At 07:08 AM 8/12/04 -0700, Tim Holt wrote:
>.... clutch seemed a little soft. Came to a stop sign, .... and the
>clutch was just dead - flat and no pressure. ....
>
>.... manually moved the clutch arm (with slave removed). It moves about
>1" towards the front (towards the SS).
That part would be okay. The bottom end of the arm might normally move all
the way to the face of the slave cylinder if the oushrod was removed.
>If I push it back (like where the SS would push it), it also moves about
>an inch. It also makes a click sound and has a certain amount of
>rattle/play to it. ....
Oops. FUBAR all right. I have an experienced guess you probably won't
like (been here twice).
If the nut on the pivot bolt (inside the bellhousing) comes loose, the bolt
starts to move endwise out of it's mount. As soon as the shoulder on the
bolt escapes from one side of the fixed clevis, the normal working load on
the release arm cocks the bolt rather dramatically, breaking off the
mounting ear on the front cover of the gearbox. That lets the pivot bolt
move completely free, no mount, no pivot, no resistance for the slave
cylinder, and flat pedal with no force. If you pump the pedal a few times
it will pop the piston out of the slave cylinder. Maybe if you're lucky,
at the extreme end of travel the release arm will hit something solid, like
the end of the opening in the side of the bellhousing, and prevent the
piston from falling on the ground.
Driving an MGA with common reservoir for clutch and brakes, I have always
recognized the moment this happens, and have resisted the temptation to
press the pedal again. If I pop the slave piston on the MGA it can lose
all the brake fluid. As long as I don't touch the clutch pedal again, I
can drive it home with no clutch, and fix it later.
The fix for this problem is to R&R the engine to install a new front cover
on the gearbox. Please don't shoot the messenger.
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
http://MGAguru.com
Check out the new British Cars Forum:
http://www.team.net/the-local/tiki-view_forum.php?forumId=8
|