Hi everyone,
Thanks to all who responded to my clutch question (pedal soft, difficulty
getting into gear, some grinding, whirring sounds in bell housing, clunking
when pedal is released, etc. -- see reprint below). The consensus seemed
to be a faulty throw-out bearing, which made sense.
I now have the engine and tranny out and separated, and have some new
questions: Just what should I see if the throw-out bearing is in fact to
blame? Should there necessarily be something obvious (broken parts, uneven
wear, etc.)?
Here's what I found:
-- evenly worn clutch disc that should be replaced, but doesn't appear to
be damaged or disfunctional.
-- throw-out bearing looks okay to me -- no uneven wear or broken pieces.
There seems to be a good amount of bearing material (carbon?) left. The
swivel sockets connecting the bearing to the arm were somewhaat stiff.
-- throw-out bearing arm (fork) had some slop at the connection to the
transmission housing (maybe 1/4" to 3/8") -- seems like a lot of play.
-- pressure plate looks okay, no evidence of worn springs. There was a
little bit of uneven wear on the throw-out bearing side of the pressure
plate where the bearing meets the plate.
-- the hole in the clutch slave cylinder piston was a bit out of round
where the throw-out bearing linkage connects, but doesn't seem too bad.
Does that suggest anything to anyone? My plan right now is to replace the
disc, plate, and bearing, as well as the clutch slave cylinder piston, put
it together, and hope it's okay. That seems disturbingly unscientific to
me, but I can't see anything obviously wrong.
Could the problem I described be in the hydraulic system? There were no
obvious leaks, but the fluid level was very low after the initial failure.
After bleeding twice, the car was drivable but still not right. What are
the symptoms of a bad clutch master or slave cylinder?
I don't mind replacing the clutch assembly, but I would like to be more
comfortable about the nature of the problem. Thanks in advance for any
help or advice.
Thanks,
Dustin Howarth
howarth@pulsenet.com
'73 Midget
Description of problem from my original post:
Since the first drive, there was a mild clunk when releasing the clutch
pedal, especially, it seemed, in reverse. There also seemed to be a large
amount of miscellaneous noises in the trannny (loud first gear, etc.).
Often it was difficult to get into first gear after a stop, and even going
2nd to 1st sometimes produced a slow, mild grind before slipping into 1st.
These may or may not be related to the current problem:
During a typical drive home, I found that shifting was becoming difficult,
requiring me to rev the engine to slip into each gear. When I stopped in
my driveway in neutral and running, I could not get into 2,3,or 4 at all,
and any attempt to slip into first (with clutch in of course) was met with
a high speed grind. Pedal pressure seemed much lower, but I haven't driven
the car enough to have a definite feel.
This is where the plot thickens, possibly splitting into two problems. It
seemed that the clutch pedal/master cylinder/slave cylinder was not
functioning, so we
checked clutch MC level -- very low, despite no evidence of a leak. After
refilling and bleeding, pedal pressure was better, but maybe not as good
as original. While securely up on stands, I started the car and carefully
shifted through all 4 grears at idle -- seemed fine, although the first
gear grind happened the first attempt only. The car came down, and as I
pulled out for a test drive, there was a new, disturbing whirring sound
from the
bell housing area while in gear with clutch in. During the drive, the car
shifted, but I still experienced difficulty getting into 1st after a stop,
and had some resistance from 2nd to 3rd. Back into the garage.
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