I've been trying to send this for a week but my e-mail got messed up so
sorry for the delayed response. I read on the list that Steve already got
his car working so this may not but worth much but what the heck.
Steve, I once had a similar problem with my 71 Camaro. Here's the story:
(somewhat winded)
On my way to church on a rainy Sunday morning, I was driving my semi-stock
Camaro (4 speed, headers, cam, Holly carb, Mallory EI distributor, lowered
front end, posi-traction rear end) I was going through the R/R underpass on
Imperial Hwy near Leffingwell Road (reference for those in the area) when I
noticed that the water level was curb high. I thought to myself, "self, you
can drive through that but go slow". That was one of the many times I should
have thought twice! I slowed to idle speed in 1st gear and got just about
half way through when the car stalled. I tried restarting but it wouldn't
fire. Meanwhile, the water level was rising, it was well over the curb and
close to the bottom of my door sill. The only thing I could think of was to
put the car in gear and crank it out of there (thank God there wasn't a
clutch safety switch). I decided to put it in reverse and back out as far as
I could. I got about one third of the way up the underpass until the battery
could crank no more. I got out and checked under the hood.....I thought
water in the ignition was the probable cause. I pulled the distributor cap
off (which on a Chevy is at the back of the block....who do we thank for
that bright idea). I had some rags in the trunk I used to dry off the cap
rotor and EI components hoping this would fix my problem. Didn't work! I
couldn't crank the car fast enough to get it started because the battery was
nearly dead. By this time, the water was about 3-4 feet high and approaching
my car. I ran up the street to call my friend who had a pickup truck and
jumper cables. He said I was stupid (I agreed) and that he'd be right over.
I got back in the car and kept cranking it, hoping by some miracle it would
start (after all, I was on my way to church). He arrived 15min later, by
that time, the water had entered the car and was up to the bottom of my
seats. We tried to jump start the car but, because part of the engine
compartment was in the water, the 5-bladed flex fan threw water all over the
place when we tried to start it. Next we tied to pull it out using his
pickup and a nylon tie-down strap he had. Good idea right? but the car was
too heavy because the passenger compartment was partially filled with water
and he could not get enough traction to his rear tires to pull it out. While
all this was going on, a few more people had the unfortunate idea of trying
to get through the flood. Some made it (those with 4x4's) some didn't. There
was one old guy that was driving a beautifully restored early series Corvair
convertible that had the same idea but was also stuck near the bottom of the
underpass. At one point, I looked to see his car floating! Needless to say,
this drama raised many spectators. One guy with a 4x4 finally offered to
pull me out for $50, I agreed and got my car out. I sat in it to steer with
the door open and as he pulled me out, the water flowed out just like you
see in the movies. My friend towed me home (which was fun in the rain, no
power steering, no power brakes) and I parked the car. I the next day the
sun was out after I got home from work we towed it to a Tune-Masters parking
lot and changed the engine oil, transmission oil, rear end oil, pulled the
plugs and cranked the engine to blow the water out. I cleaned and dried
stuff for hours. Finally, it was time to start it. With a freshly charged
battery, I cranked it over. After a few coughs and sputters, it started and
ran fine. I let it warm up while checking for any possible problems due to
the water deluge but none appeared until I tried to drive the car. I could
not disengage the clutch. I checked the linkage and all appeared to be fine
and in working order. I drove it home by crank starting it in gear at every
red light.
(If you've read this far, I'm almost done) The next day I tried to break the
clutch free by driving the car and romping the throttle with the clutch
pedal depressed, after a few tries it broke free and it started working
again.
Sergio
1967 Sunbeam Alpine
Series V 'AJNT 86'
still working on it but getting closer!
----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Robbins <stever(at)ebicom.net>
To: <alpines(at)autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, August 28, 1999 5:19 PM
Subject: Stuck Clutch
> Help. I have not driven SV in about 2 months. Went out today and fired
> her up. Tried to shift into reverse...GRRRRRRR. Will not go into gear
> with clutch all the way down. Checked the fluids. OK. Tried to
> crank in gear to break if free, and backed car out of garage with
> starter. Tried it with the brake on. No Go. What now. Clutch was
> working fine two months ago.
>
>
Sergio
1967 Sunbeam Alpine
Series V 'AJNT 86'
still working on it but getting closer!
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Sep 05 2000 - 08:35:02 CDT