new to shifting a diesel- am i doing it properly ?

[jethro]

I have just started test driving my Fummins conversion around the yard the de-bug and listen for any unusual noises.
I put a new conversion flywheel on it (southbend via destroked) and used a stock ford f-350 (I think 7.7) friction disk.
Added a new ford master/slave unit. It has the ford ZF-6. In 2 wheel high- first gear is pretty slow. I can start out in 2-nd
I believe on pavement (only tried it on grass so far- no tag yet)
tried it in 3-rd but I got some clutch smoke so I wont try that again.
I was used to my old truck- a 87 gasser f-150 with the straight 6 and a 5 speed with overdrive. On THAT truck I had to feather it a little starting off in first or the the motor might die.
This truck it seems like for (high range) 1-st or 2-nd I can just let it out all at once- But when I try to feather it a little
I can smell a little clutch smell. I don't want to be smelling ANY clutch smell...... at all.
I am a little concerned that I need to verify that the clutch is indeed fully OUT when my foot is off the clutch.
The slave disconnects out of the bell housing with a simple quarter turn bayonet type motion. Should there be a little "air"
between the end of the slave rod and the fork when the clutch is out ? maybe there is a pedal adjustment ?
I havnt checked for that yet.......
just don't want to damage a brand new clutch---- and I SURE don't want to have to take that apart again as much of a
B!tch as it was to couple up the first time !

Tim

[DMan1198]

The zf6 equipped fords I drove (mostly service trucks that weigh 12k+ lbs), and every other manual diesel I've driven (this includes a handful of t800 kenworths and 378 petes with eaton fuller 18 speeds) have zero issue starting in 2nd without throttle. 1st gear is always considered a crawler gear only really intended for taking off with a lot of weight, or up hill. New clutches do need to break in though. My 93's clutch is on its way out, but I never get that smell just letting the clutch out in 2nd. She'll go in 3rd without slipping too, but when I had the countershaft drop and took off in 4th it really slipped

[Gots_a_sol]

Yea minimal slippage/throttle required taking off in 2nd.


There should be some preload on the slave cylinder when installed.