Dragging Clutch Kills 5th Gear Synchro - A Warning to All

[ChimpOnGas]

Hi chaps,

Bit of a sad tale with a happy ending this one, and I'm really just posting in the hope it might be useful information to others?

In short I've recently suffered the failure of the 5th gear synchro on my T5

Understandably suspicion initially fell on my recent S-10 tail housing and gear linkage delete mod, but this was soon discounted. I discussed the premature failure of the brass synchro ring and hub at length with Paul Cangialosi of 5speeds.com who quite vocally insisted it was extremely unlikely any of the elements involved in the S-10 tail housing conversion (including the Hurst Quick shift kit) were responsible.

Without being prompted Paul then made the following statement...

"The most common cause of synchro failure in the T5 box is a dragging clutch, and 5th gear snchro is always the first to go"

That was a bit of a light bulb moment for me , but not in a good way

For the last 20,000 miles I'd been running the rather heavy Helix clutch with it's odd bite point and other undesirable traits, I'd sourced it new from a well known V8 Development company in Spalding. In addition to its considerable weight and peculiar bite point that quite honestly never felt quite right, this joyous clutch would drag something chronic when hot making gear engagements in traffic jams baulky and generally a right PITA

While I was in conversation over emails with Paul Lloyd Specialist Developments had dropped the box and made a detailed appraisal of the linkage and looked carefully for any undesirable fork load on the hub or any synchro ring slip due to incomplete engagement. Following their autopsy LSD were able to give the rail, synchro function and my S-10 modification a completely clean bill of health.

So the moral of the story is, if your clutch is dragging it is highly likely to also be damaging your T5's brass 5th gear synchro ring and it's associated 5th gear hub. Don't just suffer a dragging clutch for thousands of miles like I like I did, get it replaced with a properly function clutch immediately and before it creates gearbox damage and a bigger bill.

In my case the gear sets and other synchros were all in perfect order, all I needed was a new brass synchro ring from Grantura Engineering which was just £28 and a new hub sourced from the States for the bargain price of £52 including all shipping costs and taxes. Fortunately with the worn components on the back of the box inside the tail housing and separated from the main gear, the remedial work could be completed without the need for a full strip of the box.

The good news is its all sorted now and 5th gear is back to being something I can select without double-de-clutching, but I wouldn't want anyone else to suffer the same so I hope the above serves as a word of caution and protects you from the same fate I've just suffered.

Watch the dreaded dragging clutch syndrome boys, and be sure to avoid that awful Helix offering at all costs too

[Pupp]

I'd be touch cautious of pointing the finger too firmly at either clutch or its supplier Dave and maybe query first of all whether it was installed correctly. If it's not disengaging properly, that strongly implies it is not being depressed far enough by the release bearing. Release bearing travel (or, more importantly the starting point of travel, from which the effective travel seen by the clutch is determined) on the TVR system depends on the fork pivot height being set correctly. It's a horrible idea and one that is easily gotten wrong, especially if a clutch with a slightly lower installed height replaces a higher one when the temptation is to slap it in like-for-like without a thought or check of the effective deflection.

This was actually one of the main motivators for me going the concentric route as I could just not get the geometry right for the cover I wanted to use without a load of faff (and probably not even then given the change in TVR supplied slave cylinder diameters).

Helix have been around a long time and shift a lot of units; so have the Spading crew. Neither in my experience are in the habit of supplying cack, but do have to cater for the design quirks of the applications being covered.

[ChimpOnGas]

Yep, just slapped it in like-for-like without a thought or check of the effective deflection, just like you say Gary.

But only because it was sold to me as a like-for-like direct replacement kit by a well known TVR specialist, and with no special fitting instructions offered.

No doubt Helix make a good product for Ricers, but I'm not convinced they got this TVR one right, the bottom line is when this clutch got heat soaked it dragged... and that's not right

But I except there may be an army of happy Helix users out there, so I'm open to hear how other Helix users have got on with this clutch

[Hoofa]

Well my experience , same clutch , same horrible grabby clutch , I binned as it was just too much in town traffic , came from a tvr supplier

Installed a McLeod twin plate, had to redrill the flywheel and rebalance, modified the release bearing carrier and so far so good, nice n light , great in town

[ChimpOnGas]

Hoofa said:

Well my experience , same clutch , same horrible grabby clutch , I binned as it was just too much in town traffic , came from a tvr supplier

Installed a McLeod twin plate, had to redrill the flywheel and rebalance, modified the release bearing carrier and so far so good, nice n light , great in town

You did well to bin it early doors Nigel, I wasn't so smart and stupidly persevered with the thing for 20,000 miles.

The result (I believe) was it killed by 5th gear synchro ring & hub, I now have one of Lloyd Specialist Development's clutch kits and compared with the Helix it quite literally transformed the car.

Anyone else try the Helix