jaiscossie

coming back from southend tonight my car seemed stiff to get in gear , i got it home and now when i start it she wont go in gear at all
does this sound like the clutch ? as it wasnt slipping at all just hard to get in gear . seems worse when engine is hot ?? any help would be much appreciated

A.Moore

Hi, does it go into gear with the engine off? If so it does sound from my experience it is the clutch.Al.

velocity

a few pointers,put it into gear with the engine stopped,press the clutch and start the engine,if she jumps foward it means that the clutch is not disengaging,
if nothing happens initally the slowly realease the clutch pedal until you feel a bite then with the hand brake on hard bring up the revs and release the rest of the way,if the engine stalls your clutch should be ok if you can release it all the way in gear with the reves up the clutch is gone,
now if the clutch is not disengaging it can either be a stretched cable,a broken clutch arm,a defective pressure plate,a clutch disc welded to the flywheel or the presure plate,the input shaft (the disc is splined to this) welded to the spigot bearing in the flywheel,or the pedal box broken and bending when you press the pedal,so now you have a bit of homework to do check the simple stuff first ie the cable and the pedal box
also check that the linkage under the car hasnt shifted or the pivot joint isnt broken,they are known to cause gear selection problems if they are worn or have shifted position or are broken

jaiscossie

thanks guys for that, i tried what you said velocity and goes in gear fine with engine off so i put it into 1st started her up in gear with handbrake on fine let pedal up slowly , it started to bite soon as i started to let pedal up(within half inch off the floor ) i raised the revs and the car was trying to go then it stalled. started her again and tried the gears it was very hard to get into any gear with the engine running and clonked loudly when put into reverse.
how do you check the pedal box? and is the self adjusting mechansim known to pack up and am i able to check this?

velocity

the clutch is definitly not slipping but there is a disengage problem, the self adjusting mechinism can pack up,but what it usually does in its case is when you press the pedal it goes to the floor with a snap and when you release the pedal it rachets back to normal,its designed to take slack out of the cable so it is possible its not doing that and the net result would be similar to the problem you have,what you could try is a new rachet mechinism and clutch cable first,the rachet thing can be a pure to fit,if this does not cure it i,m afraid its gearbox removal to xamin the pressure plate, clutch plate and arm its not a big job and if your not familar its best left to a good mechanic,who could do the whole job including disc and pressure replacement if required in a couple of hours,
you can check the pedal box simply by lying on your back in the foot whell and looking up under the dash were the the pedals are mounted to and simply check for a cracked or broken mounting assembly
its quite possible that a finger or fingers have broken on the pressure plate and when you press the pedal the clutch is not disengaging uniformly and the disc is draging which means that the gears in the box are still spinning while your trying to put it in gear and hence the crunching noise

jaiscossie

just had a look at the pedal box and it looks like someone has cut part of it away and put a metal tube up there ??

velocity

interesting,you may be on to something

wayne18870

have you truied adjusting it on the ratchet on the pedle

Shep_Cobain

Mines doing a similar thing Jaiscossie. I get the same when i have the engine on and try and put it in reverse.

It starts grinding with the clutch down.... so i take foot off the cluthc and try again and still the same so i have to move it fast into reverse and get a jerk as it goes in. Then ill drive and it will be fine but after its warm it will start to be hard to get it back into gear when changing and sometimes 3rd crunches when you try and put it in.

It feels like the clutch master cylinder to me but im not sure.... Woudl be interested to find out what problem we have (if yours is like mine).