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Clutch Stuck
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Farmer John



Joined: 18 Feb 2010
Posts: 181
Location: Manawatu NZ

PostPosted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 9:09 pm    Post subject: Clutch Stuck Reply with quote

Hi. I read very recently a post from a member concerning a clutch plate not releasing, so I hope the member finds this. Had a really good "boy look" and cannot locate that thread.
Probably the plate is adhering to the flywheel and not very strongly at that.
The best that that can be done without dismantling is to adjust all of the free play from the clutch, even increase the release travel if the adjuster makes that possible. Block the pedal hard down on the floor or tie it down, or even use a load binder or wedge on the clutch fork. The intention is to separate the plate from either the flywheel or the pressure plate by quarter of an inch or so, so that there is absolutely no chance at all of any clamping pressure on the clutch. Leave it like that for as long as possible.

John
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gresham flyer



Joined: 06 Sep 2008
Posts: 1435

PostPosted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 10:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If the engine runs get the engine up to temperature and the bellhousing nice and hot.
Jack up the back of the car.

If the handbrake or rear foot brakes works all the better.

Now start up the car in second gear.

Keep pressing the foot brake or keep pulling on the handbrake.

Give the foot brake some sharp short pushes hard.
Press down on the clutch pedal at the same time.

This normally does the trick even on cars that have stood fro 25 years ( I know I have had one).

I must have released countless of clutches like this.

G.F
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welder



Joined: 26 Nov 2007
Posts: 265
Location: North Warwickshire

PostPosted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 10:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

John, years ago I bought a Triumph Stag that had been languishing in a garage for some years and the clutch didn't release.

I got the car started and fully warmed. Switched off and engaged reverse then started the car while in gear. The clutch freed instantly.

Ian
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P3steve



Joined: 24 Nov 2007
Posts: 542
Location: Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

PostPosted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 6:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="gresham flyer"]If the engine runs get the engine up to temperature and the bellhousing nice and hot.
Jack up the back of the car.

If the handbrake or rear foot brakes works all the better.

Now start up the car in second gear.

Keep pressing the foot brake or keep pulling on the handbrake.

Give the foot brake some sharp short pushes hard.
Press down on the clutch pedal at the same time.

This normally does the trick even on cars that have stood fro 25 years ( I know I have had one).

I must have released countless of clutches like this.

Has always worked for me never had to take a clutch out that was stuck. Steve (Ex Leyland mechanic)
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peter scott



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 7113
Location: Edinburgh

PostPosted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 7:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Of course it's right to try all the usual brutal tricks to free it but it's worth remembering that it may be impossible.

I have had one that had rusted itself into the flywheel to such an extent that even after dismantling it was necessary to use a chissel to get the last bits of clutch plate off.

Peter
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alec.elliot



Joined: 28 Feb 2012
Posts: 58
Location: Worcestershire

PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 7:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Having spent a couple of years rebuilding my old TR4A (RPJ365F - Where are you now?) I found the clutch stuck and after much jacking up and running, bouncing the clutch, etc it would still not free itself.

In the end I resorted to drilling a small hole in the bellhousing and inserted a small punch side onto the clutch plate and with Mrs E's foot on the cluctch pedal gave it a wack. Not strictly correct but it worked and no further problems were experienced.
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MVPeters



Joined: 28 Aug 2008
Posts: 822
Location: Northern MA, USA

PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 1:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If it's a hydralulic clutch, there may not be any fluid or pressure left in the system.
But rather than running the engine on jack stands, as long as the brakes work, try a short tow, 3rd gear, engine off.
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gresham flyer



Joined: 06 Sep 2008
Posts: 1435

PostPosted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 11:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Towing a vehicle is fine if you have a private roadway.

But if you have just purchased a long term stored vehicle and got it home in your workshop it perhaps is not taxed, mot`d or insured, so towing it up and down the street in front of your house is not a good idea.

Much better to get the braking system working first, get the engine running, sort out the clutch mechanism, then jack up the car to attempt to release the clutch.

This is best carried out on the long term stored complete vehicle that ran and drove before being put in storage.

The longest stored vehicle I carried this out to was one that had been in a garage for 25 years.
It ran and drove very well afterwards.

OK I accept that some projects are perhaps beyond this approach, they would require stripping out of the mechanicals anyway, so the approach Rick carried out might be in order.


Good luck.

G.F
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baconsdozen



Joined: 03 Dec 2007
Posts: 1119
Location: Under the car.

PostPosted: Mon Jun 23, 2014 1:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I prefer the gentle approach. Hold the pedal down put it in a high gear and rock the car backwards and forwards. Takes a while but I've never had one that didn't release yet.
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Scamonomics



Joined: 28 Apr 2014
Posts: 24

PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 7:19 pm    Post subject: Success! Reply with quote

Finally, I got the clutch unstuck.

I'll add a reference to my original thread to this offshoot thread.

Anyway, here's what i did:

I replaced the seals in the slave cylinder, but that didn't seem to add any extra movement on the clutch, so I ratchet-strapped the pivot arm under the car, so that I knew for sure that the clutch was disengaging the clutch plate. then I ran the car in fourth on a jack for about ¾ of an hour. I ran it at very low speed, so low that the engine was very lumpy. the idea was that the lumpy running would apply gentle torque to the clutch, freeing it.

That didn't work, so I loosed the jack very quickly so the car slammed down on the rotating wheel, there was a 'clang' and it freed!

What a relief, I can now drive it...

I'll bleed the brakes, get her insured and take her for a spin.

many thanks

Stumbler
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Penman



Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 4749
Location: Swindon, Wilts.

PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 9:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi
Once you have it on the road watch out for the possibility of the clutch dragging.

I once had a new Vauxhall HB which burnt it's clutch out in under 2,000 miles,when they dismantled it they found that only the side next to the flywheel had worn out and the splines were badly rusted, it was thought that when being put together the protective wax had been removed from the splines and then a strike was called leaving the bare metal unprotected long enough for rust to start up and then the centre plate was staying in contact with the flywheel when the clutch was depressed..

As it took a quite drastic measure to get yours unstuck it just might be that you have rust forming on that part of the splines which the centre plate slips back to when depressing the clutch.
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MikeEdwards



Joined: 25 May 2011
Posts: 2463
Location: South Cheshire

PostPosted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 11:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

alec.elliot wrote:
Having spent a couple of years rebuilding my old TR4A (RPJ365F - Where are you now?)


O/T - just been re-taxed until the end of June 2015.

I used to have clutch trouble in a car that I stored over winter in a lock-up garage, and was told all sorts of techniques to shock it free, to warm it thoroughly and use the differing expansion rates to free it, but never had any luck and always had to remove the gearbox. Once the gearbox was out it would invariably come off with the flick of a fingernail, which was frustrating. After that I started wedging down the clutch pedal when the car was left, so that the plate wasn't in contact with the flywheel.
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Rick
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Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 22429
Location: UK

PostPosted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 6:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MikeEdwards wrote:
alec.elliot wrote:
Having spent a couple of years rebuilding my old TR4A (RPJ365F - Where are you now?)


O/T - just been re-taxed until the end of June 2015.

I used to have clutch trouble in a car that I stored over winter in a lock-up garage, and was told all sorts of techniques to shock it free, to warm it thoroughly and use the differing expansion rates to free it, but never had any luck and always had to remove the gearbox. Once the gearbox was out it would invariably come off with the flick of a fingernail, which was frustrating. After that I started wedging down the clutch pedal when the car was left, so that the plate wasn't in contact with the flywheel.


Do the hydraulic seals not complain if the clutch pedal is left down long term? (assuming the mechanism is not mechanical only)

RJ
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