New, mysterious problem - clutch???

[mgb driver]

Finally got my 88 Turbo out of the shop and licensed. Today, I've started to experience some new "problems".... not quite sure exactly what's going on but they seem driveline related. While the car was in the shop, I had the clutch slave cylinder replaced and all the bushings on the shift linkage. It also had a minor tune up so it would pass emissions. It was fine thru the weekend, however today after a hard run on a freeway on ramp things have been feeling strange at times. As I was just off the freeway, I had a sensation like I was tapped from the back; when I went to pull forward I was unable to get the shifter into gear until I turned the engine off, put it in 1st, and started it back up. It seemed to run fine. I now get an occasional sensation that the back end is either trying to break loose or there is some sort of movement going on when pulling out from a stop (it doesn't have to be a hard acceleration, either). Also, I'm sometimes getting a whine when I start out..... hoping it's not the clutch. Any thoughts?

When I got it back from the dealer on Fri, I had new tires installed. It was pointed out that the inside of the old ones were wearing prematurely. Is this normal, or, as the folks at the tire shop suggested could I need new shocks and/or springs? The car has 62K on it.

Kevin

[maigret]

Last year I had one of the bolts holding the gearbox break. It wasn't immediately obvious what had broken as the gearbox didn't move much and the bolt pieces stayed in place. There had just been a small clunk that didn't sound right.

In general jack up and support the chassis securely then swing on the wheels to see if anything moves. Wheel bearings, bushes and bolts.

[cnh1990]

Check the engine mount too while you are under there.

[wcdeane]

Not being able to get it into gear is serious business. This indicates that the clutch may not be completely disengaging the transaxle from the motor. If this is true and the condition persists, this will be hard on the clutch disk and the syncros in the transaxle. Suggest that you dive as little as possible till you find the cause.

You said that you had the slave cylinder replaced. I'd start by making sure that the system was properly bled, and that there are no leaks. I have been into the hydraulics on my clutch system a few times, and each time I have had difficulty bleeding the system.

Good luck...Walt '91 SE.

[lotusman]

I agree with redoing the bleeding of the clutch hydraulics. I have several posts about the special way to do this on the Lotus. Was it a Lotus dealer who did the slave cylinder?

As one famous engineer once said, "No change, no problem."

Lotusman
'89 non-SE

[mgb driver]

Lotusman,
Yes, it was a Lotus dealer that did the work. I tried to pay closer attention to the whole situation today..... I did notice when I get the "shudder" that is coming from the rear end as I'm starting out, it seems to start about 2000 RPM.

Guess I'll need to get it back to the dealer.........

Kevin