Club 80-90 Forums

I had an oil leak that steadily got worse, and then the clutch started slipping, confirming my suspicions that it was the crankshaft seal. I bit the bullet and removed the driveshafts and the gearbox to replace the seal and buttoned it all back together. Tried to bleed clutch and long story short I broke one bit after another starting with bleed valve. I have replaced almost everything, slave cylinder, pipe, rubber hose using Brickwerks repair part. I have bled the clutch and the pedal feels like it did before, I can see the slave moving the arm but still I can’t engage a gear with engine running. What else can I do? Really stuck now, it has taken weeks to get here

At least could someone measure how far a correctly working slave cylinder extends?

Not with my van at the moment but i had gear selection problems with the engine running when my master cylinder was on it's way out. It didn't leak but the seals where goosed and drawing in air. Replaced that and bled it a couple of times and all was good. Found this video of the arm movement if it helps, i did measure mine when i was faffing about but can't remember the measurement, it's not a lot though - sorry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8-h8FPxi-8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
David.

Cheers.
I have bought a clever bleed system and I am quite sure there is no more air in the pipes. It doesn’t leak. My lever on the side of the gearbox moves about the same distance as the one in the video. I think the reservoir emptied when I replaced the clutch pipes, if there is air in the brake lines, could this affect the clutch operation?
Is it possible to put the clutch plate back in the wrong way around??

Have you put the bracket back on the gearbox the wrong way round for the gear linkage. Wrong side of the flange - it is very easy to get that a*rse about t*t.

I didn’t take the bracket off the gearbox, so no. There was a moment when I was jacking up the gearbox which caught a driveshaft that was pushing that bracket. I was thinking that I might have bent it but it all lines up and the lever is moving more or less like the you tube clip. I am worried I put the clutch plate back in the wrong way around!!

Oldiebut goodie wrote:Have you put the bracket back on the gearbox the wrong way round for the gear linkage. Wrong side of the flange - it is very easy to get that a*rse about t*t.

Hang on the gear selector linkage?? It will go into gear when engine off, clutch to floor start up and it rocks forward on the starter. So the linkage must be ok?

You can fit the clutch plate the wrong way round. It is usually labelled.

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Oh S**t! So if I got it the wrong way round, it wouldn’t engage/disengage correctly. I might be glad of those new driveshaft bolts I fitted.....

if there is a lot of play in the pedal clevis and pushrod set up at the front then you may not be getting enough action at the front to fully press the lever arm to move the release bearing - it's about 10mm movement at the lever arm. A new clutch will need full movement in order to disengage

Thanks Aidan
It was the same clutch plate that went in before. I usually take photos of everything as it come out and goes back in but I didn’t this time! The clutch worked fine before all this, and the plate was ok. It wasn’t until I was taking things apart that a lot of gunk came out the slave cylinder.
I have one of those tiny boroscope cameras and have taken starter off and loosened the whole gearbox to get the camera in to see if clutch is wrong way round.

If there was gunk coming out of the slave then you need to change the clutch master cylinder behind the pedals and get some fresh fluid into the system.

Ok clutch plate looks like it is in the correct way. Now I am really stumped. Would air in the brake lines cause the same effect as air in then clutch line?

Brakes and clutch needs good quality fluid free from air and contamination, even a small amount of air will affect the performance of the clutch. Avoid the cheap cylinders if you are buying new.

I have put at least a litre through the clutch lines now quite sure there is no air. The feed in the reservoir for the clutch is higher that the brakes so if the clutch lines were drained the brake lines should be ok? Does that sound right? I have really rusty bleed valves on the brakes and I am trying to decide between taking gearbox off again to check everything again and the pain of shearing off 4 bleed valves.....