Clutch, well lack of clutch

[Ballsy]

Went out for a drive today since it was such a nice day, was out for about 3 hrs or so, when i got back into town the car was cutting out at some junctions when i took my foot off the loud pedal, eventually stopped the car and went into the post office (to send away my old starter motor) and when i returned to the car the clutch pedal was really soft and it wouldnt go into gear, any ideas?

[kevin63]

First thing to check is if the clutch fluid is low or if there is any in it, if there is some in then i would bleed it.

[Ballsy]

ok took the engine cover off and tried to find the clutch fluid bottle, iam guessing its behind the black cover thats bonded down with a silicone material?

If it is needing topped up or bled how do i go about doing it?

[kevin63]

That's it, the black cover in the drivers side inner wing.
If yours is a 4.2 or 4.5 then your bleed nipple is sort of just below then drivers windscreen wipper, to the left of the top up cap for the clutch. Get a piece of clear pipe to go over the nipple and put that into a jam jar to catch the fluid, you will need to keep the pot topped up and as someone presses slowly on the clutch pedal you will need to loosen the nipple a little, then just tighten it up just before the clutch pedal gets to the floor, keep on doing this until clean fluid comes out.
I would use 5.1 fluid and DON'T let any fluid go on the body work or it will die.
Hope this helps, if it is a Speed six you will need to take the large air box off.

[marcus1970]

First thing to do is to turn everything off. Depress the clutch and push the gear lever into first or third. If it goes into gear then its probably your fluid even if it doesn't, try the following. Next, open your bonnet and take off the top part of the engine cover (the bit that goes from the windscreen across the battery etc.)- should be bolted on about half way down towards the front of the car near to the wings - will also have to disconnect the washer tubes and release any sealant that may still be in place at bottom of windscreen - unlikely though as this part comes off more often than Bruce Forsyth's wig. Next you'll see a black fibre glass moulding around a foot from the windscreen on the drivers side - again probably with half a ton of sealant around/on it. The clutch fluid reservoir is underneath this - you'll probably have to stanley/screwdriver this off!!! Once in, take the cap off and have a look. If there's no fluid then top up with around half a cup full of universal brake/clutch fluid - most places sell it, it has to be DOT 5.1 and preferably conform to SAE J 1703, which you'll see on the back of the bottle. Replace the cap and start up the car and try the clutch again. If it feels better and you can engage a gear then top up with the rest of the bottle until the fluid is level with the top of the little bulge near the top of the neck - get down to your local TVR bod as you will most probably have a leak somewhere. If you still can't get a gear turn everything off, then put in another half a cup or so and try again. If still nothing then you may have to bleed the system if the clutch fluid has completely disappeared - you can get a kit from Halfords for about a tenner and it has instructions on the back top up as necessary - put all bits back on and monitor how quick your reservoir goes down. If you still can't engage your gears when you've done alln this then you'd better get your wallet out and hope that its got around 1500 quid in it!!! - and even if this does solve your problem, then you've probably got a leak somewhere so you'd better get it down to your nearest TVR bod and hope its not too serious - seals, bell housing etc, etc, etc,etc,etc,etc,etc,etc...

Good luck

MB