Clutch Issue

[Anonymous]

Hi

Sunny day so I thought I would take my Light 15 out for a run.

However, when I came to engage first the gears just ground together. Obviously the clutch was not releasing.

Any suggestions before I start serious dismantling?

Regards
Mike McDonald

Apologies MIke – Accidentally deleted your post!

[Anonymous]

Sounds like it’s jammed Mick, there was a very similar post in the past couple of days?

[Anonymous]

Mike
Had the same problem a few years ago and here’s the reply I got on TA-L. I’m sure Mike Tebbett wont mind me quoting his words:

Sounds as though your clutch is ‘frozen’ …. i.e. clutch plates have
stuck together. Common problem if you have a water leak from the
pump, the water runs into the clutch and sticks the plates
together…. but can also be caused if car has been left for a while
unused.

You may be lucky just if you just leave the engine ticking over in
neutral, as engine and clutch assembly warm up it may come free of
its own accord. The more brutal way is to push car to an open area,
put car into first gear before starting the engine, start the engine
with your foot on the clutch ……. car will move away, keep pushing
in clutch and it will free……. can be nerve wracking!!!! ……
this can also be done if you jack car up with front wheels clear of
ground, then follow same procedure, but make sure the jacks are firm,
could be fun if it drops off the jacks!

To stop it happening again when the car is stored a clutch prop can
be used to hold the clutch open … use a length of timber cut to
length between clutch pedal and perhaps the seat base

Best of luck
Davidtjm

[Anonymous]

Mick

Here’s another one from Gerry Propsting, this is the one that worked for me:

“Could it be that the friction plate is seized to the pressure plate and/or fly wheel. This is a common problem with cars that have not been used in a while. Sometimes it is exacerbated by a leaking water pump dripping into the bell housing and onto the clutch. Sometimes starting the car in gear will break it free but be careful to have one foot hard on the brake and the other hard on the clutch. If this fails then the only safe solution is to remove the motor and separate the bell housing to disassemble the clutch.”

Davidtjm

[Anonymous]

Thanks Mick and David.

I just followed your instructions and managed to free the clutch.

Fortunately my drive is made of gravel so I suspect that it “gave” a little when I started the car.

Many thanks again 🙂

[Anonymous]

Just to give this a seasonal slant, I spilled coolant over the front of the engine whilst changing my antifreeze a few weeks ago. Although I mopped everything up, sure enough, when I came to use the car two or three weeks later, the clutch had jammed.
I released it as suggested by starting up in gear with the clutch pedal pressed down, etc. If you are worried about the car taking off out of control, then on a rhd car, it is possible with the door open and the offside bonnet lifted, to reach around and press the button on the solenoid, without turning the ignition on.

[Anonymous]

Another slant on this from the CTA website. I haven’t tried this personally, but it makes sense if water ingress initially led to the clutch sticking:

Take the car out of the garage.

Open the two hoods.

With a water hose spraying water onto the clutch down by the gear selector tower. Keep this up for a good while.

Let it stand for a while … about 15 minutes.

Water the clutch again …

Now you can try to start the engine in gear & kopplingspdalen trampled.

If it starts as it means that the connection disconnected and there one can easily conclude by

to release the clutch pedal gently.

If it does not succeed watering the clutch again …

NOTE: if this method is used and the connection comes off, it’s very important to

Warm up the engine and clutch properly so that all the water centrifuge / heat away from

lamella or it may occur again.

The best is to take a real ride with the car and use the clutch properly.

If you want to reduce the risk clutch stuck again in the future so you can face

Winter arrangement to cut a piece of wood that is just the right length so that you can put it between the

trampled the clutch pedal and the lower edge of the dashboard. This will prevent the lamella to

be hard pressed between the flywheel and clutch.

[Author]

Posts