Clutches again!

chasbaps

chasbaps

0
It seems to be a hot topic at the moment, so I thought I would add my own problem to the scrum!

We got Frodos engine rebuilt last year (Thanks Martin M!), but when we put it back in, the clutch wasn't working, it felt really soft and wasn't moving the withdrawal lever, beyond making contact with the release plate. I tried various things, including a master cylinder repair kit from speedies, which had the wrong size washers in and was pretty much useless! So in the end, I decided to start afresh and bought a new master and slave cylinder (Thanks again Martin M!) which I fitted last weekend.

This time there was good pressure on the clutch pedal, but the action of the slave piston was too far back to actuate the clutch withdrawal level, so I moved the slave cylinder to the wrong (rearward) side of the flange on the bell housing. Now there was some movement in the withdrawal lever, but no enough to disengage the clutch. As a last resort I used a pair of washers as spacers, but this didn't move it enough.

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Looking into the clutch doesn't really help!
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Pedal released

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Pedal depressed

So you can see there is some movement there, but it's not enough to release the clutch.

So I am wondering

A - Has something been missed out when putting it all back together?
B - Should I try adding bigger spacers and see if that makes it work
C - Buggered if I know, anyone got any ideas?




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Looks as though the thrust bearing has worn down badly, that would cause the loss of leverage [xx(]

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"You,re only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off"
 
That should be plenty of travel on the slave. Adding more spacers might get it to work but the lever has really gone past it's useful travel and it wll be pushing the bearing over to one side rather than pushing against the cover plate effectively. It might be worth having a go just to see it it will release but it's not a long term fix - new bearing required:I

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Summer's Coming.....
Trust me
 
The thrust bearing is the one on the end of the lever yes?
If so, that is in good condition, with 3-4 mm proud of the body of the bearing so I don't think it's that. :/

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Is it the old style roller bearing or the newer carbon block type? might be worth the small outlay to get a new carbon fibre one:)

''COMMER'EnSayThat''
 
How much travel are you getting on the push rod? It could be master cyl related.

http://www.commervanspares.co.uk/

http://www.yorkshireclassiccampers.co.uk/
 
Hi Martin!
Sorry, you mean the push rod from the master cylinder? I don't know, but will check tonight, and get accurate measurements for the travel on the slave piston.

BTW - braided SS hydralic hoses would be a great addition to your portfolio!

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sounds like your replacement slave is a larger bore and is therefore getting less movement for a given amount of fluid.

Are you able to compare it with the one you took off?

are you sure it is completely bled? some air in there would rob some movement?

I tried the spacers when using a less than ideal slave / master combo - worked okay for a while be did lead to premature wear on the slave due to the tightening of the angle that the push rod has to work at - ended up quite badly scored after a few thousand miles.

If you are still having dramas at the weekend pop by, i've got a couple of spare slaves/masters you can borrow to see if they work any better.

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Hi Guys, and thanks for all the replies!

The master and slave came from Martin Maltas, and look identical to the ones that were removed.
I'm going up this evening with Admin and will measure all the travels, try to take photos of the wear left on the bearing. If I am feeling adventurous, and we have time, we will unleash the Ezeebleed again!

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Look where Greg's lever is on max cylinder extension, it's a good half inch closer to the engine than yours. If it's not the thrust bearing then could be that the finger springs on the cover plate have given up being springy[xx(].

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Summer's Coming.....
Trust me
 
Yeah, that's looking more likely Panky :(

John and I went up this evening. There's 15mm travel on the lever, 29mm travel on the master piston. We added another shim (M10 nut) to the slave so it was around 20mm further forward than it should be, and still no joy.

Looking through the lever arm hole into the clutch I could see the bearing, and a couple of mm of carbon protruding from it, so thats not the issue. Before depressing the clutch pedal, the bearing was just in contact with the clutch, and I could watch it move forward as John pushed the pedal down.

I think I'm going to give up and call in a recovery truck to take it to the local garage. [xx(]

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Don't give up, drop the gearbox and change the clutch - you know you can do it[^]

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Summer's Coming.....
Trust me
 
I'm sure I could! I just don't know if I want to!
The trouble is, I am travelling so much for work that I haven't had time to get it sorted so far this year, and I'd rather be in it than underneath it! We didn't use Frodo at all last year, and I dont want to go through that again, when a few days and a few hundred quid could get it sorted pronto.

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Well I listened to you Panky, and today I took the gearbox out. The clutch plate was siezed, and after a but of persuasion is now free. Tomorrow I will be rubbing down the plates and putting it all back together. Thanks Tim for your advice over the phone, it looks now we're on the way again, next stop MOT centre!

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[8D]
Well done Charlie. Stuck plate - the one thing we didn't suggest:I

th_DCP_9918.jpg

Summer's Coming.....
Trust me
 
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