Intruder 1500 clutch issues (never ending story)

[Dano98]

Hi. Im in desperate need of help. I have recently bought a Intruder 1500 (year 2000). Everything was fine but suddenly clutch start to slips after 50km of ride. It was slipping for apx 5 mins and after that it was good and another 180km was without any issues. Next day I went for a ride and boom, clutch start to slips after 5 mins of ride. I went home, cleaned the master cylinder (it was full of nasty gunk), changed the fluid, bleed it precisely (the system was full of that nasty gunk too). Not helped. That little tiny hole in master is good, it isn't blocked, because when I do reverse bleeding, the fluid sprays out of it. I changed the clutch springs for EBC which are 15% stronger that OEM. Not helped (clutch plates are in the service limit I measured them). Then I take out the slave cylinder from engine, put the cover down from it and man! The place was full of dirt and nasty shit. I cleaned it out, then i pushed the piston all the way in, cleaned surroundings of piston, put it all together. ET voila, no slipping at all! I made 120km that day without single issue. BUT. Two days later I went for a ride and after 20km I noticed, when I was turning into gas station, that my clutch lever is very soft and the clutch was engaging at the very end. Plus it hasn't that resistance as it have to. But no problems, no slipping and gears were going fine. Then I made another 20kms, then i stopped on the side of the road, (motor was on). After few mins I put gear bc I wanted to go and - here we go again - clutch started to slipps!! Fu**!! After that I stopped on the parking lot, turned off the engine, made some call, during which I pumped clutch lever several times. After 5 mins I started motor, and suddenly bike was going fine, no clutch slipping at all. After few kms I went to the shop for something, I turned off the bike and after another few minutes when I came back from the shop and started the bike, the clutch again start to slipps. Oil and filter is new - Motul 5100, 10W40.

Where the f… can be the problem??? I cannot figure it out and Im going out of the options. One day it is good, no issues and another day everything is fuc*ed again…

[hillsy v2]

That sort of erratic problem points to the MC / hose being blocked and the fluid not going back into the reservoir properly.

I know you said you "cleaned" it but you probably need to disassemble the MC to clean the bore and flush the hose. The rubber parts of the hose can also delaminate internally and present the same symptoms. A new braid hose would eliminate any of those issues.

[Dano98]

Oh yeah, yesterday I cleaned the pushrod, it was just dirty, no corrosion on it and I took apart the slave cylinder. Inside it was something like mud, so i cleaned it thoroughly put it back, bleed it and from that time the clutch is slipping instantly from the start. So Im assuming, that I have hydraulic system issue, not clutch itself.

[hillsy v2]

Oh yeah, yesterday I cleaned the pushrod, it was just dirty, no corrosion on it and I took apart the slave cylinder. Inside it was something like mud, so i cleaned it thoroughly put it back, bleed it and from that time the clutch is slipping instantly from the start. So Im assuming, that I have hydraulic system issue, not clutch itself.

Clutch packs don't just stop working, then work, then stop again when they are worn / faulty. It's the hydraulics that are to blame for those sorts of symptoms.

[Dano98]

And maybe not very important but Ive noticed something weird(?) when I was cleaning the slave cylinder. As it was disconected from the hose I was expecting, that fluid from the master reservoir will instantly leak out as the reservoir was opened. But the fluid was only dripping occasionally from the hose. And after 5 mins it suddenly started to leaking from the hose and all of the fluid from reservoir came out at once.

[navigator]

Like hillsy says, the clutch hose is intermittently blocked and needs replacing.

[sgtcall]

Welcome!
Here are a couple of things to check out.

INTRUDER MANUALS AND INFORMATION
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=14168

POSTING PICTURES ON INTRUDERS ALERT
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=13992

[Dano98]

Probably I found out the reason of the clutch slipping...


https://ibb.co/gRW0vxJ

https://ibb.co/c2cFH2M

[sgtcall]

The other question is where did that washer come from?

[Herb]

The other question is where did that washer come from?

Now, that is the $64,000,000 question...

[Dano98]

As it is closed area in there it is highly unlikely that it comes from engine itself. The clutch was reassembled by someone before me, because there wasn't gasket on the clutch cover but only black silicone (Im mad when I see that *"famous"* black silicone everywhere!). And the outermost friction disc was put wrongly because it has to be in the other slits of the clutch basket and it was in the same slits like other friction discs. So I'm assuming that when someone was assembling the clutch, by mistake or oversight he get there that washer. Because there are centrifugal forces when the motor is running so I don't suppose that this little washer get in there from outside.

[Designer]

That washer looks very much like the size of the ones used as spring shims. And might have fallen in there when dealing with slip by the PO.

Back a while ago, there was the idea that shimming the springs would stop slipping. And though it worked , it was only quite short-lived.

That's when I set out to develop Better Springs than stock for the 1500.

[navigator]

Black silicone, extra bits floating around, etc. is exactly why NOBODY wrenches my bike but ME.

[Herb]

Black silicone, extra bits floating around, etc. is exactly why NOBODY wrenches my bike but ME.

And the down side is, there is no one to blame if there is a problem with the work but you.

[Herb]

Sorry aboiut the previous post, the devil made me do it.