Ok, car has run fine with the McLeod street twin clutch, carbon fiber drive shaft, RPM stage $ trans, stock diff, for about 8 months. Ran fine all day yesterday for a long drive.

This morning, the shifting was more difficult than normal, and it got harder as the drive to work went on. By the time I got to work, I could hardly shift into gear at a stop, and had to rev-match to get into any other gears. Basically, the clutch is not disengaging. I thought maybe some air had entered the system and the clutch needed bled. Got home, checked for leaks, no leaks, bled clutch, no better.

Fluid moves like normal, so the master is working. I get pressure back quickly when the bleeder is closed. But it still has the issue. The car is really dangerous to drive right now.

So I need some help on possible causes for this to happen. Can the slave die and not leak any fluids? What could possibly go wrong with the clutch to cause it to not release? What can I look for to check?

 

No one with any ideas? I should maybe post this in general.

I'm hoping it's the 7 year old, 120+K mile master that's the problem...

 

One cause may be the floater plate applying pressure to the disk and engaging the flywheel. This would require rebuilding the clutch. I hope that this is not the reason.
Good luck.

 

I would start with a new master, but I just recently had those same symptoms. After installing an adjustable master and then replacing the slave, I ended up having to replace the pressure plate to fix the problems with my ceramic centerforce...Gary I realize you and the op have a twin disk setup, but can you elaborate on reasons why the floater plate would be engaging the flywheel?

 

So do I, since getting to a place where I have room to pull the rear of the car out requires a 6 hour drive, or I pay someone an unholy amount of money to do it.

 

I'll get the new master when Zip opens up at 0830. I'll keep you all updated. I hope that's the problem.

 

when the car is running is it just hard to get into gear or is it also hard to get out of gear?

how does it shift with the engine off?

if you can, get under the car, pull the inspection cover on the bellhousing and see if the clutch is releasing the discs when you push the pedal in (you'll need a second person to step on the clutch). You should be able to wiggle the discs with your finger when the clutch is fully depressed.

 

When the car is on, it's hard to get in or out of any gear.

Engine off, it shifts smooth as usual.

I can try that, but it's really hard to do on rhino ramps in a gravel driveway. What am I looking for if I can't wiggle the discs?

 

before you get to invasive make sure the shifter is aligned correctly.

yes, when the clutch is pressed the discs should wiggle a little. McLeod has a spec on how much clearance there should be between the discs. You can measure it with a feeler gauge.

if they do wiggle, it means the PP is releasing correctly, so the clutch would obviously be working, which also means the hydraulics are working. I would then look at the pilot bearing as a possible issue.

 

The floater plate may not allow the one disc to disengage from the flywheel. Hope this clarifies things.

 

Mystery solved.

After replacing the master and reservoir, nothing changed. So I started tearing into the bottom to get the access panel off. At first, I didn't drop the exhaust, so the panel dropped down about an inch or so, but that was enough to show me that there was a problem. I could see gouges on the flywheel and the anchor plate. Not good. So off the front of the exhaust came, and the whole access panel came out. Overall, it wasn't hard, despite that I just barely fit under the car on ramps.

Turns out, after talking to McLeod, that a batch of the RST clutches were shipped with the wrong set of hardware. Because of this, one of the pressure plate bolts had come out completely and bounced around inside there, making an awful mess of the area right around the bell housing where the clutch had been throwing this bolt around. Three other bolts were loose enough that I took them out by hand. Not all at once. I got some lock washers and some of the weaker lock-tite, and reinstalled them one by one. The car works perfectly now, and shifts better than is has in awhile. I didn't notice it getting worse because I've been gone this year one two trips of 9 weeks, so I left the car with a friend of mine to be driven occasionally.

McLeod was apologetic about it, and they are sending me a new hardware kit with all the right stuff this time. They've told me that if I have any more problems, or any pre-mature clutch failure, that they will take care of me. Stand up.

Anyway, that's what happened. Thanks to everyone who answered!

 

glad you figured it out. I've actually had that happen to me before on a car. did you notice your clutch engauging an inch off the floor like an on/off switch?

 

Congrats on the fix.

 

Considering it wasn't disengaging at all, I can't really say. I can say that the engagement point has moved away from the floor significantly now that things are tight.