Hello all - I picked up a 1971 RHD running a 998 from a mid 80s austin about a month ago (so I am a newbie to the classic). She has been running great but I took her out for a spin today and everything was ok until the following:

1. Clutch got incredible soft
2. Incredibly tough to shift into gear

I am really not too familiar with the classic (got a modern cooper and know it in and out), so this is stumping me a little bit. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

check your Clutch master cilinder, slave cilinder and arm, check fluids etc, most of the old Minis have this problem due old clutch punps full of corrossion and no maintenance

 

Thanks for the help. I will check these things out.

 

find anything?

closing the loop on these questions can be very helpful to the next guy.

 

What type of clutch are you using? It may need to be adjusted at the slave cylinder

 

I believe the culprit is a bad hydraulic system. I am currently in the process of replacing the master and slave cylinder.

Quick question - the haynes manual has no reference to a spring on the slave cylinder, but it appears that someone has placed one on this system. Is this something I need to retain or remove (again, no reference to this spring on the haynes manual).

I expect to have the hydraulic system replaced this weekend and I will let everyone know if that does the trick.

Thanks again for the feedback and support.

 

a handy supplement to the Haynes is a complete parts catalog. In this case, checking such a catalog finds no sort of a 'spring' extternal to any part of the clutch hydralics. I've seen springs like this added when folks find they have a sticky system - more commonly on a throttle or choke linkage. Not exactly a correct way to chase down a problem - rather a patch to mask it.

You can get a parts catalog from Moss, what they send you is basicly a reprint of the original parts list. It does not have prices and does not even gar'ty that MOSS has the part, but with the part number you can go searching and the exploded diagrams can be very useful on their own.
https://www.mossmotors.com/CatalogRe...questForm.aspx

You can find this info on line as well, but I like to have a dog eared book on the work bench sometimes!

 

Just wrapping this up - Clubman S nailed it on the head. I pulled the old master cylinder, slave and corresponding hoses and replaced it with a kit from minimania. Was a breeze to complete (with the exception of the clutch pedal to master cylinder connections, my large hands made this a little challenge, but I got it figured out after a few swearing sessions with the pedal).

Thanks again everyone for the support on this issue.

 

I took a look at the parts diagram for the clutch linkage on the Heritage Garage website and there is a clutch spring and anchor shown for the slave cylinder. I have both on my '75.

 

closest thing I can find is part number 329-065 "clutch arm return spring" which is shown as a clutch part and not as a part of the hydraulics so maybe we just have a semantics issue as to where the part resides. In all probability we're looking at the same picture - reproductions of the original parts lists (available on CD / pdf)

 

Yep, I definitely agree; it's the returm spring all right!

 

Looks like I will be doing some changes tomorrow (I did not put the spring on when I put is all back together). Thanks for the feedback everyone.

 

So, interesting update. With the newly replaced master and slave and NO spring, the shifting worked perfectly (even better then it was before the issue started). I swapped in the return spring, and the car failed to shift into gear. I am currently running it without the return spring - can anyone think of an issue this would cause?

 

there is also a 'clutch lever stop'

aka an adjustment for the pedal travel

I'd been looking there

again I see this on the exploded diagrams in the parts catalog . . .

as the servo failed it got adusted WAY to one end??????

(my clutch was replaced not long b4 my purchase so I've not had to dig far . . . )

 

In looking at the adjustment, it does look like it has been adjusted WAY out.

I am not to versed on these things, so I am going to run it up the guys at 7ent (they are only 25 minutes from my house) and have them take a look.

Thanks for everything and the help on this topic.

 

I was gonna ask where u were in relation to 7 when I saw your location

I hate you - and envy you

When I lived in Virginia Beach area it was GREAT to have a very very good classic Brit mechanic/shop available. First time I took my Mini there they'd diagnosed the problem b4 I got out of the car and fixed it in 90 seconds .... I'd been chasing it for weeks! (Abacus Racing of VA Beach - owner collects Healey among other things)

Hope their hourly rate is reasonable tho - another good experience I had was the work came in under the (reasonable) estimate every time. I miss those guys.

I've used Seven for parts I couldn't find anywhere else, and when their price was the best. They have always provided me good advice over the phone . . . I especially like to watch their 'used but good' list'