Wellthere's nothing for it... The body comes off!

My clutch on the Elan is just not going to release. I rebled the system, but there was no air in it anyway. I adjusted the slave rod to the point where the clutch shouldn't even be engaged, then drove with the clutch pedal depressed trying to bunny hop the car and break the clutch free. Those darm metalastic joints absorb driveline shock so well that I can't get any real inpact to the clutch. Too much power and the wheels just spin, so the power on and off thing was a bust.

I'm missing a car show this week, and I don't know when I'll have time to work on the car now...The body will have to come off and the drivetrain out... could be an all summer project..

Makes me wonder why I bothered to put all new parts into the car when it does something like this... The clutch has only about 300 miles on it..

Re: Wellthere's nothing for it... The body comes o

Had similar symptoms in a car once, appeared that the clutch wouldn't disengage no matter what. Turned out it wasn't the clutch at all. The pilot bearing had seized.

Don't know whether the PO had replaced the clutch and forgot to grease the bearing or the clutch was original and the factory grease had disappeared. Either way it was ground up into little bits and seriously stuck. I had to chisel it out.

When you pull the driveline make sure you either have a new pilot bearing in your hands or at least readily available from your favorite supplier.


PC.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif

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...The body will have to come off and the drivetrain out... could be an all summer project...

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The clutch on my Elan occasionally stuck after a few weeks of non-use but I was lucky at freeing it, I guess. You're right about the doughnuts absorbing shock you'd rather was sent on to the clutch.

Why do you need to take the body off? The engine and transmission will slip out the front, won't they?

Well you might get the motor out alright, but re-connecting the driveshaft into the back of the tranny would be impossible, as the the shaft is in a tunnel. I might be able to just remove the motor, but getting at the bolts would be a real task.

I had considered the pilot bushing seizing, but immediatly discounted it as then I might not be able to seperate the motor and transmission. I've decide that I want the clutch disc to be the problem, and I'm sure wishing will make it so! ( the pilot is the most likely, and the ugliest possibility..)

I had soaked the bearing in oil for a few days prior to putting it in, but didn't use any other lube on it. I thought they were supposed to be self lubricating, but I guess not.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonono.gif