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Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
dklawson
Yoda
Offline
Last year we had a release bearing fail on the Spitfire. We looked at the pressure plate and apart from minor scoring on the diaphragm fingers it looked OK so we did not replace it.
Last week my son lost the ability to select gears from idle. He drove the car the minimal amount necessary to get back to school and then limp the car home. After ruling out dropped thrust washers and failed hydraulics we pulled the transmission. We found the pressure plate diaphragm fingers had totally failed. The new release bearing is still free so I don't blame it. I suspect that the previous bearing (which failed by total disintegration) must have overheated the diaphragm fingers causing them to loose their temper.
In the picture below a new pressure plate is shown on the left and the failed one on the right. I am hoping that others will learn from my mistake and replace all suspect parts at one time if their cars have similar failures. While we were fortunate to have access to replacement parts, it was still an investment of a day to pull and reinstall the gearbox for the second time in a year.
Last week my son lost the ability to select gears from idle. He drove the car the minimal amount necessary to get back to school and then limp the car home. After ruling out dropped thrust washers and failed hydraulics we pulled the transmission. We found the pressure plate diaphragm fingers had totally failed. The new release bearing is still free so I don't blame it. I suspect that the previous bearing (which failed by total disintegration) must have overheated the diaphragm fingers causing them to loose their temper.
In the picture below a new pressure plate is shown on the left and the failed one on the right. I am hoping that others will learn from my mistake and replace all suspect parts at one time if their cars have similar failures. While we were fortunate to have access to replacement parts, it was still an investment of a day to pull and reinstall the gearbox for the second time in a year.
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