Hi All,
This is a non-vintage race car question, so I apologize in advance, but I
know there are a lot of good mechanics on this list whiling away their time
in some very cold places. Believe me, I'll never get back to the Devin
project if my daily driver is dead in the driveway.
I have a 1985 Toyota Celica with a 5 speed. Everything was great, the car
shifted like butter, until one evening I parked in front of a friend's house
and came out five hours later, started her up and found that the clutch
wouldn't disengage the engine. I had to start the car in gear to drive
home. It did seem to disengage enough to shift up through the gears.
So, I figure there's a problem with the adjustment. Its got a straight rod
going from the pedal assembly into the clutch master cylinder, through a
metal lining down to a short rubber hose and into the slave cylinder. From
there, a short rod to a lever on the transmission. Seems pretty simple.
There was no fluid loss, so I adjusted all the free play out of the pedal
and all was right with the world. I wished all problems were this easy, but
I was curious why the adjustment suddenly became so wrong.
Few days later, she's a-gettin'-a-little-hard-to-shift. To the point of
uncomfortable and undrivable. So I figure the adjustment just masked a
hydraulic problem by giving me a little more travel on the master. Even
though there was no apparent fluid loss, I figured that there might be a
bypass or something letting the fluid by the seals. So I change both the
master *and* the slave. I couldn't find any leakage as I inspected either
piece after it was removed. But the car never shifted better. Man I'm
good.
Less than a week later, it starts to get tough to shift again. I figure
there might be a bubble that I didn't get out of the system and I find that
pumping the pedal does make it easier, so first chance I get, I put a brick
on the pedal and bleed the slave hoping to hear a little air escape before
the squirt of fluid. No, seems like fluid right away. But it shifts pretty
well and if it gets tough, I can always pump a few times.
So after driving to work, I take a friend to the train depot ten miles away.
Everything's ok. I park the car and work for eight hours, and when I come
out there's no clutch. I mean there may be some tiny about of
dis-engagement, but its subtle. Once again, I drive home by starting the
car in gear.
I just looked and the adjustment rod is as far in as it can go (as in no
free play). I compared adjustment rod lengths when I replaced the master,
and I reused the adjustment rod on the slave. I adjusted the rod back to
allow more free play thinking it couldn't draw fluid back in, but there is
no difference. And pumping no longer helps the situation.
Is there anything in the transmission that could be changing the adjustment
"great" to "impossible"?
Help. If you're still reading, you deserve a virtual wet kiss.
Awaiting with baited breath,
Clark
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