Transmission

[P-2 Mark]

I just finished prepping my car for the upcoming race at M-O and went to test drive it, only
to find out I have NO clutch. No matter how far I move the throw-out bearing arm, I can't
get it out of gear into neutral and then into another gear. I would appreciate any suggestions
before I pull the motor and make a direct inspection of the throw-out bearing. Thanks!

Mark

[CenDiv20]

I have had that before and it was with the diaphram clutch the morning I showed up to the track. At least you found it before you got there. I pulled the motor and put in a 3 finger clutch and there was no issues after that. The diaphram clutch was not engaging, not sure why.

If the slave cylinder is working its the clutch then....

[Veefan]

It could also be that the throw-out bearing came off the arm.

[P-2 Mark]

That's what I'm afraid happened, although I checked it before installing the motor.

Mark

[G.B.]

When was the last time that you had the clutch assembly apart?

If it has been sometime, the pressure plate and disc may have rusted together. I had this happen earlier this year; I just drove the car around the paddock until the disc broke loose. It has been perfectly okay since.

[Veefan]

Sometimes when installing the engine... a little wiggle to get the engine to mate with the transaxle will move the bearing to one side and with a little pressure in the throw out lever, and the clips just pop off. Typically you'll hear a "ping" but sometimes nothing, if it just comes off one side, you'll feel pressure, but since the bearing is not centered on the pressure plate it will not release... unfortunately no easy fix. You need to separate the engine and trans. Depending on the car, you might have enough room to just slide the motor forward to reattach a NEW clip.

[CitationFV21]

When was the last time that you had the clutch assembly apart?

If it has been sometime, the pressure plate and disc may have rusted together. I had this happen earlier this year; I just drove the car around the paddock until the disc broke loose. It has been perfectly okay since.

This is a good possibility, the problem is that it can stick to the flywheel or the pressure plate or even be binding on the input shaft. I am trying to remember if you can take the starter out and see if the pressure plate is moving. If so, maybe hit with a little brake clean, while rolling the car.

If the TO bearing is off, then taking the engine out might be the only method. There is a clip that has a double loop in it, tends to hold tension more than the normal "C" clip.

[P-2 Mark]

Thanks everyone for their help!

Mark

[P-2 Mark]

Here's what we've concluded so far:

The throw-out bearing is fine and it has full travel when the arm is manually pulled.

The clutch is still in good shape and there's no evidence of slipping etc..

The pressure plate looks good with no signs of foriegn pieces of metal preventing it from working.

We found that when we bolted the pressure plate to the fly wheel, it flattened out when the bolts we're
torque allowing for NO movement of the pressure plate when the throw-out bearing was used. We wonder
if there's a spacer that goes between the presure plate and fly wheel that's missing or we're torqueing
down the bolts holding the pressure plate too hard. I didn't use a torque wrench, but I believe they call
for 20#'s of torque? Maybe we place the clutch plate in backwards but I doubt it so any suggestions
would be appreciated. I've thought about using washers as spacers between the pressure plate and
flywheel so the pressure plate isn't right up next to the clutch plate when torqued down?

Thanks!

Mark

[John Deonarine]

According to the "book", the torque is 18 ft/lbs. Are you torquing the bolts in a crisscross pattern, gradually increasing the torque and using an alignment tool?
If the plate is not pulled down parallel it could get warped or it was warped before you tried to install.

John

[CitationFV21]

Here's what we've concluded so far:

......

We found that when we bolted the pressure plate to the fly wheel, it flattened out when the bolts we're
torque allowing for NO movement of the pressure plate when the throw-out bearing was used. We wonder
if there's a spacer that goes between the pressure plate and fly wheel that's missing or we're torquing
down the bolts holding the pressure plate too hard. I didn't use a torque wrench, but I believe they call
for 20#'s of torque? Maybe we place the clutch plate in backwards but I doubt it so any suggestions
would be appreciated. I've thought about using washers as spacers between the pressure plate and
flywheel so the pressure plate isn't right up next to the clutch plate when torqued down?

Thanks!

Mark

I am a little confused - was this a working clutch or have you put together new parts? If new parts, you might not have the right ones.

The clutch disc can only go on one way, with the "nose" toward the tranny, otherwise the disc would not sit flat on the flywheel.

It does not matter the torque on the bolts, (other than to strip them), the clutch should sit flat on the flywheel.

Was the flywheel cut? If they cut the friction surface, then you have to cut the face to match. The step has to stay in proportion. If you cut the friction surface and not the face, then the clutch would slip as you don't have enough pressure on the disc. If you cut the face too much then the pressure plate compresses too much and you loose travel

So far, here is the only video I have found: (I take no responsibility for any thing they do wrong!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYGp2bfhV0c

Okay - I lied- here are a few more:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtOMR0-T ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arvPBz7g ... re=related (part 2)

Here is a video about pressure plates:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wBaA2ep ... re=related

ChrisZ