OK this is a new thread continuing on from an old one because the title of that thread wasn't relevent to my problem...

I'm having problems with the clutch on my new motor and gearbox.
It doesn't seem to disengage to allow me to select 1st gear. When in gear the car starts to take off as soon as the pedal leaves the floor. Gears 2,3 & 4 are selectible.
With the engine off all gears can be selected easily.

Got a new clutch lever and clevis pins but it still hasn't fixed the problem.

Someone mentioned that you can put the clutch plate in the wrong way round but I'm sure I found it could only go in one way. Can it go in wrong?

This is how I've adjusted the clutch so far:

1. Remove the slave cylinder spring.
2. Pulled the arm out away from the engine until the bearing made contact with the pressure plate.
3. Wound out the stop bolt to meet the arm then backed it off to give 0.5mm clearance.
4. I have completely wound out the other stop nuts on the bearing carrier making them redundent.

The pedal feels good like I'm getting plenty of solid travel but its still not disengaging the clutch enough to select 1st easy and the clutch engages as soon as I start to lift my foot.

Can anyone measure the movement of their carrier bearing when they opperate their clutch? I will check mine to see how it compares.

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Did you check the end fload in the idler gear before bolting everything together?

No, the guy who did the gearbox required end casing so he could set that up.

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I set mine up as per the W/shop manual. And has been spot on ever since!!!! It gives u clearances and measurements for adjusting the clutch.

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Hanras

have a read over the clutch articles on minimania

http://www.minimania.com/_A_Technical_Information.cfm

The workshop manual seems simple enough. I have adjusted it in the recommended way. I mean if the bearing is 0.5mm from making contact with the pressure plate when fully disengaged, providing the slave cylinder is doing its job I can't see how I can adjust it any more. For it to disengage further doesn't it need to travel a little further?

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Dtrain, I couldn't get that minimania link to work.

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i dunno if this helps, but i'll say what was wrong with mine and how i fixed it (well not really me)

i dunno what was really wrong, it was a long time ago, but i think it was the same kinda proble. i got a spring for it from the wreckers and afer that didn't work, my d&t teacher welded on a extra 5mm of length to the rod witch goes intot he slave cylinder and is connected tot he main arm/lever, then i machined (or what ever it is on the spinny disc that makes sparks) it down till it was an unnoticable extension nice and smooth. after that the clutch engaged nicely and what not.

i have also been told that heating the arm/lever and bening it in to make up for the 5mm is a better option for it keeps the geometry betterl by the mini and moke world place in sydney. but people on here say that is the worng thing to do.

Doc. can you enlighten us on which is the right thing to do and if anything i said is relevant?

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Sunday Morning Mini Sprint http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtGuzqBQ32Q my "rendezvous"

Dtrain, the minimania site is working now. It was my computer chucking a hissyfit.
I'm in the middle of reading through it, thanks.

andbat,

If I had a spare one of those arms I would extend it to see if it helps, but I have actually tried resting the end of that arm on the outside of the clevis pin which gives it about 5mm extra travel but it didn't seem to help.

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I'm no expert but maybe the flywheel needed machining and the pressure plate pegs weren't machined to match so now the whole assembly doesn't have the movement range required.

Say you've got a fywheel or pressure plate (bit on the engine side of the friction plate) that have been machined because they were grooved or warped, then the three pressure plate pegs (onto which the spring plate and drive straps bolt) would also need machining to the same amount. If these have been machined too much then the clutch will have too little travel and won't disengage.

Another thing could be that either the big ass bolt in the end of the flywheel has a head on it that is too fat or the key plate under it isn't in right and the thrust plate is touching the bolt head when pushed towards it by the release bearing. I've got a range of these bolts in my collection and have never seen two the same. Some of the key plates get deformed and may not go in all the way onto the end of the crank.

Hope this helps but probably not, sorry.

This paragraph probably sums up the articles from Minimania...

Clutch pedals have a total movement of 4", which translates to a total slave cylinder thrust of 5/8". At a ratio of 5.33:1, this amounts to 0.117" of movement at the business end of the actuating arm, 0.069" of which is taken up by the adjustable stop, leaving only about 0.050" of useful thrust bearing movement. As will be shown later, anything less than 0.045" of clutch displacement will result in friction plate drag and difficulty in engaging gears. Thus, there is little room for wear in the system.

This is basically telling me that 0.050" movement in the bearing carrier is all that is needed to disengage the clutch.

Mine is definitely moving that much, maybe too far and could destroy the crank!

I'm confused again.

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have you wound the adjuster nut right out?

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Starlet Conversion:
http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15484

OK, how about primary gear sticking on the crank? Maybe the crank was scored and has picked up on the primary gear bearing?

Dunno...

Josh,
If you mean the nuts in the centre of the hat then yes, I have backed them right off so there is no chance of them stopping the travel. Although after reading the MiniMania articles these nuts are required to stop the throw out bearing from going too far. They're suggesting only a small amount of travel is required for the clutch to operate correctly, so I'm thinking there's something wrong inside.

Mokesta,
Could be the primary gear, it was the only thing that wasn't replaced, but how can I check? I did check the clearances which was at the larger end of the scale. Anton suggested it could be the idler gear clearance but that was set up when I had the gearbox done.

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Maybe it could be the primary gear dragging, but you said early on


If by that you mean it really never is fully out of gear, and really only JUST lets you select gears at the bottom of the pedal stroke, then maybe there's still not enough pedal stroke......
Perhaps there is a problem with the spring plate, perhaps the friction plate is a different type and drags once the plates are opened when you press the pedal....who knows...

An easy way to test this and disprove the primary gear would be to wind out the clutch adjustment (stop) bolt so the lever is now at rest on the bolt.(ie close the 0.5mm gap and maybe give it another turn as well) This will give you a little extra travel to test the theory out. But this is only temporary! Drive round the block once or twice to test, but don't leave it like this! Throwout bearings aren't meant to work like this for very long.

We can go from there once this has been tested. At least it may cancel out the primary gear from the equation.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.