• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

T-Series Clutch

Share this page

M

matkalg

Freshman Member
Offline
Hi All
I’ve just purchased an MGB GT to restore that’s in good condition. The clutch seems to be not working properly but the person I bought it off says it need bleeding but the books on the car haven’t come yet but I want to get it to my garage. Can anybody help with getting the clutch to bite?

Thanks
 
First of all, welcome to the forum. I was fine until I got to the word bite in your statement then I got confused. Normally, when someone says their clutch needs bleeding, it is engaged all the time and will not disengage when you push the pedal. Now the word "bite" leads me to think that the clutch doesn't engage and therefore wont move the car. If this is the case, then you have more serious problems than bleeding will take care of and you will probably need to tow it home.
If the clutch is engaged all the time and you can't get it to disengage, then this is a more normal situation with MG's and the car can be driven if you are very careful but there again, it would be better if you could get it towed to your garage. The car can be started in first gear and an experienced driver can shift without a clutch but grinding of the gears can still happen but I have driven mine that way when the clutch failed just to get it home. The engine has to be cut off each time you stop for something and restarted again in gear when you start moving because you can't get it in gear without a clutch while the engine is running.
Bob
 
ok, i'm assuming the clutch won't disengage (stepping on clutch doesn't let you run through gears while engine is running). bleeding is fairly simple. get some clear tubing that will go over the bleeder nipple, a clear glass jar, and some hydrolic fluid. it takes two guys if you are going to do it under the car. you need to put the tube on the bleeder nipple and the other end in the jar (put some brake fluid in the jar and the end shoud go into the fluid. make sure the resevoir is full.
once you have this done, have someone get into the car. open the bleeder valve (keeping the tube on the nipple), guy #2 should depress the pedal, pushing fluid into the line (or air if it's dry.) close the valve while the pedal is depressed. once the valve is closed, the pedal can be released. repeat this process for a while until clean fluid is seen and no bubbles can be seen in fluid coming out of the nipple. make sure you keep the resevoir full to prevent any air from entering line. sounds complicated, but once you get dirty it's pretty easy.

ok, once you get that done, if your clutch doesn't disengage the transmission from the engine, there's one trick i've learned that might be tried. If the car has sat a while, the clutch disk may have flash rusted to the flywheel. this method is questionable, but worked for me. . i claim no responsibility lol. definitely bleed the clutch beforehand

jack up the rear of the car and chock the front wheels. Start the car in first or second gear, get the engine nice and hot. once everything's running smooth, give the car a little gas. rev up to aroudn 2500 rpms and push the clutch. if it doesn't release, start applying the E-brake. this will make the clutch want to separate from the flywheel by putting resistance on the clutch disk. Mine fell from the jack stands and thank god it freed the clutch because i would have gone through my garage door. note - this method puts stress on the gears of your transmission and stresses your engine - whether it's enough to break something or cause problems is up in the air. just some info to maybe get your car in the garge, lol.

mike
 
Somethimes luck plays a big part in whether we live or die and Mike just proved the point. Not that I haven't done a few things that after the big bang I didn't look around and hope no one was watching. Mike's right about the clutch sticking but a little safer way is to get the car on a slight incline forward or backward makes no difference, just give yourself 50 yards or so in whatever direction you are going. Put the car in gear 1st or reverse, push in the clutch, start the engine (that you already have warned up), now it will leap frog a few times at most and the clutch will pop and there you go, no car hood for a coffee table in the TV room. Just kidding Mike a bit, we've all done crazy stuff. Wayne
 
Back
Top