Hi All,
I have a problem that suddenly cropped up while driving my Uno 1100 today. After parking the car for a few minutes I went to drive away and couldn't select 1st gear. 2nd,3rd,4th & 5th were easier to get, reverse was impossible without grating the gears. I immediately suspected the clutch hydraulics. In October last year I fitted a new clutch master cylinder and overhauled the slave cylinder. I checked today for low clutch fluid or signs of leaks in the usual places but nothing was found. I still suspected the hydraulics, so I bought a complete new slave cylinder and replaced that. After bleeding the system thoroughly I still could not get 1st gear with the engine running. I then began to suspect the thrust (release), bearing to be the cause. After coming to terms with now having to remove the gearbox and replace the whole clutch, I went out to buy the parts to do the job. The thing is that when I drove the car to the spares shop the gear change was suddenly perfect again! I could select any gear without grating. After thinking all was now okay and maybe it was a hydraulic problem after all, I parked the car and left it for and hour or so. When I got back in it, thinking all was going to be okay, the gear grating problem was there again! This happened a couple more times during the day too.
I am at a loss as to what could be the cause of this. I don't mind replacing the clutch but I don't want to do the job if this is not the cause of the problem. I also checked the gear selector rods and bushings, also the pivot bracket on the gearbox for the selectors, all these things were okay.
Has anyone had a problem like this? Could it be the clutch release bearing after all?
Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks,
Andy
I have a problem that suddenly cropped up while driving my Uno 1100 today. After parking the car for a few minutes I went to drive away and couldn't select 1st gear. 2nd,3rd,4th & 5th were easier to get, reverse was impossible without grating the gears. I immediately suspected the clutch hydraulics. In October last year I fitted a new clutch master cylinder and overhauled the slave cylinder. I checked today for low clutch fluid or signs of leaks in the usual places but nothing was found. I still suspected the hydraulics, so I bought a complete new slave cylinder and replaced that. After bleeding the system thoroughly I still could not get 1st gear with the engine running. I then began to suspect the thrust (release), bearing to be the cause. After coming to terms with now having to remove the gearbox and replace the whole clutch, I went out to buy the parts to do the job. The thing is that when I drove the car to the spares shop the gear change was suddenly perfect again! I could select any gear without grating. After thinking all was now okay and maybe it was a hydraulic problem after all, I parked the car and left it for and hour or so. When I got back in it, thinking all was going to be okay, the gear grating problem was there again! This happened a couple more times during the day too.
I am at a loss as to what could be the cause of this. I don't mind replacing the clutch but I don't want to do the job if this is not the cause of the problem. I also checked the gear selector rods and bushings, also the pivot bracket on the gearbox for the selectors, all these things were okay.
Has anyone had a problem like this? Could it be the clutch release bearing after all?
Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks,
Andy
