Clutch/Gearbox Trouble

[debaron]

Funny thing happened today. Got in the car and went to pull away and noticed the clutch 'biting' point was much much closer the floor than normal. The whole pedal feels floppy and there is no resistance on the pedal when pressed until almost right to the floor. As a result am having trouble selecting gears properly. Clutch is reasonably new - 30000 ago

Any ideas what's going on? Am thinking a broken/leaking master cylinder.


Many thanks,


Ryan

[2OOM]

I would have a look at the clutch fork from the inspection hole, my pivot thing pushed a hole in the fork and gave the same problems.

Quinny has some good pics of the damage.

[haircutmike]

Hi,

My names Quinny.

[S7Paul]

When I had those symptoms it was the master cylinder that had gone.

Even if it does turn out to be master cylinder, I'd still check the clutch fork, just to ensure it hasn't started to go, and put some new grease on the pivot point.

Edited by S7Paul on Saturday 8th January 22:55

[Simon says]

1st things 1st check the clutch fluid level if that's low then you can start checking for leaks if not start looking at the posts previous to mine

[rigga]

Simon says said:

1st things 1st check the clutch fluid level if that's low then you can start checking for leaks if not start looking at the posts previous to mine

As above .... mine was a leaking slave cylinder by the way,fluid was low and air entered the system altering the pedal feel and position of the biting point.

[2OOM]

No I'm Quinny!

[lancepar]

Hi,

I had similar problem but not with a TVR.
Is there a clutch pedal return spring on a Chimaera? In my case the pedal return spring had broken and the spring inside the master cylinder on its own was not returning the piston fully due to the extra effort and became sticky in the bore. A new pedal return spring and allowing the pedal to fly back quickly from the down position a few times allowed the piston travel to un-stick itself and normal pedal bite position be restored.

Hope you problem is as easy to fix.

[debaron]

Thanks to both Quinnys! Luckily though the clutch master cylinder is virtually empty so think have found my culprit!

No sign of leaks around cylinder itself or footwell so suspect slave. Will get it up in the air and have a look Monday.

Many thanks to all who replied.

Ryan

[stain]

My Griff has started doing this. Have yet to diagnose the cause but what is the failure mode if left unattended. Does the clutch slip more / wear out or just go bang and leave you stranded? Car has done 17k.

[rigga]

Unless the cause can be identified who can predict the outcome or how long before it fails? ...chances are though it will leave you stranded unless sorted, if it don't feel right, it probably ain't.

[Cerbieherts]

It's not just leaving you stranded you need to worry about. If you drive the car when the clutch doesn't operate properly you have a high chance of damaging the gearbox internals, as well as having the potential For clutch fluid ending up on the exhaust which may lead to a fire. Get underneath and check the clutch slave....