CLUTCH PROBLEMS

[cally]

Hi Guys,
After a bit of help...
Went to finally take my bike out on the road for just a test.
I have no cluth at all, lever just comes straight in
No pressure on it at all
There is fluid in it....no air in it i believe
It has been on stands for a long while
Any ideas anyone??
Thx
Cally..

[young1]

Broken clutch disc plate perhaps ?...the A team on here will sort it cally.. no sweat

[cally]

thx young1 am hoping so...

[Kwakked Up]

Is always hard to diagnose stuff without looking but if you got full fluid, no leaks, no air in the lines and the bike has been sitting a while I would be thinking the clutch master seal is shagged.

You could try cracking the line at the master and squeezing leaver, hold lever and tighten. If you have no pressure then you prob wont get a squirt from it, if the seal is ok you will get a spray and that will indicate another issue.

Make sure you dont get fluid on any paint work.

[cally]

ok,
Have been advised after some investigating that the clutch plates maybe be stuck...
Does that sound like it might be a possibility??
Anyone have ideas on any tricks to unstick it WITHOUT having to pull it apart and do it manually??
ANYONE???????

[Kwakked Up]

Have you tried putting it into gear, pulling in the clutch and rocking it back and forward, that may free up the plates? If that no work put her in neutral and warm the motor, then repeat as above, warmer oil is thinner and more likely to penetrate between the clutch plates

[JimZXR]

I can't imagine it being seized plates as the master cylinder would still give resistance when it's pulled back as it would still operate the slave cylinder!
I agree with Kwakked Up, I'm pointing straight at the master cylinder!
Try to bleed the system; that should show if the MC is pushing fluid with any force!
If not; it's goosed!

[cally]

Kwakked up.... yes mate...tried that with both cold and warm oil...no good!
Jim ZXR....have done that also and there is fluid being pushed through
And wouldnt i have leaks around the MC if it was shot??
I dont know...just asking...
Ive tried running the motor and with lever in dropping into gear...no good! and dont really like doing that anyways...
Even put back wheel up on stands and run motor , put it in to gear , lever in and revved it with back brake on....no good!
Bugger....guess im going to have to pull it out and look at it...

[Wattie]

If the Mc was shot you would not necessarily have any leaks, it could be blowing past the seals inside.

[JimZXR]

With the engine off, remove the two bolts that golf the slave cylinder onto the rear sprocket cover then pul the clutch lever; if your master and salve cylinder are goo the slave should push itself away from the sprocket cover, if not it'll stay put!

[Kwakked Up]

Clutch plates can stick but better to check easy stuff first, as JimZXR says easy to check. If hydraulics are all sweet then you will prob need to pop the clutch cover.

I figure that if you have to go that far then may as well do the job properly. If you are handy with a spanner then changing clutch plates is not a difficult job.

[cally]

UPDATE...........

ok....i pulled the clutch out and guess what??? as good as new! DAMN!!!!
Should have had more faith in it.....bike only has 37K on it...
Plenty of "meat" left on fibre plates....steel plates still have all wear marks/holes in them....
DAMN Kawasaki they said it was the plates...
So my appoligises to you guys....guess it has to be the M/C...slave....
So ill ring Kawasaki tomorrow and get a kit for it if i can...
Let you guys know as things progress...
The big shit me off is.......Kawasaki have to order a new gasket from Japan....2-3 weeks wait...
So im thinking put back together with gasket goo ...sort the problem and then change oil and filter when new gasket arrives

[Kwakked Up]

all good, lesson learnt, diagnose the easy stuff first.

Not a fan of gasket cement, use it sparingly, too much in the wrong places can cause a world of hurt.

[old tom]

had the same problem with GPZ 1000 RX the bike has been sitting for awhile tried bleeding clutch don't know how many times end up draining the whole system.remove master cylinder cleaned out blew out with air,fitted new kit,removed slave cylinder found piston not operating cleaned out replaced seal and spring,cleaned out clutch line,put all back together.Had a mate lend me a clutch/brake vacuum pump,remove clutch fluid cover filled up, connect hand vacuum pump to bleed screw only just crack bleed this will suck all the air out it comes with small bottle to catch drained fluid also has a gauge keep pumping vacuum pump to maintain a vacuum ,operate clutch lever slowly will have to top up 2/3 times to fill system completely. hope it may be of some good it worked for me.

Old tom from tassy

[cally]

UPDATE....
FIXED all sorted!!
Kwakked up and JimZXR....
On the money boys! THX!
Pulled the M/C apart, new bits and seals for inside, but, in saying that the old ones seemed to look ok...
Did notice though, when cleaning the M/C out for the new stuff that the 2 holes that are in the cylinder where the fluid goes into from the clutch reservoir
a big one and another smaller, tiny one....the smaller of the 2 was clogged up...maybe that was the offender after all.
So maybe just a clean would have sorted the problem???? just for future reference for someone else with similar problem...
Either way...clutch has had a good going over now and i know its sweet!!
Kwakked up.....im the same as you with the gasket cement....NOT a fan of it....just a band aid till the real gasket turns up in 3 weeks, so i can keep going on getting it ready
THX again to all...