I have a old small Yale forklift that I don’t use very often. I went to use it today only to discover that leaving it sit for several months without the clutch pedal depressed as fairly firmly affixed the clutch disk to either the flywheel or the pressure plate. There is an access hatch to the clutch assembly so I can probably carefully loosen the pressure plate bolts and free the disk. My question is whether there some type of spray that I could spritz in the clutch assembly that would prevent the sticking of the disk but still allow enough friction for the clutch to work.
The disk has stuck a couple of times in the past, but I was able to break it loose but wedging the pedal down and then with the transmission in gear shove the forklift enough to break it loose. That approach is not working this time, however.
Replies
Drilled a hole in the side of the casing on a Ford 4500 due to oft frozen clutch, tapped in a 1/2" npt plug to close it. You sound like you already have access, so no problemo./
When clutch stuck simply tap a screwdriver or chisel between flywheel and friction plate with pedal depressed, 'peel strength is zero', always loosens first time.
If it has the transmission I think it has don't oil the clutch!
IF this happens regularly you'll soon be replacing the disk anyway because the friction material has worn enough that the metal backing is rusting together with the flywheel which means the material is just about gone..
That transmission allows inframe replacement of the clutch disk by removing the first motion shaft without pulling the motor or transmission.. a good tech can do the job in under 1/2 hour..
Frenchman, that's such a good answer I'm gonna start callin' you the fork whisperer or maybe fork lips.
We had a combine do that once or twice. We got it unstuck by starting the engine while it was in gear, then hitting the brakes hard while pushing the clutch pedal in.
When you store it, block the clutch so the pedal is held down. That will keep the plates apart until you're ready to use it again.
Definitely don't spray any oil on the clutch,. (like WD-40). A slippery clutch isn't a good thing.
I already have a well oiled clutch plate on my old Datsun diesel pickup, and I think one is enough... (apparently the seals were shot and the service guy just kept pumping oil into the tranny case - I am in the middle of replacing that at present.) Never had planned on using anything slippery and kinda doubted that there was any magic elixer out there that might coat the disk while still allowing adequate friction. Thanks, Frenchy, when I pulled the hatch cover, it looked like there was a sleeve that could be slid back and I wondered if possibly that allowed for a clutch replacement without pulling the engine. I will investigate that further. I doubt that repair manuals for this beastie are still existant, but I will do a search. I do tend to read the manuals when they are available.