I’m having a bit of trouble with my '91 1.6, which is a standard UK car… I bought it about a month ago, knowing that it needed a new clutch (it was slipping like mad, and right at the top of the pedal travel). I put a new clutch in, the bellhousing was dry, so no oil contamination - in fact the old plate wasn’t even too badly worn, but the release bearing was cracked and had clearly been getting hot - it came out in five pieces! Having fitted the new kit, including release and spigot bearings, I thought all would be fine… It is certainly improved, but still not right!
The symptoms are:
The bite point is still at the top of the pedal travel - biting in probably the top inch of clutch travel...
It's hard to engage gears, especially when cold
The clutch (which has now done 300 miles) was slipping badly yesterday as I tried to accellerate from a roundabout along an uphill section of dual carriageway in both 3rd and 4th - I had to put it in 5th and accelerate very slowly in order to avoid slip.
I am now wondering what might be causing this - I did wonder about the slave cylinder, but I would think if the slave was failing that I'd end up with excessive travel, not a bite right at the top of the pedal?
It almost seems as if there isn’t enough free travel for the clutch to completely close - so it’s not fully locked up when driving. I am going to get it up on the ramp tomorrow to see if there is a leak from the hydraulics, or if it needs bleeding, but does anyone have any mroe suggestions for what could be the problem as this is driving me nuts!
Did you put the new clutch plate in the right way round, they are usually marked “flywheel side”, although I haven’t yet changed an MX-5 one to know if they are similarly marked.
Thanks for the replies - the clutch plate is definitely in the right way round (both me & my mechanic mate checked before bolting it up)…
Not sure on the free play - I don’t think there’s a lot of movement - could it be perhaps that the slave isn’t fully releasing? I think I’ll order a new slave and see if that helps - I guess the other thing could be if the flexible hose is perished inside, and is holding some pressure back in the slave…
Will investigate more later in the week when I should be able to get it up on a ramp and have a poke around, and will report back!
I’ve had a look tonight and it looks like there’s oil on the bottom of the bellhousing [:@], which was bone dry inside and out when I fitted the clutch…
Looks like I’m going to be taking the box out again then - I guess that one of the oil seals either rear main or gearbox input has sprung a leak as a result of the box being disturbed - which, you can imagine, I was ecstatic to discover!
I dont know 91 1.6es but just check the oil you have found it may be hydraulic fluid from the slave cylinder, is there a chance this fluid could run into the box it may save you taken the box out again as its been said before just check the clutch pedal free play as well,
Well - time for a quick update on this one - I had the car on the lift to try and find the source of the problem. First off we got the fibre optic camera into the bellhousing to look at the plate, which was totally dry and appears in perfect nick. Secondly I replaced the slave cylinder and bled the system through. The pedal definitely felt better, but having done some more miles, the clutch is still slipping after the car’s been going for 30 minutes or so… The only things I can think of now are a dodgy flexible (that doesn’t like heat), or a polished flywheel…
Am going to wait until I get back from Le Mans (not taking the '5 now ), and whip the box out again to see what it’s like…
It does sound as though the clutch is not releasing fully. Is it possible that the release bearing is sticking on the input shaft and not allowing the cover plate to release. I always use a high temp grease on the shaft and splines.
Hi, If you push the release fork forward, so that it moves the piston of the slave cylinder right in you should be able to move the release fork forward and back to establish if it is sticking on the input shaft sleeve.
It sounds to me as if you have put the clutch plate in back to front, this would not be visible with the gearbox in place. Not all plates are marked flywheel side, but a lot have a larger protrusion on one side of the hub than the other, the difference is not very noticable and is easily done.
If this is the case it would give the symptoms you describe, the hub would be contacting the flywheel but the friction area would not be making full contact whith the flywheel.
Agree with JJ’s reply ref the friction plate. If it is not marked the deepest side of the disc goes towards the pressure plate (outwards) as a general rule, though I appreciate that you are sure that it is in the correct way round.
If you have bigger bosses on the clutch plate fitted the wrong way,you may also suffer from engine problems as well , as you operate the clutch, and the clutch if it has been wrongly fitted there is the possibility that you will push the clutch, flywheel and crankshaft forwards and damage the crankshaft thrust washers (you are in effect taking all the free play out of the crankshaft by pushing on the larger boss of the clutch before you engage the clutch fully hence the slip), once you have sorted the clutch rev the engine not hard but watch if the c/shaft pulley moves in and out in time with the engine if it does you have done the thrust washer,doh
sorry to be the bearer of all things bad hope the plate is not the wrong way. I don’t know how the release brg is held onto the clutch fork but could this have moved whilst you were fitting the gearbox and its not located correctly.
Thanks again for the suggestions - I have been waiting for enough free time to be able to get the car apart, but also waiting to see how much work it needed for MOT (just 2 tiny patches of rust to sort underneath, which we patched up neatly on Saturday!) - and am going to get cracking at sorting the clutch out this weekend if I get time…
I’ve got a second hand flywheel on order from MX5 Heaven (I thought for £15 it was worth having one on hand if needed!)
Will see how things go when I manage to get the box off - but I’ve certainly got plenty of things to look out for!
I thought it sounded just like my symptoms and thought I’d try adjusting the pedal lash just in case that was the problem…
The pedal was absolutely tight, with no free play at all - loosening off the pushrod resulted in me having a decent feeling pedal…
So I then fitted a front brake caliper to replace the one that was slightly sticky, and bled it out, and thought I’d take it for a good long drive to see if I’d sorted the problem. I went for a good drive around a variety of roads, including slow traffic and loading it up on a long uphill stretch of dual carriageway - end result was after an hour and a quarter (and 1/3 a tank of fuel!) there was still no hint of slip, and the pedal still felt good… So I went back to the garage and treated the car to a new cam cover gasket and CAS o-ring for good behaviour (it was weeping and the replacement had been sat in the boot for about 2 months!).
I’m optimistic that I’ve solved the problem - I guess the pedal lash was far too tight and there was always pressure on the master cylinder - which would also explain why the old clutch plate was in reasonable condition, but the release bearing was in 6 pieces (as it was always working and overheated…)
I’ll keep this thread updated if there’s any more news - but fingers crossed all will be well!
), and whip the box out again to see what it’s like…