For those bored few who are following this saga, you may remember that I had to pull the transmission to see why the clutch wasn't working. The clutch fork just flopped from front to back with no resistance. Thoughts ranged from broken fork, bad release bearing, etc.

Well, I got it pulled tonight and here are the pics. I have not pulled off the pressuere plate. So, based on what you see what is the verdict? See anything obvious? Would a clutch stuck to the flywheel cause this symptom?

You are missing the bushings that go onto the tabs of the TOB and take up slack.

Your PP looks as thought the fingers are not pushed outward. Like it is not pushed down enough with the bolts holding it on. If you can move the clutch disk right now, then you know where your problem lies. Are there any locating dowels on the flywheel? It does not look like it. Only bolts holding the PP in position? That PP needs to come off.

What is the history? Was it running right then not? I cant keep all of the cars and problems on this forum straight

Oh ya, how does the fork move now? Solid on the pivot? Wobbly? Sloppy?

The rust on the ring of the TOB that is not disturbed may be a clue.....unless it hasnt been run in a while as most of that stuff there is pretty rusty.

First thing I noticed.

Ooh, me too! I actually got one right!

Okay...just checked out some stuff!

Clutch fork/ TO slide freely on input shaft. No real slop.

History: Bought the car from a guy in school at the Army base in Dothan, Alabama who bought it from a friend being deployed to Afghanistan. The clutch was not working properly then. The clutch would not release. It holds very strong (we used the starter to drive it on the trailer!).

The guy I bought it from had never had the clutch working. He installed a new clutch cable and never got any further than that.

I tried to move the clutch disc around and it doesn't move.

I had a similar problem on mine. I just replaced the clutch disk and pressure plate and has been wokring fine ever since. It looked like clutch disk had frozen(rusted) to the flywheel, after the car had been sitting for a while.

-- brett

TOB is #1

How's the cup and keeper under the fork?

PP - Doc is dead on.

The shaft looks like at one time it was rust-welded to the mating piece?

Needs Heat/PB Blaster

I'm beginning to think that those are the most important tools in the 914 toolkit!

Yup.

Remove the PP and the answers will lie within

Guess I'll be pulling the PP this weekend!

You made it this far - pull the PP tonight. It will take less than a minute. Inquiring minds want to know!

Dont be teasing us!

Sorry...I'm packed up for tonight and won't be able to mess with the car until Saturday. I'll provide an update then!

I would order up a new PP, TOB, and disk, get them ready to go in. 95% sure you'll want to pop off the fly wheel and have it surfaced. other than that you should be good to go. Oh yeah, Pilot bearing, with all that rust it never hurts. This is how it all starts. Next, you'll want more HP....
Just my $.02

In addition to a new clutch disc, pressure plate, throw out bearing and having the flywheel resurfaced, don't forget the following (Pelican part #s):

Flywheel crush washer (021-105-275-M17)
Flywheel o-ring seal (021-105-279-M213)
Two throw out bearing guide clips (901-116-825-11-M260)
Pilot bearing (111-105-313A-M40)
Felt washer for pilot bearing (111-105-311-M17)
Throw out arm bushing (901-116-741-01-M260)

If you don't already have these tools:
A clutch alignment tool (PEL-TOL-CA1) is good for assuring the disc is centered,
and a flywheel lock tool (PEL-UN1201100) is helpful when torquing the flywheel bolts.

While you have the flywheel off, you might think about replacing the rear engine seal too (029-105-245B-M30)

Am I forgetting anything?

may be a stupid idea but i seem to remember the clutch disc spline sticking out further than that. wonder if he put the disc in the wrong way which would explain the presure plate looking like it's depressed.
Also when i had the engine and trans out of mine the pivot ball had completely broken off but looks like the 2 bushes are all you are missing.

Add:

1- New ball cup keeper (calm down Dr. E.)
2- New bolts for the pressure plate - in case the heat and PB Blaster don't work
3- Goggles to protect your eyeballs from everything while looking up while on your back

Looks like you fine gentlemen (I use that term loosely....very loosely) are trying to get me to kick start the economy!

What started out as a simple "I wonder what is going on" will soon exceed the price of the car.

You can't put a price on reliability. A tow home isn't cheap.

If you also value your own personal time, a job done right the first time is the way to go!

I am reserving my parts list for the full necropsy results

You may not need a new flywheel if you can get it resurfaced correctly and it is not out of tolerance. We shall see.

The clutch disc is in backwards. Ray

I don't keep my receipts because I never want to know what it really cost me.

Wouldn't that be a helluva note that the guy sold the car for cheap because someone put the clutch disc in backward? I may have a chance to pull the pressure plate tonight...we'll see!

I spotted it in the first picture... the disk is in backwards. You can see the flat back of the disk, and the pressure plate is depressed way farther than it should be.

Pull the pressure plate, flip the disk, and reinstall. Oh, and check the spacing between the throwout bearing and the pressure plate. If the flywheel has been turned, you will need to space the pivot ball on the clutch arm.

Clutch disk is oriented correctly(flat side of the disk toward the flywheel), but is it the right disc for this application? If it were too thick or something caught between it and the flywheel it would cause the clutch fingers to flex in as far as they are. Clutch, pressure plate or flywheel - something ain't right...

I've been taught in the past, if re-using the PP, mark both Flywheel and PP
so when putting back together, the PP matched the flywheel.

Never knew if its really necessary,

From the pic's the clutch system looks new, despite the "surface rust"

Here's to hoping it's just the disk is backward

Not to lighten your wallet even more, but a good flywheel inspection is in order while everything is apart...

1. Surface condition?
2. Close to the wear limit?
3. Any broken teeth or worn down to nubs?
4. Don't forget to check balance.

After I reconditioned the tranny at the Doc's Disco Bay clinic, I dug into to my clutch since I had access. Ended up replacing everything, including the flywheel. Expensive? Yes. Straight-forward to do with basic tools. Yes. I'm glad I did it.

fteixeira

Okay...pulled pressure plate tonight and this is what I found. Yes, I know it's rusty!

Was the clutch plate in correctly? One side is stamped "Gearbox Side" and it was facing the transmission. Anything stand out as being wrong?

Your clutch disc doesn't look too bad. Check it's total thickness and wire brush it if it's within spec. It appears to have been installed in the correct orientation.

I'd try to find another pressure plate. It's hard to say from the pix, but I think yours may have lost it's 'elasticity'. Verify with a known good one, or a knowledgeable automotive person or machine shop.

Check your TO bearing - if it spins OK, and doesn't have side play, it may still be usable.

The flywheel should be measured (at several key locations) to see if it can handle another resurfacing (looks like it's getting close to being at the end of it's life) - again, kind of hard to tell from the pix if it has enough good meat left or not. A reputable machine shop could tell you right away if it's good or bad.

Whether you can get by with resurfacing it or need a new (or good used) one, you'll still need all the 'small items' on the list posted earlier.


It looks like you would benefit from a new front (input shaft) seal on the transaxle too.

While you have the transaxle out, check and replace the (2) output shaft seals if they're leaking ...

with Mark S.

That is a crap load of rusty goodness/weirdness. PP and flywheel need changed or resurfaced. Missing dowels on the plate make me think it has been done before....likely incorrectly.

"rusty goodness/weirdness"

well said !