Hi Justin,
The problem that you are dealing with is caused by a failure of the
clutch; it has nothing to do with the gearbox itself.
The clutch must release completely, i.e. the gearbox input shaft
must be mechanically separated from the flywheel, by the clutch, to allow
you to engage any gear. For 1st or reverse this is very critical because
there is no synchromesh of any type to protect the gears.
The first thing that you have to do is determine if the clutch fault
is attributable to the operating mechanism (hydraulic) or is caused by a
fault in the clutch itself.
If the hydraulic system operated previously without problems, there
is no sign of leakage and the system is correctly bled then it is very
unlikely that it is the cause.
To diagnose the problem I would suggest this. Put the car up in the air,
gearbox in gear, then remove the clevis pin on the clutch arm to slave
cylinder connection. Select a piece of pipe about 2 feet long which will
just fit over the fork on the clutch arm. Slide this over the clutch arm and
use it to move the arm forward as the slave cylinder would do. As you do
this, try to turn the driveshaft; if the clutch releases the driveshaft will
turn easily by hand.
Although it takes some pressure to move the arm DO NOT force the clutch arm
further forward than it will easily travel; you can bend the arm.
If the clutch releases using this method you then need to determine
if there is insufficient movement being generated by the operating system
(hydraulics) or if the movement required is excessive. As I said above, if
the operating system worked previously, is not leaking and it has no air in
it then it is unlikely that it is the cause.
If the clutch does not release then you need to remove the gearbox
to check the clutch.
As a guess I would suspect that something in the clutch has come
adrift and has positioned itself between the clutch cover and the flywheel.
Michael Salter
www.precisionsportscar.com
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-healeys@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-healeys@autox.team.net] On
Behalf Of Justin
Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2006 7:43 AM
To: 'Alan Seigrist Blue 100'; 'TERRY COLL'
Cc: healeys@autox.team.net
Subject: RE: Won't engage gear upon start up
The gearbox oil level is good and I changed it out this spring. I use
20w-50 in the gearbox (I've read just about all the pros and cons on
this one but I haven't tried anything else yet) which is what my dad
always used so that is one variable that hasn't changed in a long time.
I've pretty much convinced myself I should pull the gearbox this fall or
next spring and take a look, I was trying to avoid doing that project
but I'm sure it was going to need to happen sooner or later.
Justin
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