Clutch Issue
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 340
Likes: 0
From: Santa Rosa Calif
Clutch Issue
When the car is cold and or I have driven about ten miles or less it goes into fine. After that at a stop its hard to get into gear.I am thinking the pressure plate springs and or fingers are getting weak when they get some temp in them.I will probably change everything, Pressure plate, disk .throw out and pilot bearing.Just looking for some trouble shooting help thanks.
Racer
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 406
Likes: 46
From: Lebanon OH
I had a very similar problem in my 79, and it turned out to be the bushing on the transmission main shaft. I don't remember the name of it but here's how to check. After the transmission is warm, push in the clutch and wait for about five seconds. Slowly try to shift into reverse and if the gears begins to grind, then the bushing is bad. I have a Borg-Warner four speed, and there is no synchronizer for reverse. The transmission uses the resistance of the oil to slow the spinning shaft in reverse. When the bushing is bad, it causes the shaft to continue spinning. In my case, I had a heck of a time up and down shifting into both first and second. Good luck and I hope this helps.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 340
Likes: 0
From: Santa Rosa Calif
Free play is good.Did yours shift hard when driving. mine is only sitting still and is hard to put in gear. Are you talking about the pilot bushing'.It is in the fly wheel where the tip of the main shaft rides and if so what did you see when you took it apart.I have a synthetic oil in but I am going to try some regular lucas 80w/90 gear oil. Did you have the issue all the time or only after it warmed up. Thanks
Racer
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 406
Likes: 46
From: Lebanon OH
It was the pilot bushing. Thanks. I couldn't remember the name. Mine was hard to shift into first and second, whether sitting still, up-shifting, or down-shifting. But it only happened after the transmission had warmed up and the oil thinned out a little bit. I had the transmission professionally rebuilt, and they replaced the bushing as part of the warranty, so I can't tell you what it looked like.
Before I took the car back, I noticed that when the transmission was warm, the gears ground when I would try to shift into reverse, no matter how long I held the clutch in. The garage manager noticed the same thing as was able to identify the pilot bushing as the problem. They replaced it and the problem went away. I'm not sure that's a tell-tale sign, but you might want to try that and see what happens.
Before I took the car back, I noticed that when the transmission was warm, the gears ground when I would try to shift into reverse, no matter how long I held the clutch in. The garage manager noticed the same thing as was able to identify the pilot bushing as the problem. They replaced it and the problem went away. I'm not sure that's a tell-tale sign, but you might want to try that and see what happens.
Race Director
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 16,528
Likes: 53
From: Dayton, Ohio
MajD is describing the clutch spin down test and it will tell if the input shaft is still spining when it should be stopped. In general 2 things will keep the inpus shaft spinning,the pilot bushing and a clutch that is not disengaging completely for some reason.
If this is a new problem that has progressively gotten worse and the clutch is old I'm thinking like MajD,bad pilot bushing.
EDIT-Or worn clutch linkage parts not disengaging the clutch all the way. Check the cross shaft on both ends ,especially the block stud.
If this is a new problem that has progressively gotten worse and the clutch is old I'm thinking like MajD,bad pilot bushing.
EDIT-Or worn clutch linkage parts not disengaging the clutch all the way. Check the cross shaft on both ends ,especially the block stud.
Last edited by ...Roger...; Mar 4, 2011 at 08:30 PM.
