Dear Forum, my Bravo 1.8 HLX (2000) had been making a whining noise for 2-3 months at the start of the year when I pressed the clutch pedal. In Feb I got the brake warning light and not knowing it was related to the clutch thought that my brake pads needed replacing. The noise got worse last week and on Friday as I pulled in to our drive the clutch pedal just wouldn't go down. I had a look under the bonnet and found that the slave cylinder seal had split (and looked like it had been for a while). I replaced the slave cylinder over the weekend, bled it etc. but that hasn't fixed the problem. I still can't push the clutch pedal down, there doesn't seem to be any feedback from the arm that the slave cylinder rod goes into (is that arm meant to push the rod, it's just loose at the moment). Car is in great condition for it's age and only done 78K. I'm not sure what to do next - any advice?
Technical Clutch problem, please help
- Thread starter Layth
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Technical
Clutch problem, please help
Bled it by pressing the pedal?
So the master cylinder is not stuck?
Whining noise may be throwout bearing stuck and eating the pressureplate fingers.
If it varies with engine RPM when pressing the clutch, it propably is something to do with the throwout bearing.
Bearing through the fingers = no clutch and pressing the pedal should do nothing.
More noise, remains of bearing and the fork eating the pressureplate fingers?
Not sure how much the arm would have traveled in such case, not enough to eject the slave piston out of the sleeve so it still could appear to be functioning?
So the master cylinder is not stuck?
Whining noise may be throwout bearing stuck and eating the pressureplate fingers.
If it varies with engine RPM when pressing the clutch, it propably is something to do with the throwout bearing.
Bearing through the fingers = no clutch and pressing the pedal should do nothing.
More noise, remains of bearing and the fork eating the pressureplate fingers?
Not sure how much the arm would have traveled in such case, not enough to eject the slave piston out of the sleeve so it still could appear to be functioning?
You may have 2 problems, and have only fixed one...
Clutch slave cylinders do fail regularly with age and use, maybe yours was having a hard time due to the other internal problem.
Maybe a rod or something has become mechanically stuck and that's why the pedal can't move. In any case you should get the clutch looked at and probably replaced - ignoring mechanical noises (and warning lights) generally doesn't fix the problem as you have found out.
If you're lucky there won't have been any broken bits of metal banging around inside the bellhousing and causing extra damage, just make sure whoever does the clutch does a proper job and puts all the parts back on properly..
Clutch slave cylinders do fail regularly with age and use, maybe yours was having a hard time due to the other internal problem.
Maybe a rod or something has become mechanically stuck and that's why the pedal can't move. In any case you should get the clutch looked at and probably replaced - ignoring mechanical noises (and warning lights) generally doesn't fix the problem as you have found out.
If you're lucky there won't have been any broken bits of metal banging around inside the bellhousing and causing extra damage, just make sure whoever does the clutch does a proper job and puts all the parts back on properly..
Thanks for the advice guys. I've had a few quotes for the work but unless my garage open up the clutch they won't know the extent of the repair. It's more than I can afford at the moment and it breaks my heart having to get rid of the car. I've asked around if anyone's interested in buying but it looks like I'm going to have to scrap, shame as it's in great condition.
