Paudman Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Just when I thought the mate's Spitfire 1500 was finally ready to leave my garage I pressed the clutch - master cylinder refurbished, pipes replaced and system bled - and found it quite stiff. This is a car that has not moved in over a year. I depressed the pedal all the way down, requiring quite a bit of effort to do so, then released the pedal which is now rock solid. Oops... yes total stupidity, but I was tired fed up etc etc.SO.... the clutch is now obviously fully disengaged along the input shaft and sticking so tightly that the springs cannot force it back.Tips please for releasing it - I've just rebuilt the entire interior of the car and do not want to remove everything again to get at the clutch - and certainly don't want to have to remove the gearbox - so is there an easier way to get the clutch back again and moving freely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freebird Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 A long shot perhaps, but you could try this. Open the bleed valve on the slave cylinder and put a long tube on it with the open end sitting higher than the reservoir (or in it) to make sure there is no hydraulic pressure on the slave cylinder and prevent drips everywhere. Then start the engine up and leave it at a fast idle of a good 30mins to warm everything through. The heat may release it. Then again it may not! If it does, close the bleed valve and give the clutch a good pumping - take it for a drive if possible too.Glen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Is the clutch engaged or disengaged? I think the slave cylinder has stuck (now pumped out to the fully extended condition against the circlip, too stiff to return under spring pressure) as the friction plate sticking on the splines or rusted to the flywheel will not have the effect you describe.Releasing the bleed nipple might help, but probably you'll have to remove the tunnel cover to get access to the slave cylinder. I doubt you'll need to remove the gearbox though. New slave cylinder might be wise.Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich_s Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 That happened to me, car had been stood for two years, i bought it, pushed the clutch pedal and got the slave cylinder stuck, took it off, stripped it down, cleaned and all sorted, my problem now is that the clutch pedal feels fine but the clutch does not release, guess the friction plate is stuck, have plenty of other bits to do before can be moved so will have to wait till it gets done.Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cook1e Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 I've had a sticking friction plate a few times, can be pretty difficult to get free. The method that always worked for me is not for the faint hearted !Jack the rear of the car up and ensure it is VERY securely supported on good quality axle stands.Start the Engine up with the car in top gear and rev it up to increase what would be the road speed to at least 50mph on the speedo.Dip the clutch pedal and pull on the handbrake a few times, sometimes this will free the clutch, some times it will just stall the engine.If the clutch doesn't free it's time for desperate measures.Get the car up to about 70 MPH on the speedo, Dip the clutch pedal and stamp on the brake pedal simultaneously very hard. Again this may stall teh Engine but keep repeating it abnd it should free after just a few attempts with a large bang and big jolt.Always worked for me but as I said , not for the faint hearted :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firebobby Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 I had the same problem with my GT6, it has been sat for some time, the clutch pedal was rock hard. I removed the slave cylinder and found it to be the problem, fitted a new cylinder(old one was well crudded up) and now have a good clutch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freebird Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Cook1e - how many feet have you got? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cook1e Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Good Point, forgot about how I used to do this as it's been a few years since the clutch stuck. I used a Krooklock to wedge the clutch pedal down!!!I've have a nice dry Garage attached to the house for the last 8 years and it's never stuck since I started storing the GT6 in there. I used to have problems when I stored the car in a damp garage in a block with a leaky roof whne I 1st moved in with my missus (her house). When we moved and bought a new family house a nice dry Garage with power and lighting was No 1 on my list for the Esatate Agents when speccing the house, funny how my missus was more intereste in a house with a nice Kitchen and Garden :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 If you are too faint hearted for cook1e's metod, try this.Star the car - you'll need a push start.Drive around with the clutch pedal down, in low gear. Speed up, slow down. Eventually the clutch plate WILL free!John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimW Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 JohnD wrote:If you are too faint hearted for cook1e's metod, try this.Star the car - you'll need a push start.Drive around with the clutch pedal down , in low gear. Speed up, slow down. Eventually the clutch plate WILL free!JohnWhere's the fun in that John ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Cureton Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 The original query said the clutch is stuck in the fully disengaged position in which case none of these ideas will work. I reckon it's a gearbox out job to find out what's sticking. It could be a broken pressure plate.Paudman, can you confirm if it's stuck on or off? Can you move the car while it's in gear? Can you start the engine and select a gear but not pull away? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paudman Posted August 6, 2009 Author Share Posted August 6, 2009 Steve - the clutch pedal went down once, but has now refilled with fluid and is rock hard up rather than down - it won't depress at all and I don't want to burst a seal by forcing it.All gears can be selected so I assume the clutch is in rather than out.I'm hoping that if I get the car to start - which it doesn't at present - the heat may free the clutch plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 339 wrote:Where's the fun in that John ;DIn the enormous [face=Sans-Serif] BANG!! [/face] as the clutch plate lets go.You can never anticipate it, and although you are trying to do just that, it always takes you by surprise!John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Cureton Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 490 wrote:Steve - the clutch pedal went down once, but has now refilled with fluid and is rock hard up rather than down - it won't depress at all and I don't want to burst a seal by forcing it.All gears can be selected so I assume the clutch is in rather than out.I'm hoping that if I get the car to start - which it doesn't at present - the heat may free the clutch plate.The key to identifying the problem is to know if the clutch is stuck on or off and your message doesn't make it clear which it is. Without a running engine you will still be able to select gears regardless of what state the clutch is in. The only way to find out for sure is to put the car in gear and see if you can push the car backwards and forwards. If you can move it more than a few inches then the clutch is stuck open (disengaged), if you can't move it more than a few inches then it's engaged. If it's disengaged then I suspect the gearbox will have to come out. If it's engaged then the plate is likely to be stuck to the flywheel and the previously detailed fixes might work. I doubt there is an hydraulic problem if the pedal is stuck at the top of its travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 No! If it's disengaged it's because the slave cylinder is siezed in the fully out position as I said above. Gearbox doesn't need to come out for that. Even if it's still engaged then it could still be a siezed slave cylinder - just needs to be a second fault of friction plate rusted to flywheel.Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firebobby Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 Quote from Nick JonesNo! If it's disengaged it's because the slave cylinder is siezed in the fully out position as I said above. Gearbox doesn't need to come out for that. Even if it's still engaged then it could still be a siezed slave cylinder - just needs to be a second fault of friction plate rusted to flywheel.I agree with you Nick,i had the same thing happen to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piman Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 Hello Paudman, is your gearbox the same design as the 2000 models, i.e with the thrust bearing carrier sliding on the gearbox input bearing extension. If so it sounds as though the carrier is stuck on the extension. I suggest that spraying the carrier with a releasing fluid or similar through the drain hole in the bell housing. Give it some time then try and manually move the cross shaft to and fro to see if it will free up?Alec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paudman Posted August 8, 2009 Author Share Posted August 8, 2009 I'll try that Alex, thanks - I'm trying to get the engine setup and the car started in the hope that either heat or vibration will free it up... maybe I'll just lift it off the ground and drop it to see if the impact helps ... joking of course but i'll try anything once! In reply to other earlier posts the car is pushable by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toomanyprojects Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 Stupid Question!!!This happened on mine because the Nit Wit who mounted gearbox to engine forgot to make sure that the pin on the end of the clutch arm was pointing outwards and engaged in the slave cylinder. Is this your problem???Exactly same symptons, bleed clutch, peddle goes down normally once and is rock solid next time. Biggest bummer is that you have to take the gearbox off the engine again to get the pin pointing out and not in.If the cars just been bolted together this may be the problem. If it's driven since last time the box was off then it isn't the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob dunn Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 i dont know if dick john and i were lucky or what . we started the orphan up on stands in 2nd and spun the wheels .we then stopped the engine, still in gear depressed the clutch held one wheel and turned the other this either freed the clutch plate or proved that it is now free. good result not to sure about the method. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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