anthony05gt

I just installed a Ram release brg in my son's '05 along with a Centerforce DFX set up. I bought it from JPC where I always get my parts. Justin called me and warned me before I installed it about some of the units having knicked o-rings from possible lack of lubrication or hasty assembly. I pulled the piston out of the housing and sure enough there were knicks in one of the o-rings. Justin had Ram air freight o-ring kits to him and I installed the new ones using lubrication and some patience to make sure I didn't tear them.

Anyway, I got the car back together after properly shimming the release brg, bled the system, checked for leaks....all good. My son went out and got maybe 15-20 miles from home and the slave just puked brake fluid out all over the road. He lost all clutch control. He called me and I gave him the run down on how to drive the car home without any clutch pedal. Today, we pulled the transmission out and found one of the o-rings pushed completely out of the unit and was shreaded. My initial thought here is that the tolerances must be too tight and when the engine heats up and transfers heat to the bearing things must be getting even tighter do to the heat. After that, the o-ring just shreaded and pushed out. Justin tends to think it's probably something like that too.

I'm sending it back to Ram and I want a full refund. We already ordered a McLeod bearing like the one I have in my '05 which I might ad leaked for a couple of weeks after I put it in too. It completely stopped leaking and I never had to ad any brake fluid to the reservoir because the leak was so small. The McLeod unit hasn't leaked at all for a couple of months. So far so good. Got a seal kit in the garage just in case, but I think it will be fine.

Here are a few pics of exactly how this thing looked today as the transmission came out.

tom281

Man, I've had one of those sitting in my garage for a month now....... I've read about a few problems with them here and there and you're now another guy that's had a problem. I'm starting to reconsider having it installed....

anthony05gt

I know of a couple of guys without any problems.

tom281

I think I'm gonna pull it apart to check the o-rings....... Are there any special tools needed? I have not had mine out of the box yet.

During your install, did you need any additional parts not supplied by Ram already? Example I've been told that you need a .75" spacer/shim, so I ordered one of those already. Actually I ordered 5 of the .15 shims instead of one .75".

anthony05gt

If you pull it apart, it's the larger of the 2 o-rings where the problem is. Check the inner side of it (where it seals against the piston). Use a little brake fluid on the piston and o-ring and slowly twist the thing back together. Don't force it, just twist it in. It should take one swing of your wrist to twist it through. I used all 6 supplied conical spacers and 1 of the big Ram spacers that were originally designed to go behind the stock release brg. It depends on your flywheel/plate combo as to how many shims you'll need. You could use a little motor oil for the piston reassembly rather than brake fluid. Don't overdo it though.

You won't need any special tools.

tom281

Great, thanks for the info.

anthony05gt

OK, Ram received the parts and gave a full refund through JPC Racing.

tom281

My o-rings look OK (both of them) Hopefully it will turn out OK.

Anthony, in looking at your pictures, I don't even see an o-ring that big like the one you're showing........ ???

anthony05gt

Yeah, you do have the same o-ring. When it's cut in half and layed out it will look longer.