Technical Clutch dead, Monkey79 angry >:(

[Monkey79]

So today I spent an hour and a bit replacing the alternator on my 1.4ie Tipo - the first bit of 'real' work I've done on my car...

...and by 'real' I mean the first time I've delved under the bonnet and covered myself in engine grime and made it look like I've taken up self harming on the side with the number of scratchs and cuts up my arms.

Anyway, replacing the alternator was a success but upon lowering the car off the jack and starting her up another problem came to light, a problem caused by the towing of my car because the alternator died.

Silly me decided that, whilst being towed, it was a great idea to bung the car in gear and feather the clutch to help avoid ramming the back of my ex's dads peugeot estate who was doing the towing.

Anyway, I digress... hopefully all of that inane waffle made sense, if not read on anyway and I swear I'll get to the point

The point of the matter is that my clutch appears to be dead, I can get the car into gear but when I release my foot from the clutch pedal the car does nothing. The revs dip a little as if they would when you're stationary and bringing the clutch pedal up without giving it any juice to work with but beyond that I get nothing. The car wont move at all.

Can I ask you clever chaps and chapettes:

a.) What is the most likely part to be damaged and where the hell can I get a set? I'm going to go ahead and guess something like this.

b.) How much work is it going to be to replace the above?

 

[Green]

U seem to have glazed ur clucth. U need a replacement clutch, pressure plate and throwout bearing - all that is in that link u put here.

As for replacement, ull need a manual like haynes.... And no, its not a good idea to do that with a clucth while towing.... u have brakes for that

 

[jonti]

Cheap clutch kits come up on Ebay often. The difficulty is fitting it as you will need to get your gearbox off the engine. I don't know how easy this is going to be without a hoist.

 

[Monkey79]

As for replacement, ull need a manual like haynes.... And no, its not a good idea to do that with a clucth while towing.... u have brakes for that

Yea, my brakes seemed incredibly spongey and unresponsive so I thought "wahey! I'll just use my gears" because I was terrified I was going to crash into the back of the car towing me.

d'oh!

Oh well, chalk it up to experience... I will now know better next time

As for the manual, I've got a PDF copy of the haynes and porter manuals and just the other day picked up a copy of the porter book from ebay because it's infinitely easier flicking through a book that you have in your hands than it is flicking back and forth on pages in a PDF file.

Cheap clutch kits come up on Ebay often. The difficulty is fitting it as you will need to get your gearbox off the engine. I don't know how easy this is going to be without a hoist.

I'd spotted those on ebay, thought I'd do a little digging around before I bought one though.

I can get a fair bit of clearance with my ex's dads jack but the problem with that is it's only really raising one side of the car. Having looked through the aforementioned porter manual, it looks like quite a job for a newbie like me to take on so I thought I'd ask around for a few quotes from some local garage type places.

Just got the first one back from formula1 autocentre (or whatever they're called)

..

..

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£320

I only bought the car for £400 two years ago £320 sounds a bit steap, especially given that I can get hold of a clutch kit for £20-30???

Worst case scenario, will ask the friendly family mechanic guy if he'll do it for me

Thanks for the input guys

 

[Green]

Kk, a few points regarding getting ur car up in the air - dont try, dont even think u can change a clutch without at least - a good hydraulic jack, and two heavy duty axle stands. When jacking the car up, first pull the handbrake, make sure it holds well, put car in gear. Next ull need a breaker bar and a socket to undo driveshaft end nuts - they are in the hubcaps in centre of wheel. The car might even move with handbrake and in gear, if so, find someone to hold the brakes while u undo the nut. It wont come off easily, so be prepared for a lot of effort. New nuts required there on reasemblly - imperative that u do so! The central nut should be about 30-32 mm, depending on version. After that is loose, u can slightly loosen wheel bolts on front wheels.

Then next is to jack up the front of the car. Place hydraulic jack underneath the gearbox casing, where its flat, and thick. Place a block of wood between the jack and casing. Secure rear wheels with blocks of wood or metal, and pull handbrake all the way up. Jack up the front of the car as high as it will go. Now place axle stands underneath the veichle, one on each side. U'll find factory support points on the floor from underside, close to the front edge of the front doors. I suggest using these to place the stands as they're reinforced and meant to be carrying the veichle weight while its being serviced. Also make sure that supports on the veichle underbody are not bent, damaged, or rotted out before working with car resting on them.

Now u can slowly lower the car onto the axle stands. It should sit level on them, looking from side to side. The car should not be banked to the left or to the right when wieved from the front. Now, when the weight of the car is resting on axle stands, u can slowly lower the jack and withdraw it.

Now is the time to check if the car is secured in the air - try to give it a few firm nudges, push and pulls in various directions to see if it will move or even get off the stands. No much damage here for if it comes down it will land on its tires - therell be a bang, but no major damage or injury. If u are satisfied how it stands, and u are certain that it is firmly on the stands without moving, then u can proceed to take the front wheels off. I would recommend that u make very sure that stands are holding it very well, since they are going to be the only thing thats holding the cars weight above u when u are going to be working underneath it.

Then u can proceed to take out the gearbox oil, disassemble driveshafts, steering joints, and finally take down the gearbox. When taking the gearbox down, another hydraulic jack might be needed to hold the engine, while with other u lower the gearbox.

 

[bandido41]

.............. When jacking the car up, first pull the handbrake, make sure it holds well, put car in gear. ........

What is the purpose of putting the car in gear if the wheels are going to be off the ground and the box is going to be coming off????

You should never ever loosen wheel/hub nuts with the car in gear as this can damage the diff

 

[Green]

and what u quoted is going on like ..."Next ull need a breaker bar and a socket to undo driveshaft end nuts - they are in the hubcaps in centre of wheel."

It would be nice that u actually read the post completely... "When jacking up the car" refers to the whole procedure of jacking up the car, it does not mean that the car will be jacked up that instant. The purpose of car being in gear is to prevent it from moving - which you would have understood if u had read the post completely

You should never ever loosen wheel/hub nuts with the car in gear as this can damage the diff

Care to explain how? Do u think that u - or anyone - can produce enough torque by hand to damage the diff? If the engine cant damage it, surely a hand wrench can?

Btw, I speak from exp of doing it, and I have never had a damaged diff by doing this - because, to put it simply, u cannot load it enough by hand... assumptions are one thing...practice another

 

[bandido41]

Exactly assumptions are one thing practice another and yes i have stripped a diff by loosening it whilst in gear hence i why i said that

 

[Green]

That I really never saw or had happening to me. What were u using, like a 2 m breaker bar? Awfully hard to impossible to blow a diff that way - might have already been damaged before?

I have literally pushed cars off stands while undoing central nut - but never had ever blown a diff.... And I've done some 200+ of gearboxes exchange....

 

[spikey]

Hi

I am contemplating changing a clutch myself on a 1989 1.6 Tipo. I haven't done one before.

Does anyone think it might be easier to take the engine out to change the clutch?

I just can't face all that hassle with driveshaft removal etc.

 

[Green]

Hi

I am contemplating changing a clutch myself on a 1989 1.6 Tipo. I haven't done one before.

Does anyone think it might be easier to take the engine out to change the clutch?

I just can't face all that hassle with driveshaft removal etc.

U have to take driveshafts off one way or another. If u want to make it harder for u by taking the whole engine out too, ur choice.

 

[Monkey79]

wow, lots of useful advice re: jacking her up

thanks Green! I'm still not overly confident of taking on the job myself but atleast now I have a good idea how to start if I build up the courage, at the rate I'm going (and with the quotes I'm getting back!) I think I could save myself a small fortune by doing it myself!!

Cheers!

 

[Green]

Thats just the most important part - ie how not to get urself pinned down under a Tipo! They're heavy....


All the rest is easier.. just dont be suprised if u mess up something first time so u have to do it again, second time it always goes easier It sure did for me hehe

 

[Hellcat]

Undone the hub nuts on a Tipo Secici by reversing against a breaker bar... Couldn't produce enough torque by hand.

 

[jonti]

Get ready to catch the gearbox oil !

Its a hard life, so I thank my lucky stars the TD has split driveshafts. All you need is an allan key !