and in, it rotates some, almost like it turns a quarter thread as it moves in.
That can make it hard to get the plates to seat completely...unless you adjust it first.
This adjustment is Always the final step on a new clutch too, because old plates wear thinner, and new ones are thicker, so there's a stack height difference.
But, with the same parts going back, there is no adjustment needed....usually, lol...unless you get lucky like me...and have to adjust it...to get it adjusted back where it was!
So there you have it, just another unusual bit of info that can hopefully help someone some day.
Before I figured it out I asked our resident expert Suzuki Tech
@Kiwirider if he had ever seen anything like it, to which he had not, so I felt a little better...then alot worse when I figured out that I couldn't see the forest for all trees,
And sorry Greg...had to take you down with me, lmao!!
