Clutch Drag
Turbo Mini Forums

Hi folks me again :).

Sorted my oil gallery issue out, and now im onto clutch issues (oh joy! :()

Best way I can explain it is that my clutch seems to be dragging and I cant get gears at all. Might aswell not depress the pedal its that bad. I can start it up in gear but the car creeps foward. I can select gears with the engine off so the 'box seems fine. Its a pre-verto clutch, MED ultralight flywheel, orange diaphram and ap friction plate.

The things Ive gone through so far are:

Completely removed clutch assembly and degreased it again
Renewed clutch arm/plunger and release bearing

The only thing I haven't looked at yet is hydraulics. But the pedal seems fine and seems to be pushing the lever well? The slave cylinder is only 12 months old, could it be the master?

Any help again would be great, because im stumped

have you set the throw out up correctly?

AlexF

On accounts ive just redone all mine, if you need any help dude give us a shout :)
The things i can think of immediately are the clutch return stop or knackered spring on the diaphragm?
I have my old master youre welcome to try if you want to borrow it before you buy another. Just let me know and ill bring it tonight, but best be quick letting me know!

Oh and i also have a std diaphragm you can try if you don't have one kicking about :)

been round to pauls for a quick look tonight, we tried the extended slave rod out of my car and it still grinds trying to get into gear.

It's had a new clutch arm and plunger today and no wear in the clevis pins either, we're stumped to say the least.

Primary gear seized?

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

good call John, ,

but we ned to know if the slave is acctually moving the pushrod enough, so how far is the rod moving wjhen fully depressing the clutch pedal.

also how far is the thrust bearing carrier moving , the thrust bearing carrier should be moving about 3.5- 4mm max when the pedal is pressed,

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Primary gear is all good spinning free and has 6 thou float, Paul's had the entire clutch assembly off again today to double check for anything out of the ordinary. It was all working fine a month or so back when the gearbox grenaded.

Best get measuring the throw tomorrow Paul and see what you can find. I'll leave my spare grey diaphragm in the porch incase you want to try that while I'm at work.

Cheers for the replies guys, Nicks just echoed my replies as I wasn't able to get to a pc last night.

Carl, I will get a measurement today and see whats going on. But comparing to a setup on my other car it seems to move ok. Ive tryed a bar in the lever to see if I could get anymore out of it and it doesn't seem to budge.

The only other thing I can think of is that when I refitted the flywheel during the rebuilt it didn't sit as far onto the crank as when I initially fitted it when it was brand new. But I assumed the bolt would of pushed the flywheel home .

Cheers nick . I think I will check what carls advised then fetch it all off again if no luck.

Right, had a quick measure of the carrier and it seems to be going in by about 2.5mm?

Just to add to the list of things done, ive rebuilt the clutch master today and its no better. I removed the starter and looked to see if the back plate is moving away from the friction plate and it seems to be, there is movment in the friction plate anyway, not a lot though.

Poncy left leg?

Im beginning to put it down to paul being a pansy.

I knew I could rely on you to give me sound advice dude

Just a little update, seemed to have solved the problem. After having a chat with Kean the other night with a simular issue he had.

Started the car up in gear with the clutch down, then just slipped the clutch for a few seconds and now it slots into gear nicely.

But im stilled mythed as to what the problem actually was?

Must just be you being a tit
Never had a problem with mine, except the pussing fluid leak -_-. May just have been that the diaphragm was snagging slightly and pushing the clutch has pulled/pushed it into the right place.

I'm having the same problem i think
just the other day my clutch was working fine but today I jumped in the mini started it up clutch was perfect till it got to operating temp then it was dragging I can't come close to getting it in gear but if I shut it off peace of cake!
It's a hole new set up ultra lite steel mini sport flywheel and back plate, ap friction plate, grey diagram (over kill for my current motor but was bought for future use on a turbo build) new m/c and s/c new hose new arm new posh rod new pins (3) new plunger new throw baring
The whole lot went in fine and worked fine for about 2 months? Till now..
I have tried one clutch feels no different than it did two it moves the plunger a good 3mm three ajuster nut wind in and peddle goes soft wind out peddle In normal keep winding out and it gradually hits a point and stops hard like someone did the over throw nuts up to tight or put a lump of steel under the pedal
I cant see anything wrong by looking around but I was thinking how eles the clutch could drag and thought maby the gear on the Crank that the clutch slides on ( primary drop gear? Idler? ) dono what u call it but could that be binding up? On the crank and the gear its self?
I'll have a good look Sunday internal inspection

had a problem on a freinds car once ,the flywheel was pushing the c clip into the primary gear .the clearance for the c clip on the ultralight was wrong.ground it out and all fixed ..

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

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See I didn't have that problem with mine, because when I fitted it first time round it was ok. Mines been fine ever since though.

Pop quiz what is this item?

I think the throw barring may be the wrong type? Or maby I'm just a dumb ass and had it to tight? Or maby the heavy
diagram? I think a bit of all 3 contributed
Since swapping that destroyed peace out with one from another stock diagram I now have perfect clutch agane but I feel a pulse in the first part of the peddle I'm gussing that's a bad thing...

^ what causes this?

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

Something isn't right there, the wear is off centre on the plate, so the bearing can't be running true to the flywheel.

Check for wear in the plunger hole in the wok.

EDIT: Found a picture of one I broke earlier. Our groove is more central to the plate.

Edited by apbellamy on 18th Sep, 2011.

We have done one off centre before too.

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

I think what causes this is a shagged bearing that is loose on the plunger,

there is a clip that holds the bearing on and I think the idea is that the clip should hold the bearing tightish so on the first use the bearing self centralizes and is then held in that place forever after, if the clip is shagged the bearing will drop each time, and contact on the piss, if the bearing is also notchy enough to stall it will quickly wear a groove that will just get deeper and deeper.

thats my theory anyway.