Greetings Listers Near and Far:
WANT TO PASS ON A GREAT TIP AND UNDERLYING UNDERSTANDING ( My educators
roots in action)
A few weeks back there were several posts about Clutches and transmissions
that wouldn't work. Some listers wrote about not being able to engage the
gears with the shifter, (after the clutch was activated). Some wrote about
the clutch not releasing.
Several solutions to the problems were suggested. Among these were
:examining various aspects of the Slave cylinder action; and placing the car
in 1st gear, pressing in the clutch, and then starting the car to 'break
loose' the frozen clutch. Another suggested rolling the car down a hill and
'popping the clutch. Another suggestion was to use the 2nd or 3rd hole in
the fork lever to give more clutch travel, (hence ensuring pressure plate
release of the clutch disk).
All of these 'mechanisms work' and do free up the clutch disk, but as
experienced for several weeks-not for long. The next day, or the next week-
one can experience the same problem, and begin to think more serious actions
are required as in 'necessary'. As I posted a few weeks ago- I too was
windering this.
A week ago I had the pleasure of visiting with Lister Dick Dell in Raleigh.
Among the 'zillion' of items with TR's, Jags and Jensens- we discussed this
TR 'frozen clutch' issue.
My thoughts were that perhaps my pilot bearing was bad and the transmission
shaft 'binding' in the recess, or perhaps there should have been more
lubricant used on the splines where the clutch disk hub 'fits' onto the
forward transmission shaft itself or that maybe the clutch disk was
'binding' on the shaft. I explained that we wiped the transmission shaft
clean, and aligned the clutch hub in the pressure plate /pilot bearing with
the Plastic Clutch alignment tool (and all went smoothly) before reassembly
with the actual transmission, and that assembly went smoothly, but we did
not use any more 'grease' on the shaft. That this is the way I had done the
job a least three times over the past 30 years, but never experienced this
'clutch not releasing problem'.
Dick said I did the assembly correctly- that one should not use any
'grease'; or the metal filings and clutch 'dust' would stick to the grease
and cause a real binding and wear problem. (I think of this as the
equivalent of brake dust scratching paint)
Dick stated that the problem with these clutches is that the clutch discs
contain a high degree of semi-metallic material, and after a significant
period of non-use the clutch disk will actually 'rust' to the flywheel. In
my case the transmission was installed into the car on 4 December 99, and
not driven till March 15 of 2000)
The solution he said was to just drive the car, and the problem will go
away.
I thought about this and realized that all my 'rest runs' and 'test outings'
were less than 40, and most less than 15 miles with some but not a lot of
clutch use. As I wrote, the shifting became easier as the car warmed up.
Thinking it might also be in the syncros- I drained out the old (very black
clearly 90wt) gear oil and replaced it with ATF- mostly to clean the tranny,
devarnish, and flush any microscopic metal particles out of the
gear-syncro-shaft mechanisms. I found with shifting slowly, and syncro
shifting I could avoid clutch judder, and chipping any gears. I got about a
mile down the road but the rain started and while she won't be a 'garage or
hanger queen'- She will not be 'willlfully subjected either'. Already the
shifting was smoother (still cold).
Then we were out of town, so I never got to do the clean-flush run.
So Saturday, two weekends since I used the car- I brought the car home from
the Hanger (40 miles).
First in starting, I goosed the engine a couple times then patterned into
first- already better. The 3 miles to the beltway I continued to syncro
shift-althought it seemed better than before. By the time I came off the
beltway and got in the neighborhood for shifting- the transmission was just
fine, but still had some minor clutch hanging in shifting into 1st or
reverse while standing (shifting into 1st from 2nd when slowing to a stop
sign was ok.
Yesterday we went to Britain on the Green. By the time we got off I-95 in
Virginia ( 65 miles) and into the traffic of Rt 1 S, the clutch action was
like brand new. Didn't have to syncro shift, clutch judder from traffic
lights was not a problem in anyway. After the 1st mile-not even a thought
anymore!
The show was great- a great turnout and meeting listers Gary Klein of
Severn, Ken Nachman from Richmond (Mid-Atlantic VTR), and Martin Secrest of
Arlington kept 'the list' alive.
As a final test, leaving the park was in a long line (30 minutes) of Bumper
to Bumper British cars (This traffic jam was a real pleasure) AND the clutch
was purrfect and smooth acting. ( I plan to install 50% ATF and 50% 85-90Wt
Gear oil as a tip from a Jensen Healey racer suggested to solve both the
cold shifting and hot running, long distance wear considerations).
'The TR' IS BACK - and ready for TRA 2000! (Well-after the oil leak from the
fuel pump gasket gets fixed and I won't have to breath clouds of 'British
Perfume' .
THE DELL SOLUTION IS RIGHT ON. THANKS DICK!!!
Sherman D. Taffel
Columbia MD
TR4 CT40054
'THE TR'
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