20 replies to this topic

[danny1]

right my car wont engage gear as it seems like the clutch wont release.

i thought it might be the gear linkage that had gone

but it go's into gear easy when the engine isnt on, and then as soon as it starts it wont go it just grinds, so i gave up on doing that straight away

i checked the distance betweeen the little bolt and thats correct at 20tho

so i checked the fluid level and it was low so i topped it up and gave it a quick bleed

but it doesnt seem to have done anything, could it be the clutch its self thats gone?


as it just stopped working all of a sudden
its really odd

[billzer]

look at the slave cylinder first maybe the rubber seals inside the slave have perished as they do , eay job wear gloves

[danny1]

what and the cylinder might have just given up on me? which would suggest why it doesnt seem like its throwing enough?

[tiger99]

It is an almost certain sign of hydraulic failure. The clutch system, like the brakes, NEVER needs bleeding except when parts have been changed, or for routing fluid change every 18 months or so. If it does need bleeding, it is a definite indication that at least one seal is leaking. Bleeding is NEVER a cure.

It is most likely the slave cylinder that needs to be replaced, but as the master cylinder has also done exactly as much work, and both have most likely been degraded by fluid that has never been replaced, it does not make any sense to only replace one part. I always fit new seals in both master and slave, and fit a new flexible hose too, as I don't want to have to dismantle and bleed the system again very soon. If there is any corrosion, wear or scoring in the bore of either cylinder, it needs to be replaced, rather than just having new seals.

[danny1]

cheers for the help

changing the slave today, checked the master and that seems to be fine but i have a brand new one just in case

[danny1]

right replaced slave and master cylinders today still nothing,

no wear on the pin or the arm, so all this leave is the bloody clutch :/

oh man im not looking forward to doing that job with the engine in the bay :/

[tiger99]

I don't like the sound of that. Before any major dismantling, check the adjustments again, just to be very sure. Once upon a time, I had a throwout stop locknut fall off, and the stop tighten right up due to vibration, When I wanted to use the clutch, the pedal was locked solid. Easily fixed, but it serves to show just how easily the simple things can go wrong.

[rob963]

Just an idea,
But if it is a verto clutch, have you checked the sleeved bolt hasn't come loose from the slave cylinder mounting bracket? My friends had this problem and it wasn't allowing the clutch to release...

Edited due to silly auto correct thinking slave was sovereign somehow :-(

Edited by rob963, 30 October 2012 - 10:31 AM.

[Spitz]

Another thing to check is the flex hose......
It's possible it's ruptured or worn and is "ballooning".
Do you have a second person available to have a look under there when you press the pedal?

[jimnali]

A few suggestions:

Get someone to press the clutch while you watch the operation of the slave cylinder and the clutch arm. Check tha tthey are free to move and have the full range of movement.

Are you sure that the clutch has bled properly? I had a problem with this and eventually resolved it by opening each of the joints in turn to bleed the entire system.

I take it that you have an early (pre A+) mini. On the later verto clutch the throw out stop is set by adjusting the large nut to 6.5mm.

[The Principal]

The Mini clutch is quite simple all it has to do is break the friction between the sandwich of the flywheel, clutch plate and the diaphragm, to achieve this the correct amount of travel is required in the actuating arm

Grab a mate to press the clutch pedal and observe the travel in the clutch actuating arm, as tiger says back off the locking nuts fully to allow full travel in the arm. You will quickly see if you have the required travel, if ok you have problems deeper in the flywheel/diaphragm area

[danny1]

right the clutch throws out loads, i have a paddle clutch fitted, its deffently the clutch thats gone.

the pipe is braided and is new, master cylinder and slave have both been changed now, system fully bled out.

no wear on any of the clutch arm parts or pin, so by ticking of things to do with the clutch like checking bolt clearance it leave only one thing which is the clutch plate

so it comes out this weekend and a new clutch plate fitted

[tiger99]

No! That is not logical. The clutch plate, paddle or not, can't prevent the release mechanism from releasing the pressure on it from the pressure plate. Certainly the condition of the friction faces can't.

To produce your symptom, the paddle plate would have to be welding itself to the pressure plate and/or flywheel. Or, just barely possible, the plate is stuck so tightly on the splines, due to corrosion, that it remains under heavy pressure against the flywheel even when the pressure plate is clear of it.

I don't want you to be wasting money on parts that are unlikely to cure the problem. Just one suggestion before you do anything too drastic. If you have a small cover plate for timing purposes (unlikely except on earlier models) I would remove it, and with the engine turning over slowly with the starter, give about a 10 second squirt of WD40 into the clutch, or as close as possible. (Contrary to popular belief it will do very little permanent harm, I have done it to several cars in dire emergencies.) After you have done that, or even if you can't, press the pedal right down, and wedge the clutch release lever in the fully released position (block of wood or similar) for 24 hours or so. Remove the wedge, pedal right down, and slide foot off it so it returns really hard, a few times. Then it gets brutal. Fourth gear, foot hard on brakes, clutch also hard down, optionally spark plugs out, and give the starter a few jolts. Don't hold it for more than a second at a time, to avoid overheating the motor or battery, you just want a series of engagements. At some point in this procedure a stuck clutch plate usually lets go suddenly, and may be ok for a long time.

Failing which, as you are using a paddle clutch, you probably drive it hard, and it may be that the heat has done a mischief to the Deva bushes in the primary gear, which have welded to the crankshaft. That is not good, it may with luck clean up ok, or need machining.

[JimmyB]

One other thing, have you checked the throw out stop adjustment as well as the return stop? I had the same symptoms suddenly occur the other day and adjusting the return stop didn't help.

After adjusting the throw out stop the clutch is now functioning flawlessly.

With the peddle down hard to the floor by an assistant or block of wood wedged between peddle and steering wheel, undo the lock nut on the end if the clutch cover and wind the throw out stop nut in until it touches the cover. Back out one flat and then do up the locknut.

Hopefully adjustment is all it needs and not major surgery! I was certainly relieved when this cured my problems.

[NZMINI1100]

On some slave cylinders there is a spring clip in the end, take this out if it does. some people say to leave it in there, But I took mine out and that fixed my issue exactly the same as yours.. Unfortunately I had literally already replaced everything to do with the clutch when I found out that the spring clip had been the problem all along.