My son and I confirmed again that there was no crank end float problem. We also clamped the slave piston in place and confirmed the master would both move the piston and build pressure. Once those tests were done we pulled the gearbox. The problem was immediately apparent.
The fingers on the pressure plate diaphragm had failed. The were not broken, they were worn paper thin and "caved in".
My explanation for this is last year's release bearing failure. 10 months ago my son limped the car home after a total disintegration of the release bearing. The diaphragm looked good to me so all we replaced was the release bearing. Apparently while the diaphragm fingers did not appear worn from using the clutch with a non-rotating bearing... the fingers must have overheated and lost their temper. Today they were simply worn ridiculously thin to the point of folding over/in.
We are leaving in a few minutes to see a friend an hour south of here. He has a stack of new and used early and late clutch parts. He says he should have some 1500 parts to help us get the car back together quickly and get my son back to college after the Easter break.
Hopefully we'll have a happy concluding post by the end of the weekend. Unfortunately... today is the only dry, non-rainy day out of the next three.
Doug L.
--Previous Message--
: Good Morning Glen,
:
: While waiting for my son to wake up I
: went to the car with a pry bar to see
: if it was the thrust washers. I did
: not put an indicator on the pulley but
: visually there was little to no travel
: so I assume I am still within the upper
: limit of acceptable end float. There
: certainly was not enough travel to
: suggest the washers were
: gone/missing/badly worn.
:
: I think the clutch pedal was catching
: about 1/3 of the travel up from the
: floor. We have already pulled the
: starter and bell housing bolts so there
: is no way to test this again for a
: while.
:
: I will put a C-clamp on the slave
: cylinder and press the pedal to see how
: firm it gets. I have a new slave
: (purchased years ago) ready to install
: so I may put that on "just
: because" and also check (with the
: c-clamp on the slave) that the master
: is building up pressure.
:
: I will be very discouraged if I find
: out this is yet another failed pressure
: plate.
:
: Doug L.
:
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: Doug it sounds like it isn't getting
: full
: release???
: When you start it in gear, how is the
: pedal release/engagement height, as
: compared to normal? It should be about
: halfway down/up. If it's lower than
: that, I would check hydraulics first
: and make sure that there is sufficient
: release travel. The fact that the
: reservoir is full suggests that it
: isn't caused by a leak but the master
: cylinder could have an internal bypass.
: If it is getting enough travel, then it
: gets ugly...
: Glen
:
: --Previous Message--
: My son has experienced a problem with
: the
: Spitfire. He suddenly cannot select
: any gear at idle. Pushing the lever is
: like pushing against a brick wall. You
: can select gears with the engine off
: and you can put the car in gear, then
: start the engine (once it is warm).
:
: The pressure plate is about 2 years
: old, the release bearing less than a
: year. I pulled the slave back and
: found that it was still actuating when
: the pedal was pressed and the reservoir
: level in the master is full.
:
: I bought a decent clutch kit from Ted
: at TSI last time so I doubt it is the
: pressure plate again. I will be
: checking the crank axial play this
: morning in fear that it is the thrust
: bearings. If it's not the thrust
: bearings we'll pull the gearbox to look
: at the clutch in detail.
:
: Do you guys have any suggestions for
: other areas to check?
:
: Thanks,
: Doug L.
:
:
:
:
:
:
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