Transmission won't get into any gear?

[dash]

Well...I will save this forum of all the f-bombs, but after 8 weeks of wrenching around, and after a successful firing of the engine yesterday, the bike will not take any gear.

One of the first repairs was adjusting the clutch cable/push rod several weeks ago and going through the pressure plates. Everything looked good. I had to fiddle with the gear selector foot switch to find neutral but it did find it (Light was on and was a roller.) After checking a leak from the oil pan, rolled the bike to the road for a test run, and NOTHING.

While the engine was running, I rocked it back and forth, tried to put it back in neutral, tried to skip to second...NOTHING. I did notice a small rattle sound once when engaging in a gear but hard to describe sound (maybe like a tumbling type sound?) After fiddling with it and not getting any gear, I attempted to put it back into neutral and could not get it. It seems odd that the bike will not get first gear even with the engine off. So now the bike is rolling free (in what appears to be engaged in some gear, i.e. neutral light is not on).

I started to read through a good post from yammyha on transmission service, but need a good place to start.

The roller-coaster ride of mastering mechanics delivered a serious blow today. Pretty sh**ty. Really wanted to give it a ride today.

[reelrazor]

dumb question, but...

you know that the clutch pressure plate will install five different ways, only ONE of which will allow the pressure plate to actually put pressure on the plates??

There are marks on the inner hub and pressure plate which HAVE TO line up in order for the trans to actually be coupled to the engine. The neutral light may just be a co-incidental connection/switch issue, and this may be pointing you down the wrong path...

[dash]

i can recall lining up the pressure plates correctly, since the previous owner had them installed incorrectly. I did notice the the lineup marks when i repaired the adjustment bolt and push rod. i will check them again as it is the first step in ripping that POS apart. i'll keep you posted. i'm not a big fan of failure.

[DonTZ125]

While you have the clutch cover off, take a look at the shifter - is it there? Are there obvious broken parts, broken springs?

[dash]

Disassembled the left and right crankcase covers and upon inspection found that the following were visually OK:

1) Push Rod/Ball/Plunger
2) Shift Shaft and Pedal Shift Assembly
3) Clutch Ailgnment
4) Clutch Boss and Housing
5) Shift Shaft Alignment to Shift Shaft Guide Bar

Though visibility was at a minimum under the oil pan it appears that the internals are intact and as they should be, however one of the dogs on the shift forks was not aligned to the groove in the shift cam assembly.

Is this keeping the transmission from engaging gear? Should I wrench around until it "gets back in the groove" or is it time to remove the engine and re-build on the kitchen table?

**NOTE: Is there a timeout for posting reply? Still looking up correct part names for experienced mechanics advice and posting pics and was timed out?

PICS AS FOLLOWS:













Thanks.

[dash]

Can someone tell me the weight of the engine? Should I eat 2 bowls of oatmeal instead of 1 for the solo removal?

Is it possible to drop the bottom half to access the transmission?

[reelrazor]

i can recall lining up the pressure plates correctly, since the previous owner had them installed incorrectly. I did notice the the lineup marks when i repaired the adjustment bolt and push rod. i will check them again as it is the first step in ripping that POS apart. i'll keep you posted. i'm not a big fan of failure.

See what i bolded? I think you are confusing "THE pressure plate" with the friction plates and steel plates.

The pressure plate is that cast piece on teh very outside of the clutch assembly. The one the springs seat in. The inner clutch hub has a triangle cast into it-it's at 4 o'clock in your picture of the clutch assy. That triangle MUST be aligned with the hole in the pressure plate for the clutch to functionally seat against the plates

[dash]

i didn't notice a hole, but there was a casting mark that was in between two of the spring seats on the pressure plate. I also made sure that the dogs on the clutch housing and the pressure plates meshed. I did read through one of your old posts regarding chain being too tight, and remedied that situation. The transmission immediately found neutral without any problem, as well as clicking between 1st and 2nd.

So...I buttoned it back up, and got the same result, except that it will freely move between gear selections without engagement. Your thoughts on next move?

[dash]

In the 2nd pic, the casting mark is barely visible at the 3 o'clock position. I'll take the cover off and re-check, though.

[reelrazor]

In the 2nd pic, the casting mark is barely visible at the 3 o'clock position. I'll take the cover off and re-check, though.

That casting mark is meaningless. There are five of them. between two of them is a small hole. That hole must be over the triangle in the clutch inner hub. Get this right and I am betting your bike has no problem anymore.

You WILL need to readjust your clutch at the lower adjustment point if you adjusted it while the pressure plate was on incorrectly.

[dash]

There is no hole. I am familiar with your take on misalignment of the housing and the pressure plate. If the pressure plate is "turned" to the incorrect position the housing and pressure plate hit and leave a gap of ~0.125". It was installed like that from the previous owner, however I just mic'd the clutch plates and 7/9 were at 0.110" and 2 were at 0.100". I can wiggle the plates when the clutch is disengaged, though. This is so close to spec, but it might be worth the $40 and the trip to the parts house?

[reelrazor]

I have never seen one without the hole. On the XS Yamaha's it was a notch at the edge of the pressure plate...possibly some years of FZR had that?

loosen the lower clutch adjustment all the way...are the plates free/loose in the basket? If so you have the pressure plate on wrong OR the stack height is wrong. Do you have the correct number of steel and frictions?

[dash]

I'll re-check the clutch adjustment. There's 9 friction plates and 8 steel plates.

*EDIT - Clutch adjustment - OK.

[dash]

Well...

Mic'd the plates and checked the spring free length:

Friction Plate (tk):
1) 0.111"
2) 0.111"
3) 0.099"
4) 0.105"
5) 0.111"
6) 0.102"
7) 0.103"
8) 0.111"
9) 0.115"

Clutch Plate (tk):
1) 0.080"
2) 0.079"
3) 0.078"
4) 0.078"
5) 0.078"
6) 0.079"
7) 0.078"
8) 0.079"

Spring Free Length:
1) 1.277"
2) 1.280"
3) 1.279"
4) 1.281"
5) 1.273"

According to Minimum Specifications, the total "stack" length would be 1.566" and given the above combined plate measurements of 1.597", the clutch should minimally engage at some level (disregarding #5 spring out of tolerance). The measurement that concerns me is the depth of wearing surface on the clutch boss. I measured the wear depth at 0.040".

Is there a standard wear measurement for the depth of the clutch boss or does anyone have a clutch housing kicking around for a comparitive measure?