Clutch pedal will not come back

gunmetal72 said

I just put a new cluth in my 72 340 Duster. The pressue plate is different then the old one. The old pressure plate had 3 fingers and the new one has more then 3 fingers on it (never counted but I think it has about 6 or 7). I adjusted the clutch with about 1 in of free travel and the clutch pedal does not come back when pushed. If I adjust with no free travel, the pedal will come back to the top and work the way it should but the clutch feels kinda spongey of soft. If it has no free travel I am sure the release bearing will be spinning all the time and will burn up in no time. I am thinking I have a peace of crap clutch but thought I would put this out there to see if there was anyone who might have had the same issue. Any thoughts?

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Mopars are picky that way I've found. I have experienced the same problem with mine. It's almost like it needs a little helper spring on the petal to bring it back to the stop, past the over center point. I can just go over a bump in the road and the petal will pop back. It doesn't take much. It might be because Mopars have so much pedal travel compared to other cars I would guess. Have a helper push the clutch down as you watch the action below. Adjust it so that the throw-out bearing to finger gap is around 1/4". You don't want the t/o bearing to ride on the fingers constantly. It will smoke the bearing and tear up the fingers. I took my new clutch to Clutchmasters to have it checked out before I installed it and it is interesting how little fork travel it takes to release the disc. It seems if I adjust it so that it starts to release 2 inches from the top (before the over center) the t/o bearing rides on the fingers. If I adjust the t/o bearing to finger gap the petal releases closer to the floor and the petal wont return over center. All of my linkage has been lubed or replaced and it works very smooth. I wish I would have kept the old pressure plate beause it released perfect. I am guessing it is the finger height that is making the difference. Keep us posted.