General 22 Clutch cables & 1 Gear knob...

[Barney vd Merwe]

I thought I might share this - hope no one would mind. Perhaps there are similar tales out there...

My first car a good couple of years ago - before Windows and the World Wide Web - was a loveley 1984 Renault 9 GTL "Sportif" - White pinstripes & hubcaps to round it off. I was caught between pleasure and pain. The Renault went through a cluth cable on nearly a monthly basis - this is the honest truth. Long story short - I knew there was a serious problem with the clutch, I just could not figure out exactly where. I was convinced the non original cables I bought from the local spare shops were somehow faulty - until I bought the "real thing" from the Renault dealer, paying nearly twice as much than non original parts - and the same thing happened - cable breaks. Months went by, same old same old - grinding gears and broken cables. Man, I could fit these clutch cables eyes closed, I got stranded everywhere - on highways & byways in the middle of the night - without a flash light... I was getting "quicker" every time I fitted a cable (By now I drove around with a spare cable in the boot) Rain or shine - I was there - underneath the Renault - fitting a clutch cable. 22 of them in less than a year. At some stage fitted a new BBC clutch kit, a day later the pressure plate split in two, I used bolts and washers to take up slack as the cable stretched with every press of the pedal... And then finally my big brother helped me out one sunny day by "pulling" the gear box and wallah ! - we noted the "fork" was working on a "worn" stud on the bellhousing inside the gearbox. Big brother sorted it all out. Worn ringgear on the flywheel was also noted, he shoved the flywheel into his "Kelvinator" , turned up the heat, removed - tapped off the ringgear and "turned" it around and refit back onto the flywheel - starting problems solved in the same breath. The Renault was finally "healed"...

So 12 months later I noticed this polar white Uno Pacer Sx for sale - I had to have her. Goodbye Renault. UNo - Yeah, hydraulic clutch - No more broken cables !!!! Until the gears started grinding and difficult engaging first and second - and me wife litteraly split the gear knob in two battling to get it into first. That's when I replaced the seals on the Master & Slave cylinders - clutch problem solved. Oh, and the day she got home , parked the "FIRE" and "clonk" - front brake pads (completely worn) fell out onto the driveway....

Enough ! I will throw in a pic or two of the Renault and the Pacer tomorrow.

 

[alexGS]

LOL!
I think there's a moral in here somewhere

Generally if a replacement part fails, it's a sure sign that it's being loaded beyond its design load. But then again, the split clutch plate... well, I haven't seen that before!

The brake pads falling out just underlines the need to go right through a car when you get it... you can't assume ANY maintenance has ever been done, even (some would say especially) if the previous owner took it to a garage to have parts replaced.

My similar story to yours... my yellow Punto cost the previous lady owner a fair sum; among other things, front brakes had discs and pads replaced. When I bought the car, I did a quick wheels-off inspection - noticed the discs were shiny right out to the edges, didn't think too much about it (presumed the pads were a precise fit). Pads had plenty of thickness visible on the inside (didn't check the outside, as the caliper was in the way.)

About a year later, I noticed the brakes were feeling less and less effective. The pedal was firm, but it felt like most of the braking was happening at the rear. Then the rear brakes started to 'creak' in certain situations. I shone a torch in the front wheels; still plenty of pad thickness left. I was puzzled.

Rear brake shoes were completely worn out. I decided to fit new discs and pads to the front as well, to be on the safe side - and what I found horrified me.

I think the pictures below shows what was happening.

The garage had fitted Uno-size discs (drum roll... on-topic for this forum ) rather than the correct Sporting discs, which are larger. They had, however, fitted Sporting pads. The pads wore until the outer edges were touching each other - at that point, the pedal became firm, but the pads were not clamping the disc! How dangerous!

The moral of this story is that anybody can make a mistake, even 'professional' garage mechanics. It pays to double-check. Take nothing at face value and look further...

That's my little rant for the day

-Alex

 

[Barney vd Merwe]

[QUOTE
Enough ! I will throw in a pic or two of the Renault and the Pacer tomorrow.[/QUOTE]