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BJ8 Clutch Problem

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Mike Kaiserman

Freshman Member
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Overthe past 300 miles or so, the clutch on my ’67 BJ8 Healey has progressively become more difficult to shift into the gears. It appears to be acting like a pilot bushing problem, but I am not 100% certain until we take the unit apart, as the pressure plate does not always engage or release on shifting. There could be an issue with the straps and/or the diaphragm on the cover plate or an alignment/position issue with the input shaft spline. There are no fluids leaking from the brake reservoir or the clutch master cylinder. One indication is that the problem is more noticeable in cold weather; otherwise, we were able to drive it around once the engine and transmission reached operating temperature, which included shifting through all the gears as well as down shifting. There are no issues withthe gear box, synchromesh and the clutch pedal is not “mushy” nor is the clutchlinkage fork slipping to the best of our knowledge. This clutch unit was installed in 2010 during a frame-off restoration. I have been driving the Healey for almost five years since it has been back on the road logging some 10,200 miles. In contrast, I drove 110,000 miles on the Healey, which I brought new in 1967, over a 12-year period without a clutch problem.
My questions are as follows:
1. Has anyone experienced similar problems with clutch components from any of the suppliers? My parts came individually and not as a kit.
2. Have there been any significant material changes since the original Healey production units were made; i.e., are todays parts inferior or are they as good as what came with the factory installation.
3. Are there any other possibilities that I should be looking for?


Mike Kaiserman
theloneranger1@comcast.net

 
Last edited:
Check the slave cylinder push rod for the pin and hole being worn out of round .
 
The only issue I've heard of--secondhand, so FWIW--is that some release 'bearings' (graphite disk type) were prone to premature wear. But, that would likely manifest as too much pedal travel. I just installed a new clutch in my BJ8--AP brand, IIRC--and it appeared to be of good quality, but I've only put about 6K miles on it. I presume the pilot ('spigot') bushing was replaced when the clutch was replaced--SOP--so it shouldn't be the problem; at any rate, a problem with it would likely cause judder, which you didn't mention. It sounds as if the clutch disk is sticking to the flywheel for some reason, but I have no idea what could cause that (besides some type of contamination on the disk). It could be an issue with the slave cylinder, as HealeyNut suggested. Are you sure the clutch line is properly bled? Bleeding the line is a real PITA, which is why many of us have installed remote bleeders (but, again, air in the line would most likely cause excessive pedal travel).

At any rate, please report back when you've solved the problem (one more morsel for the memory banks).
 
Bob, I will make sure we look closely at all areas of the entire clutch assembly so nothing is missed. We, too, thought the clutch disk was intermittently sticking to the flywheel but unsure why that was the case. We plan on tackling this job in the next two weeks, so I hope to have something interesting to relay back to you. Thanks again for you comments.

Mike
 
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