Clutch nightmare (rover)

[brennon]

It's getting to the point of wanting to burn the car to the ground!

Release bearing failed.
Removed box and fitted new clutch and bearing.
Old bearing fell apart as box was removed.

The problem-
With engine running and foot off clutch pedal you can select all gears but nothing happens. No noise. Nothing.
Gear selection is confirmed by reverse light.
Press clutch and hideous noise! Like release bearing is squealing at a billion rpm.

Local garage claimed dead gearbox.
Replaced gearbox and exactly the same symptoms.
Cable clutch, tried removing cable and pushing car with it in gear. Engine judders but doesn't seem to rotate.

Thoughts?

[bortaf]

What rover and why is it allways a secret what car we are trying to diagnose ?
Did the problem come along by itself IE a new problem or has work been done in that area recently?
Sounds like the clutch is perminantly down? does the car have a dual mass flywheel? have you checked the crank for endfloat ?
TBH it is a wierd one, if you just bought the venical i'd say the wronge clutch is fitted or the release arm is bent/pivot point colapsed

[brennon]

Sorry,
Rover 25
Cable clutch.
Release arm is box mounted.
It is pointing towards wrong clutch, it bolted up fine tho. I'd agree clutch is consistently disengaged but can't understand how
Single mass flywheel with sprung clutch
It's q petrol 1.4 k series

[bortaf]

Some 25s have hydro clutches some cable i think (could be the 45 that has hydro?), there may be a differance betweeb the 2 ? with the cable off is the release arm loose or tight against the edge of the hole it passes through ?
I cant off the top of my head think of anything other than the cltch TBH but i'd hate for you to remove it all again on the strength of that

[brennon]

It seems it can only be the clutch. I'll try get a new one and swap it

[Kieran]

Clutch plate in backwards, springs rubbing on flywheel bolts.

[SauceDoctor]

I have a 25 with the 1.4 K Series. All cable in this model.

Exactly the same thing happened to me when I replaced the clutch cable. The self adjuster in the cable was stuck. I'll bang up a couple of pics in a mo, illustrating what I did.

Right. Obviously, make sure the gearbox end of the cable is engaged thusly:




Secondly, and this isn't very scientific, but bear with me:



Where the cable goes into the bulkhead. Pull this back and forward several times, against the spring. You'll need to pull on it fairly hard. On doing this, mine went "BOING!" and I got my drive back. You can also try turning it anticlockwise instead of hauling on it.

Note also that there's a wee adjuster bolt on the top of the clutch pedal - make sure it isn't screwed all the way in.

And good luck!

EDIT TO ADD: Make sure the release arm is all the way forward, i.e., towards the front of the car. Thinking back, the one on my MG ZR somehow was stuck about 2 inches back from where it should have been. I used a tyre lever to pop it into the correct position.

[brennon]

Oct 15, 2014 12:08:25 GMT Kieran said:

Clutch plate in backwards, springs rubbing on flywheel bolts.

It's marked gearbox side and I tried it the other way round just in case!

[brennon]

Oct 15, 2014 16:00:10 GMT SauceDoctor said:

I have a 25 with the 1.4 K Series. All cable in this model.

Exactly the same thing happened to me when I replaced the clutch cable. The self adjuster in the cable was stuck. I'll bang up a couple of pics in a mo, illustrating what I did.

Right. Obviously, make sure the gearbox end of the cable is engaged thusly:




Secondly, and this isn't very scientific, but bear with me:



Where the cable goes into the bulkhead. Pull this back and forward several times, against the spring. You'll need to pull on it fairly hard. On doing this, mine went "BOING!" and I got my drive back. You can also try turning it anticlockwise instead of hauling on it.

Note also that there's a wee adjuster bolt on the top of the clutch pedal - make sure it isn't screwed all the way in.

And good luck!

EDIT TO ADD: Make sure the release arm is all the way forward, i.e., towards the front of the car. Thinking back, the one on my MG ZR somehow was stuck about 2 inches back from where it should have been. I used a tyre lever to pop it into the correct position.

Golden! Thank you very much! I'll try have a go over the weekend and report back!

[scaryoldcortina]

Make sure the release arm is free to move as well - these tend to sieze up which would kind of explain everything from your destroyed release bearing to the no drive and awful noise (the bearing is always forward and the clutch engaged, the auto adjuster has taken up the slack so pressing the pedal is mashing the bearing into the centre of the clutch)

It doesn't explain how a garage can have changed the gearbox and it all remains the same though. That bit is wierd imo.

[Midas]

Those auto adjusters look to be the same used on the Mk2 Metro, they fail for a pastime. The cable still moves when you test it, just not enough to disengage the clutch properly.