Clutch/Gearbox.

[ecurie_ecosse]

A little advice mes amis. The clutch is gone and since I need to remove the engine and gearbox.Should I also take a look into the gearbox,just in case?? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

Stuart. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

 

[Morris]

Why do you say the clutch is gone? Is it slipping? Could be your hydralics. I say this because I have recently pulled clutches from two totally worn out 1500s and both clutches were in good shape.

I just finished "rebuilding" my tran, and in my experience, I wouldn't do it unless you are experiencing problems. It's a real learning experience, and you will be proud of yourself when you are done, but you may go nuts in the doing.

 

[ecurie_ecosse]

mainly because I've just done the hydraulics,clutch & brake.
But cannot engage any gears with the engine running Morris.

Stuart. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

 

[Morris]

The clutch hydralics are impossible to bleed. You probably still have air in the system. If you have the see through clutch hose like I do, you can check it for air bubbles. If you do have air bubbles, you may consider trying this trick:

Jack up the driver's side of the car. Remove the peddle box cover. Use a lever behind the clutch pedal to pump the clutch. Loosen the nut on the hose and depress the clutch using the lever. Tighten the nut and allow the clutch to return. Repeat until you cannot see bubbles in the hose.

 

[aeronca65t]

[ QUOTE ]
mainly because I've just done the hydraulics,clutch & brake.
But cannot engage any gears with the engine running Morris.

Stuart. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Generally, a burned up clutch would not prevent the car from going into gear.
Are you 100% sure that the clutch hydralics are bled properly?
If they are not, the clutch is not disengaging (or the clutch is rusted/stuck against the flywheel).
Put the car in 4th gear (engine off) and have someone sit in it and hold the clutch all the way down. Push the car with the hood open and see if the engine is turning. It should not be turning if the clutch is pushed all the way down.
If the engine turns, re-bleed your clutch until you are sure there's no air in the system. The slave cylinder should move out at least 3/4" when the pedal is pushed down.

 

[ecurie_ecosse]

Thanks Morris,I'll try bleeding longer before I dive into dismantling everything.You'll hear how it goes probably tomorrow. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/savewave.gif

Stuart. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

 

[sparkydave]

Another clutch bleeding trick that supposedly works is to take the cap off the clutch master cylinder, put a piece of saran wrap over the reservoir, put the cap on over it (making an airtight seal), and stomp hard on the pedal several times. Bleeding the 1500 clutch is a major pain, I'll admit. That hose inevitably gets a pocket of air trapped in it, and bleeding it by the book or using a vacuum bleeder won't get rid of it.

I used a vacuum bleeder to get the air out of the slave cylinder, then tightened the bleeder, stomped on the pedal several times, and saw that the air pocket had disappeared from the tubing. I bled the slave again just in case, but it worked fine afterwards.

One other goodie I found out the hard way is that you will most likely need to bleed it again if you remove the slave cylinder from the bellhousing, even if you don't open the hydraulics. The pushrod makes a tight seal against the dust boot, so when you shove it back in, it builds up an air pocket inside the dust boot. You might be able to get in gear... Once. After you work the clutch a few times that air pocket will burp its way past the seal and you'll be bleeding it again.

 

[aeronca65t]

I have also found that bleeding at the master cylinder end can help.
Have someone pump the pedal up and down around 6 or 7 times and hold it down. While it's down, loosen (and then re-tighten) the line that goes out of the clutch cylinder. Do this several times until you are sure you are getting just fluid and not air (and be sure the clutch master cylinder resevoir is filled to the top).
This can make quite a mess (and the brake fluid will wreck any paintwork).

 

[Morris]

Yeah. I forgot to say: put a rag under the fitting to catch the spilt brake fluid.

 

[kcbugeye1275]

I read on another forum the suggestion to extend a hose from a wheel cyl bleed screw to the clutch bleed screw, and back bleed the clutch with the wheel hydrolics. I don't know if it works, but I can't see why it wouldn't.

 

[piman]

Hello KC,

I don't like the sound of using the brakes to bleed the clutch. I could see getting air into the brakes from the clutch line.

These days I use a pressure bleeder which is quick and easy. However, what I used to do to bleed a difficult system was to open the bleed screw, have my helper push the pedal to the floor, then just put a finger over the bleed screw, pedal up, finger off, pedal down and so on until a good amount of fluid was apparent. Then pump up to pressure with the screw shut, pedal down and open the screw. Usually it only took a couple or three of the pressure cycles to get it clear of air. It seemed to me that there was insufficient pressure starting a newly re-filled system to get the air out until some fluid was all the way to the slave, which is why I had the screw open when pushing the pedal down.

Alec