I've been going through this problem for a while now...I originally thought it was a master cylinder failure, as the symptoms were the same as my recent master cylinder failure...but now I know that it is not hydrolic.

The symptoms are: not going into gear because the clutch is not fully disengaging; and pedal feeling very hard and stiff from about half way down to the floor.

The lever that the slave cylinder pushes is raised about 3/4 in. To be clear...the base of the lever should be about 1/8 in away from the white bushing that surrounds the shaft that the lever is connected to. The space between the base of the lever and the bushing is currently 3/4 in. This means that the slave cylinder is also pushing at a pretty bad upward angle!

Here is where things get weird for me. If I disconnect the slave cylinder by unbolting it, or if I completely compress it by hand taking all pressure off of the lever, the lever goes back down to it's proper position. Then, if I reconnect the slave cylinder, it pushes straight and everything works perfectly. It feels like a brand new clutch. After a test drive of about 5 minutes, all the sudden from one shift to the next, it no longer goes into gear. So I check the shaft and lever, and it is raised 3/4 in and the slave cylinder is pushing at an upward angle again. So I repeated this by removing the slave cylinder and putting it back on. Once again all is perfect. I test drive it again and this time is lasts for a couple of hours...the second time I babied the car as much as possible!

I will be fixing this myself since the labor costs would be ridiculous. Has anyone had a similar problem? Does anyone have any decent pictures of the inside of the clutch housing so that I can have an idea of what parts I may need to replace? Maybe a diagram? I'm not worried about the work involved, only about having the replacement parts ready. Time is more of an issue that difficulty. I'm sure I will have to order from the dealership or pelican parts so I will probably have to wait a week or 2 for the parts to arrive.

Thank you all!

 

bump...

Does anyone have any diagrams of how the fork operates the release bearing? or how the shaft that is connected to the clutch fork is held in place? I just need to know how that shaft is being lifted up and if there is something holding it down. pictures, diagrams, anything...maybe a written description from someone who has replaced a clutch and knows how the other parts are connected?

 

Hmmm, the fact your clutch fork shaft is dropped out a bit means your throwout bearing or clutch fork is no longer centering it in the transmission. This is bad. I would guess the clutch fork or release bearing have broken somehow. It sounds like it would have to be a tranny-out operation to fix.

Check out the clutch and tranny section for your build date in RealOEM.com

 

Photos:

 

Thank you so much!

Can either of you think of a reason why removing pressure from the slave cylinder would cause everything to fall back into place? That is the most confusing part for me. I am going to try a temporary fix by trying to rig a plate over the shaft to keep it from coming out. Hopefully this will work for now. I will need to take a bit of time off of work, so I have to plan it out. I'm sure I will have to drop the tranny.

Also, are the plastic bushings on either end of the shaft actually holding it in place? it seems like it has to be free floating to allow motion. Are the bushings tapered or flat?

 

Once again...a couple of weeks late...Thanks for the info. I will get to fixing the actual problem at some point. But for now, I just fixed the symptom! We just bent a strip of 1/8" steel and attached it to an existing bolt from the tranny. So far, 2 weeks later, so good! I still haven't figured out what was forcing the shaft up, but it can no longer go up! Sorry for the blurry pictures...phones don't work well from up close.

This one is what the shaft looked like while it was raised...




Gotta love the ingenuity that comes from laziness!

 

I see a problem. Your setup is not like the one that Khuevo showed a pic of. You have a Cooper right??? The clutch fork is a permanent part of the shaft. the only way to get it out is to remove the lever arm from the shaft by removing the roll pin. Man is that thing stuck in there. I had to buy and use a ball joint press just to reinstall the new pin in the new shaft, which would be the best way to press out the old one. If you can't get the old roll pin out, you will have to get a new assembly. Do not try and use a hammer and roll pin punch to remove it, the transmission case casting is too fragile for all the beating, even with heat applied(ask me how I know). If you still can't get the pin out, cut the throwout bearing "fingers" off the shaft and then it will pull right out. The parts diagram shows that all the parts come with one part number. This is not correct, you have to order all the parts individually. Hopefully your throwout bearing is the only problem.

Chad

 

Would a problem with the throwout bearing cause the shaft to slowly raise up like in the first picture? Everything works perfectly with the shaft being held down by the metal "brace".

I will probably replace the whole assembly anyway though. The parts have been through a lot of failed throwout bearings and my clutch fork was actually bent on one side by about 1/2 inch due to a release bearing failure. I wish they would use something other than plastic for a part that has to endure heat!

 

Yikes, I think I would be headed for the dealer.

 

THe throwout bearing is centered by the bell housing guide tube. The Clutch release shaft is held from moving up and down by the throw out bearing. So if that shaft is able to move up and down there is a mechanical problem in there. Only thing I would worry about is more damage being done because of the unknown, possibly damaging the trans.....

 

Fixing this requires dropping the transmission...The dealership would likely charge me $2000 or more for this. If I replace ALL of the parts in there except the flywheel, I will probably spend $300 in parts...My labor is free...

My car has over 100,000 miles, so definitely no warranty there!