Technical clutch problem

[flisko]

suddenly when i started the car clutch pedal feels soft, cant select gears while engine is running but works normally when engine is turned off, clutch cable still moves when its pressed

only thing i could remember is like 1 month ago there was some noise under the hood which went away fast and never happend since, right before the clutch problem occured i turned the engine off and was braking with the car till the brake got hard, after i restarted the car problem mentioned above occured

there is no clutch slave cylinder but a cable, got enough brake fluid in

can it be something else than the clutch perhaps?

 

[dumbledore]

Most likely a clutch problem. The clutch release bearing may have gone through the clutch springs which can explain why you clutch pedal is light. But check to see if the cable is doing its work, i.e. when you press the clutch the clutch release mechanism on the top of the gearbox is activated. If not the cable is brocken and that will be your best hope.

The brake pedal will go stiff if you stop the engine. The brake servo mechanism require the engine to run. If the engine is stoped the servo will stop working and after a while the pedal will fill stiff. The brakes are still ok,but they are not assisted requiring a lot of force to operate.

 

[flisko]

cable moves normally when i press clutch pedal

 

[flisko]

Most likely a clutch problem. The clutch release bearing may have gone through the clutch springs which can explain why you clutch pedal is light. But check to see if the cable is doing its work, i.e. when you press the clutch the clutch release mechanism on the top of the gearbox is activated. If not the cable is brocken and that will be your best hope.

The brake pedal will go stiff if you stop the engine. The brake servo mechanism require the engine to run. If the engine is stoped the servo will stop working and after a while the pedal will fill stiff. The brakes are still ok,but they are not assisted requiring a lot of force to operate.

is it faster if i change the whole gearbox instead of just the clutch, got one car just for spares

 

[dumbledore]

cable moves normally when i press clutch pedal

Have a look in the engine compartment and see where the clutch cable is attached. It should be a clutch lever nearby. If you can move it by hand in and out then you release bearing is not seeting agains the clutch springs and hence you can't change gears. The clutch itself is attached to the engine, so you need to remove the gearbox to change the clutch.

 

[flisko]

what i meant was, remove gearbox with bad clutch and put new whole gearbox with working clutch, or remove the gearbox with bad clutch and fix it, and put the same gearbox back on

 

[dumbledore]

what i meant was, remove gearbox with bad clutch and put new whole gearbox with working clutch, or remove the gearbox with bad clutch and fix it, and put the same gearbox back on

This depends on the condition of the gearboxes. If you suspect the current box then I would consider swapping it over. If not sure the one with less miles probability wise will be better to use.

 

[fingers99]

what i meant was, remove gearbox with bad clutch and put new whole gearbox with working clutch, or remove the gearbox with bad clutch and fix it, and put the same gearbox back on

There's nothing to suggest that the box is bad. Replace the clutch. All the work is removing the gearbox, anyway. Draper's little "clutch mate" recommended.

 

[flisko]

this is the clutch i was going to put in, or should i buy a brand new one?

 

[fingers99]

Buy a brand new one. If you don't ride the clutch (stay in gear and hold the pedal to the floor) or do drag starts you'll get 60k miles from it.

 

[flisko]

can driveshaft be removed while gearbox is still on the car, i have already removed those big bolts from wheel side

 

[fingers99]

Yes. There's some stuff in the Cinq/Sei guides which should be applicable. But, basically, undo hub bolts, undo two bottom strut bolts, remove inner most inner CV joint clips. Tug on the brake disks, it'll all fall to bits.

The Haynes doesn't do it this way, but would be a sensible purchase. FCS, don't put the clutch plate on the wrong way round.

 

[flisko]

Yes. There's some stuff in the Cinq/Sei guides which should be applicable. But, basically, undo hub bolts, undo two bottom strut bolts, remove inner most inner CV joint clips. Tug on the brake disks, it'll all fall to bits.

The Haynes doesn't do it this way, but would be a sensible purchase. FCS, don't put the clutch plate on the wrong way round.

couldnt find anything in Cinquecento / Seicento Guides

undo two bottom strut bolts

this?

i had same problem when i was removing gearbox from mk2 and even when i had whole gearbox out on the ground i couldnt remove the driveshaft

 

[fingers99]

Here.

On the first page! Looked really hard! :bang:

 

[flisko]

yea i wasnt even looking i just wrote gearbox in browser search and it didnt find

can i re-use gaiter clips after removing them?

 

[oldhammer]

yea i wasnt even looking i just wrote gearbox in browser search and it didnt find

can i re-use gaiter clips after removing them?

(can i re-use gaiter clips after removing them?)

fling them mate,
decent cable ties do the job,

 

[fingers99]

:yeahthat:

Decent ones will do fine on the inner CV gaitors -- they don't have to do much. On the outers, I'd use new clips.

 

[flisko]

eh i was playing around with gearbox today and just cant seperate it from the engine
all the bolts and nuts are removed, driveshaft is out aswell, i tried lifting it up with a tire jack and prying it away from the engine with some wooden sticks and it just didnt want to fully move away, was thinking of removing it together with the engine but dunno how to lift all afterwards

 

[mrcinquecento]

are you absolutely sure you got them all? there's one that goes the other way!

I find a good way of removing the box is to..

Have the engine supported so that it is level (sitting as it would if bolted up in the car via mounts, and have a jack under the gearbox too, makes it easier to pull box back flat to slide arm off of clutch splines)

Get a bar or ratchet onto the crank sprocket and give it all a wiggle, pull gearbox off a little (or try to!), give crank a wiggle with ratchet, keep doing so until it comes free, stage by stage if it's sticky, but it should really slide off second or third pull after a wiggle.

Key is to keep it all as flat and level as possible so the weight of the box, or engine isn't forcing stuff at an angle and sticking the clutch to the splines on the gearbox shaft!

 

[fingers99]

That, and don't forget to remove the starter motor.

Ah -- driveshaft -- you need to pop out both driveshafts!

Cases have been recorded where the thrust bearing has worn right through the diaphragm springs. It's said to make disassembly rather hard!