Clutch Trouble

[rytaylor]

Well after a nice wee run out today at Vauxhall I started to have a bit of bother getting into first from neutral in the stop-start traffic on the m25.

Couldn't get into reverse to get into my drive without switching the engine off, into reverse then turn on again! Just tried everything again there now that the cars cooled down and all still the same.

Any ideas? Checked the fluid and its full, albeit dirty but was changed 2k ago. Time for an ls7 clutch?

[007 VXR]

Change the fluid AGAIN then see how it is .

[ringram]

Thats normal for the T56 IMO.

Try and select a forward gear then snatch the one you want. Or better yet, select any gear that works nice load up the drivetrain a bit and snatch your preferred gear. That works 9x out of 10.

The tr6060 is about 90% better and almost flawless.

The clutch swap is more to help address either power issues or the pedal sticking to the floor on hard acceleration

[ARAF]

ringram said:

Thats normal for the T56 IMO.

Try and select a forward gear then snatch the one you want. Or better yet, select any gear that works nice load up the drivetrain a bit and snatch your preferred gear. That works 9x out of 10.

The tr6060 is about 90% better and almost flawless.

The clutch swap is more to help address either power issues or the pedal sticking to the floor on hard acceleration

TR6060 doesn't fit in a Monaro thought, does it?

As 007 has said, change the fluid. If you don't have a remote bleed, mop the fluid out of the reservoir, put new in, pump the pedal a couple of dozen times, and then repeat the fluid change. Pump the clutch again, and see how much clutch dust comes back up into the reservoir.

[Granby]

Def try a fluid change, I usually syphon the fluid from the reservoir once a month as it's normally dirty

[KMud]

Obviously try the fluid first, but if you're still on the original clutch slave maybe stay off the M25 until you're happy it was the fluid!

[rytaylor]

Hmm, sounds promising. I thought it was new clutch time and was preparing for a £700 bill. Will flush the fluid out with new and see how that goes.

It was very difficult to select any forward gear though, not just first and reverse was impossible... Hopefully is just old fluid.

[neiljohnson]

Sounds like a hydraulic issue of some sort as others have said changing the fluid wont hurt but also have a look underneath around the front of the gearbox & see if there are signs of fluid. If there are its likely the slave is on its way out & will need replacing asap.

[ringram]

Spigot might be worn too.
Fairly common.

Tr6060 is available for monaro. I think Emma has one. They are also known as the t56 magnum..

[gsd2000]

ringram said:

Spigot might be worn too.
Fairly common.

Tr6060 is available for monaro. I think Emma has one. They are also known as the t56 magnum..

Emmas I do believe is a full on custom job, not an off the shelf box

I do believe that a standard tr6060 wont fit a monaro

[SturdyHSV]

gsd2000 said:

Emmas I do believe is a full on custom job, not an off the shelf box

I do believe that a standard tr6060 wont fit a monaro

Indeed, but Tickford (and presumably enterprising others) will put TR6060 internals into a T56 housing, giving you the T56 Magnum

Just to include something topical, before changing my clutch fluid I was having the same sort of problems, difficult to get in gear etc. The difference in the level of resistance is quite surprising really!

Edited by SturdyHSV on Monday 21st July 08:49

[rytaylor]

neiljohnson said:

Sounds like a hydraulic issue of some sort as others have said changing the fluid wont hurt but also have a look underneath around the front of the gearbox & see if there are signs of fluid. If there are its likely the slave is on its way out & will need replacing asap.

Actually I was going to give you a call to discuss this mornibg if that's OK Neil?

I think it may be hydraulic as its intermittent. Sometimes its impossible to select a gear, as if the clutch isn't disengaging. Others its as good as new.

Fluid is topped to max so doesnt seem to be leaking.

[rytaylor]

SturdyHSV said:

Indeed, but Tickford (and presumably enterprising others) will put TR6060 internals into a T56 housing, giving you the T56 Magnum

Just to include something topical, before changing my clutch fluid I was having the same sort of problems, difficult to get in gear etc. The difference in the level of resistance is quite surprising really!

Edited by SturdyHSV on Monday 21st July 08:49

hope it doesn't come to getting a new gearbox!

Hoping a fluid change will make a difference as you say but the change was quite sudden and is intermittent so it's like something has given up rather than a deterioration in fluid.

[EmmaJ]

ringram said:

Spigot might be worn too.
Fairly common.

Tr6060 is available for monaro. I think Emma has one. They are also known as the t56 magnum..

TR6060 core in a T56 housing. Works like a charm

FYI if you go for the beefier lv4/5 versions from Tick Performance then you can't make an LS9 clutch fit without extending the bell housing. Which then brings about a whole world of pain and hence why I've not done it yet.

Spigot bearing is a likely candidate, so OP if you do decided to fit a new clutch get that done as well as a remote bleed line fitted at the same time.

[007 VXR]

EmmaJ said:

Spigot bearing is a likely candidate, so OP if you do decided to fit a new clutch get that done as well as a remote bleed line fitted at the same time.

And slave cilyinder.

[SturdyHSV]

rytaylor said:

Hoping a fluid change will make a difference as you say but the change was quite sudden and is intermittent so it's like something has given up rather than a deterioration in fluid.

I had never had any problem getting into 2nd gear until a run up the 1/4, wouldn't go in, and from then on was a pig. It didn't even get progressively harder, just suddenly got very fussy.

I assumed synchros gone, and to be fair, I'm still not convinced there isn't perhaps something wrong with it, but after battling on for ages, changing the fluid and it's like a whole different gearbox.

It was also intermittent with how much it refused to shift, I presumed this was related to temperature of the clutch fluid affecting how much the contaminants played a part in limiting its performance.

Even silly things like the effort required to move it over into reverse was dramatically reduced after I changed the fluid!

[ringram]

http://www.ddperformance.com/chevy-t-56-magnum-lsx...

off the shelf t56 magnums are around..

http://www.rpmtransmissions.com/page10.html

Direct bolt in except for yoke..

But as above, check spigot and slave. In fact do both at the same time anyway.
Its either that or munched synchro's if its just happened recently and you didnt mangle the box at any point then its likely one of the easier fixes.

[adevxr]

On the odd occasion we have a little difficulty selecting a gear we push towards the gear and very slowly lift the clutch and it slips in ... not often but works every time - I have the LS7 clutch too in an R8.

Ade

[Dave3166]

Hi Guys.

Been reading this thread with interest, can you guys please tell me, as I`m a bit lacking in these things, how to change the clutch fluid on a VXR8.

As would like to be able to change the stuff more regularly myself. Sorry for hijack the thread.

Regards

Dave S

[ARAF]

Dave3166 said:

Hi Guys.

Been reading this thread with interest, can you guys please tell me, as I`m a bit lacking in these things, how to change the clutch fluid on a VXR8.

As would like to be able to change the stuff more regularly myself. Sorry for hijack the thread.

Regards

Dave S

If you don't have a remote bleed line, then probably easiest to just follow what I wrote above. I used to do it a few times a year - but then we weren't doing a lot of miles.