Ok, most of you will know that since owning Slidey that i have never been able to get the clutch working properly. From slipping to having many problems downshifting through to now having reverse grinding when trying to select, it has been the most frustrating issue on the car.

The big issue i have now is that when the car has just been started, reverse and all other gears are quite easy to select, but once the engine and components are heated up, i have problems selecting reverse.... it sounds like the clutch is not releasing when the clutch pedal is depressed.

It started playing up again yesterday going to and from the Muster... went for a drive this morning and the same symptoms, when cold is easy to select gears, hot very hard to downshift, change etc.

Had a closer look this arvo at the clutch adjustment arm and other peices off the arm...... here is the problem

In pic 1, the piston (arrow pointing to) has a heap of play in it:

PIC 1


In pic 2 (arrowed), the actual shaft also has a bit of play in it as well..... when i wobble the shaft, a squeaking sound come and goes as i place pressure on the shaft......

PIC 2


I'm assuming this is not a good thing........ can someone fill me in on the cure/what needs to be bought/replaced

_________________
I got nuthin......................

I assume you have removed the big nut to wobble the shaft

BTW that return spring looks a tad heavy.....is is standard

_________________
"Show me the Mini!"

Yeah 9Y........ so any ideas on whats doing?

_________________
I got nuthin......................

you could have finally ground down the end of your slave cylinder push rod (Pic 1) and maybe taken out the clutch throw-out bearing (Pic 2)....

wheres the Doc when ya need him

_________________
"Show me the Mini!"

Heeeeeeeeeeelp me Doc....

_________________
I got nuthin......................

What do you mean when you say the piston has a heap of play in it.....

Morris............ the actual piston that moves in and out the slave? cylinder has a lot of play up and down, but bugger all in and out????

I am not very mechanically minded sorry for the vague descriptions

_________________
I got nuthin......................

so you probably need a new rubber kit in it mate....you may need to sleeve the piston...

_________________
"Show me the Mini!"

The best thing to do in this situation is check your hydraulics first. Clamp your flexible hose and check the pedal goes rock hard. This indicates your master is ok. If you know your slave is good (ie you put it on there) rebleed and make sure no air in the system.

If nothing changes, your mechanical bits are worn - replace these as a job lot.

You need new arm, thrust bearing, thrust bearing carrier, slave push rod, and all the clevis pins. About $100 from Karcraft.

I have recently had similar problems on my car - have gone through the above excercise and my clutch now works a treat. Hot / cold, fast or slow I get no grinds. Even reverse when it's hot!!!

Didn't fix the shudder tho, stupid rod change...

It don't matter if it moves up and down as long as it is not leaking.

Is the adjustment right?

Fatboy and Morris1100, thanks for the relpies, i think ii'll just get the kit from Karcraft and cut my losses.... i'm sick and tired of chasing my ass with this .

In regards to the adjustment it's all set as to the manual.... just will not stop spinning, when you got to select a gear, you slowly put it into reverse and you can hear the grinding of the gears that are still spinning and into 1st it just hard to find as if you're being locked out...........that has happened since day 1

_________________
I got nuthin......................

Mike....I know the arm can pivot up and down so long as the rubber dust cover allows.....however....what I was on about was if the piston was slapping.....

when this happens...will the dust cover leak under the pressure

_________________
"Show me the Mini!"

Steve,,, If the slave cyl isn`t leaking fluid, leave it alone.

The play you`re mentioning, "should" be there!!!,,, that is std issue so don`t bother stuffing around with that lot either... the push rod you point at is just the push rod,,,you can`t tell how much play there is in the slave cyl piston because it is right inside the cyl,,,well,,,unless you have X-Ray vision mate.

most commonly the clutch arm is worn on the bottom of it,,, they wear (or even crack/break) on the ball on the end of the arm where it pivots inside the carrier & quite often the carrier wears in that spot too,,,the arm you have is a very early model "weak" sh!t one also, ,,best thing to do is to replace that arm with the new type "thick" one & check inside the carrier for a big divot on the pivot point also , replace it if need be,,,& another thing that will also help, is to rip the clutch cover off, take the carrier out, remove the throw out brg & fit a flat washer in behind it (unless Coatesy has allready done that, which i doubt) & then replace everything & fit it all back up,,,adjust it all properly again & you should have a wonderfull amount of clutch travel,,,

I would also check the amount of play in the pedal to master cyl push rod pivot clevis pin area,,,a little play here, creates a huge amount of travel loss at the other end of the system,,,as do the other clevis pins on the clutch arm.

if there is still more problems after all that, then more homework is needed in the hydraulic dept,,,maybe the master cyl is a small one (.7 brake master cyl; is to small to be used as a clutch which should be a .75 one)

&,,,what ever you do,,,Please fit the clutch "over throw nuts" to the end of the carrier & adjust them correctly,,,if you don`t, then you only have yourself to blame if you end up busting off your center main cap on the block,, you won`t want that to happen will you now???? they are there for a reason so fit them or maybe pay the very ugly consequences

so many people, including some so called mini mechanics/specialists, don`t fit them & even will tell you that they`re not even needed,,,well,,,,hee hee, those people that don`t fit them have absolutely no idea what they`re doing,,,never ever trust anyone who tells you different,,,,they are needed to help save major catastrophe.

easy-peasy

_________________
No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

Matt.............. WHEN can i get Slidey over for a check up and fix up......... c'mon man i don't really want to give it to anyone else...... i need you to give him a look over to cure the niggles...

_________________
I got nuthin......................

When my MINI K was road worthy ( I'm using it as a doner for parts ) I had to replace the clutch arm. Even though it looked ok, the bottom had bent with use an wasn't fully disengaging the clutch. Replaced this and all was fine.

_________________
68 Deluxe. All the Options and Mods. Bling-Bling.