04 TE450 Clutch slave problem...Suggestions?

[STmatt]

My 450 has a Rekluse and up until a few rides ago I could also use my hydraulic clutch. Then I lost all pressure in the lever, but could still ride. But I have a hard time finding neutral while the bike is running and it seems more difficult to start. So I pulled the clutch slave assembly and found the wall of the assembly that fits into the motor was slightly chipped and the o-ring was broken. I bought another clutch slave assembly, installed it, bled the system, rode it around the neighborhood, bled it, and thought I was now a Husky mechanic. I took it up to Georgetown last Friday, roll it off the truck and notice a lot of hydraulic resistance. I try starting the bike and it really doesn't want to start. I pull in the clutch lever and now no resistance at all. I should have loaded it back up but I have two KTMs and a 450x waiting for me. I get the bike started and ran it hard, didn't shut if off except for a fall in some rocky waterfall area, and the bike is running hotter than I've ever seen it. I get it home and pull off the new clutch assembly and found almost the exact same problem again. Broken o-ring and a badly chipped housing. My Ktm buddy thinks something is going on with the Rekluse/clutch plates..........any suggestions, answers, similar problems? I now need, at the very least, a new o-ring, I might be able to salvage my old slave cylinder housing.
Thanks Matt

 

[MotoXotica]

perhaps the clutch pushrod is worn/damaged.would doudt that slave can be used again successfully.dan

 

[evoluzione]

having designed and built slave cylinders for over 10 years, it appears you have over-pressurized the slave cylinder by bottoming out the piston. that leads me to believe you have at least one of the following:

1. too much clutch plate stack height
2. loose center hub (nut not fully seated)
3. damaged/short pushrod

 

[STmatt]

Hi Dan,
I checked and actually replaced the push rod. The one I put in looks good to me. The old one was rounded on the clutch cover side. My Ktm buddy has been busy and hasn't been able to swing by but "thinks" it might be a worn clutch basket. My wife is tired of me talking about it and wants me to bring it to you and get it done right. You might be seeing me sometime Thursday.

I found an aftermarket slave assembly through ZipTy racing for $99 and maybe give that one a try.

Thanks Matt

 

[ken510]

Not too sure if this would cause your issue, but have you checked your clutch basket? I have an '04 TE 510. The basket was missing a rivet and all the others were loose! I pulled the basket, took out the old rivets and am taking it to a machine shop to have new rivets pressed in. I figure I'll just make it a once a year thing to check the rivets.
It's a pretty easy to do. Just make sure you use an impact gun to get the bolt off the shaft. Also make sure the fingers on the basket are smooth. You can use some fine grit sand paper for that. This process requires you to take the big end cover of the case off. Be on the look out for a small O ring that goes between the case cover and case on the left side of the oil filter. Not sure what it does, but figure it's there for a reason.
*Here is a link to a parts break down manual that should work for your bike.
http://grusbus.nu/manualer/Husky-Parts-Catalog/2004-TE-510-2004.pdf

*Another link that will give you an idea of what you're in for. (The basket may not work for your bike, but the process is the same.
http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=620686&highlight=billet+clutch+basket

Hope this helped a little.

 

[STmatt]

Thank you guys, ken510/evoluzione/motoxotica, very much for the information. And Dan thank you for the information regarding the clutch slave.

A few friends, non Husky owners, want to go on an all weekend ride next weekend so I don't want to have similar problems in front of them. And due to my lack of knowledge and fear of really messing something up I'm going to take my bike to MotoXotica to ensure my problem is corrected.

After looking at the helpful links Ken510 sent....I knew I'd get over my head, wreck something, and have to listen to one of my friends continuous comments about why I didn't buy a 450x.

Thanks again.

 

[ken510]

Keep us posted on what the problem was. As the bikes get more miles, things will start to wear out. Happens to all of us at some point. I would suspect a little earlier with a 450x. That's a great looking bike you have by the way. Nice to still see some blue and yellow representation.

 

[Motosportz]

Clay at 7602 makes a slave you might want to look into after you get the other stuff sorted.

Several things about that bike make me think it was once my bike. I had the disk guard, case saver, skid plate, rekluse, damper, hand guards, big tank, fastway pegs, and traded it to a dude in cali.

As for the 450X comment then you would get to do valves and 2 oil changes and spend an hour to get to where you could see the carb and...

you chose the right bike. Things brake.

K

 

[STmatt]

You definitely see fewer and fewer blue and yellow Husky's. I still have another set of 100th Anniversary number plate graphics for the bike but thought I'd save them.

I did have my eye on the 7602 slave piston, quad rings, and clutch cover. As for this bike I believe it's a California Native originally purchased from MotoXotica. I bought the bike from Kraig who is probably a member on Cafe Husky.

The Te has been great. I just need to straighten out some, hopefully, minor problems. In a week or two I'll repost here to let you guys know what MotoXotica finds.

Thanks again.

 

[STmatt]

Thanks to Dan and Motoxotica the clutch slave cylinder issue has been fixed. What Dan told me is by having a Rekluse clutch the slave should not be bled while the motor is not running. Dan's mechanic researched the issue on his own and successfully installed the clutch slave assembly. He also found a spring washer was missing in the Rekluse. I had left Dan a box of extra parts I had received when I purchased the bike from the original owner so luckily the part was in the box.
Now here is the strange part......Dan asked me if I had the valve clearance checked. I told him no and that I've owned the bike for a little more than a year. I also told Dan that the bottom drain plug was seized and rounded out. I was unable to get the drain bolt out and asked Dan to also replace the bolt. After leaving the bike with Dan he called me a few hours later. First was the bad news.....I was missing a shim out of one of the buckets and the other was way out of adjustment on the tight side. And I thought the bike was running pretty good(?) Dan said the good news was they got the drain plug out and found the shim was stuck to the drain plug. (whew...lucky) I'm guessing this shim came out of the bucket this past spring. That was when I noticed something was a little different with the way the bike was running but thought it was the carb. (I'm no mechanic.) I guess this is a testament to Huskys because I've been riding this thing hard for several months and it kept going. Luckily the motor didn't seize, explode, implode, etc and leave me stuck out in the middle of nowhere.
Dan showed me the old bucket compared to a new bucket and it was easy to see there was some bad things going on.
Dan and his mechanic worked hard, kept me informed, got the rare titanium bucket, re-shimmed, fixed the clutch issue, and almost allowed me to talk myself into buying an '09 TCX250.
I took the bike out to Prairie City OHV park with my 11 yr old son and his buddy and was completely surprised by the "New" power. I don't remember this bike running this well...ever.

Thanks again Dan / Motoxotica.

 

[Dude]

Gday dude from Oz often ride with huskybloke thou he has now turned orange, anyway clutch dramas with my 05 TE510.
Out riding today and clutch failed slowly and upon inspection was the same as photo 3 on 1st post.
Have standard clutch.
Will replace pushrod and slave cylinder cause the slave pushed the cir clip and end out.
Have measured clutch plate and seem to be in tolerance bike has done 8000 km or 5000miles.
Is this the solution?

seemed a bit loose ended this post.

 

[mightslip]

Interesting read though it is too bad, as Dude ( above ) mentioned. The OP didn't really give us a final account of the finished results of the clutch. I just recently had a similar experience so I'll chime in with my .02 lol

I lost pressure at the clutch lever and having experienced that before on another bike figured the Slave cylinder was done. When I pulled it off I found the C-clip had come off and the edges of the slave roughed up with small pieces of it in the groove of the case. Usually a bad slave is more a frozen bearing or leaking seal. I cleaned out the pieces, bought a new slave and bled. Nothing! Scratching my head, I went to the other side to inspect the clutch. Once I removed it, I found it to have little or no fiber on the plates though there had been no fade or slip.

I measured the metal plates just for piece of mind and found them to be in spec but ordered a full clutch pack anyway ( both metal and fiber ) I installed them, tested the lever and......ping! I heard something inside the slave. Guess what? Took it apart again and found it had been ruined just as the original had been.
Scratching my head now I called Dan ( Motoexotica ) He suggested I inspect the Clutch Rod. I had noticed a indentation on the slave side when I took the first cylinder off, but thought because it looked like a perfect fit of the ball bearing that it was a manufacturer stamp. It is not. The Rod should be flat on both the slave and the clutch side. 500+ $ later I think I have it all figured out but we'll see, Dan is sending both a new slave and a Rod. I will ask him about bleeding the master cylinder with the motor running. ( I have never heard of that before ).

1 Other thing I'd like to interject. You can run a Rekluse clutch with NO clutch master cylinder which basically renders the clutch slave unnecessary. If the OP had removed the parts in the slave because they were loose ( or if the clip goes back in you can leave it intact ) he could have run his bike without issue. Though I recognize having the lever makes things feel more "normal" haha. I have a relkuse bike that I have done this with removing my slave ( a good one ) for a bad one when a friends failed out riding one day.