clutch doesn't disengage
Turbo Mini Forums

Okey. Not mine but for a mate. We have put a 1293 in his car. Engine runs nice but... the big trouble is... the clutch want disengage... its a verto type. ( hasn't been rebuild like the rest of the engine. ) what i do remember is that i had a hard time locating his flywheel on the cranck because it has hat slight pitting on the nose. Yet that was grinded flat by the machine shop... but still...) the plunger moves a nice 6 to 7 mm so not seized there and pump is working fine. What can this be? Did he mount the bearing reversed? Or is the plate sticking? When engine not running its taking all gears just fine.

you can do anything if you set your mind to it...
i rather blow it up winning than keep it together losing.

finish date set for project 1... march 2018

Tryed starting in 4th. Still the same. Yet if i run it and press down the clutch i do note that it is pu hing up against the bearing. ( rpm drops very slightly can hardly notice it but i can hear) some smoke comming from the clutch house breather thiugh ( when just running not because constant puching down clutch )

you can do anything if you set your mind to it...
i rather blow it up winning than keep it together losing.

finish date set for project 1... march 2018

Smoke will be unrelated - the clutch house breather actually goes into the engine block and not into the clutch housing (makes more sense when you see the casing off the car). The smoke sounds like 'blow-by' from the piston rings.

Double check the clutch stop nut. You say it's about 6-7mm, but did you double check / adjust it accurately since the rebuild? It should be 6.5mm.


Bleed the clutch. Try this a couple times if you need to, and carefully look for air each time as the fluid exits. If more air keeps coming out each time, then replace the seals. New slave cylinder seals or master cylinder seals may be needed. I had the same symptoms and slave cylinder repair kit fixed it for me.

Edited by PhilR on 21st Jul, 2015.

yeah i bled the system and set the nuts to 7 mm just to be sure. the plunger goes in the full 7 mm and since the rpm drops a bit i presume the bearing and clutch sit against eauch other. yet cant get it into gear. if i hold the clutch pedal down a bit longer then it starts to make a slight squicky noise ( but very slight and hard to hear) aperently the engine stood for 12 months before rebuilding it and the flywheel and presure plate was not seperated from each other. blow by will be normal i guess since its a new bore and new rings. tryed starting it in 4th to break lose the clutch but no succes

you can do anything if you set your mind to it...
i rather blow it up winning than keep it together losing.

finish date set for project 1... march 2018

Did you re-fit the top hat? you also mentioned the flywheel wasn't separated. could the clutch plate be stuck to the flywheel?

so i dismanteld the whole thing. nothing is visibly wrong with the asembly at first sight.. so i then took of the flywheel and pressure plate of my 998 engine.... that one didn't make a problem at all. so i took some measurements and the ( here my English cant find the correct words so bare with me) hole where the pressure plate grips over the nose of the cranck is 0.9 mm smaller the 998 one and the plate itself is 1.2 mm thicker then the 998 one. maybe it sat out to much?

you can do anything if you set your mind to it...
i rather blow it up winning than keep it together losing.

finish date set for project 1... march 2018

jup top hat refitted!!

you can do anything if you set your mind to it...
i rather blow it up winning than keep it together losing.

finish date set for project 1... march 2018

Are you measuring the diameter of the hole on the inside of the 'flywheel centre boss'?



Which is bigger, the one on your 998 or your friend's one?

When the machine shop fixed the crank tail, do you know how they did it and how much metall was removed? Did they also machine the centre boss taper at the same time?

Edited by PhilR on 30th Jul, 2015.

Jup. That one. And they only removed high spots. The 998 flywheel and pressure plate work fine. It runs drives and shifts smooth. No idea where the pressure plate came from ( looks brand new) but think its a bit of a miscast.

The 998 is bigger wich makes it sit back a litle further.

On 30th Jul, 2015 PhilR said:
Are you measuring the diameter of the hole on the inside of the 'flywheel centre boss'?



Which is bigger, the one on your 998 or your friend's one?

When the machine shop fixed the crank tail, do you know how they did it and how much metall was removed? Did they also machine the centre boss taper at the same time?

you can do anything if you set your mind to it...
i rather blow it up winning than keep it together losing.

finish date set for project 1... march 2018

As you have both flywheels together, I suggest mixing up the parts to work out which part is at fault - boss, flywheel, pressure plate, clutch. It shouldn't take long to find out which part is bad, and what to do.

Edited by PhilR on 31st Jul, 2015.

Whell its the thing pictured here. All the rest works fine. Reming it out is the cost of a new one so in the bin it go's

you can do anything if you set your mind to it...
i rather blow it up winning than keep it together losing.

finish date set for project 1... march 2018

Sounds familiar what happens the clutch slave only goes to a certain. Position and seizes there to the old clutch maximum, it wont go past that position. For the rust, you may think it has by just glansing at it. . . . .I would fit new one and take it from there, take Phil R advice my friend.

Interesting point about the cylinder... That may explain a similar problem I never got to the bottom of.

While you're checking things over, check the condition of the plunger and clutch arm. The ball joint and socket can wear badly but you never notice it as you never need to take it apart. This could add the problem BENROSS describes as the cylinder rod moves further out to compensate for the wear. There may also be a point where the lever runs out of travel if the wear is extreme.

Edited by PhilR on 1st Aug, 2015.

I took the 998 centre and rest of the 1275 and a 190 mm clutch plate. Works fine now. I will keep the other parts and see if i can look into this a bit further because it intreges me allot. Never came up this problem.

you can do anything if you set your mind to it...
i rather blow it up winning than keep it together losing.

finish date set for project 1... march 2018