problems with triumph spitfire clutch

Hi, I have a 1972 triumph spitfire 1300cc 4 speed. The problem is thus: When driving home The car stalled at a junction after I depressed the clutch pedal ie it shudderd to a halt.

I selected neutral restarted the engine depressed the clutch pedal and attempted to put her into gear and she graunched and would not go into gear. There was no clutch.

After seeking advice from the breakdown driver I bought new Master and slave cylinders from an online store fitted them, beld the system (thoroughly) and still no clutch.

I realise at this stage I am more than likely looking at removing the gearbox. my question is what should I look for. The haynes manual does not cover this type of fault. Is the problem with the clutch or is there stuff in the bell housing or gearbox that I should be looking at.

Thanks in anticipation

Steve

Reply to
steve clay
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I suspect the thrust bearing has disintegrated or got so worn it doesn't work.

Reply to
Gordon

"Gordon" realised it was Wed, 19 Jul 2006 21:49:58 +0100 and decided it was time to write:

Might also be that the fulcrum pivot pin has broken or fallen out.

Reply to
Yippee

Could be, but I reckon the engine stalling with the pedal down at the lights means there's too much friction tween crank and block from the description given. New thrusts are cheap enough (and not too much of an arse bastard to fit), but it could the damage has been done...

Reply to
Stuffed

You should have first tried operating the withdrawal lever on the gearbox by hand - if this 'flopped about' it isn't the hydraulics.

Some Triumphs have a habit of allowing the withdrawal lever pivot to fall out. Common on Dolomites and Marinas that use the same 'basic' box.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Less likely, but I have seen it once, so don't rule it out - the friction material may have come off the clutch plate because the rivets weren't rounded over properly.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Warren

Reply to
steve clay

THE WITHDRAWL LEVER. IS THIS THE ROD THAT THE SLAVE CYLINDER PISTON OPERATES ON. IF SO IT DOES FLOP AROUND IN THE SLAVE CYLINDER HOUSING.

Reply to
steve clay

YES THAT'S IT. PROB. THE RELEASE BEARING, BUT MAY AS WELL FIT A NEW CLUCH WHILE IT'S ALL APART AS THE COST IS LESS THAT THE HASSLE....

Reply to
Phil

: Could be, but I reckon the engine stalling with the pedal down at the lights : means there's too much friction tween crank and block from the description : given.

Nah - it just shows that the clutch hadn't disengaged.

Ian

Reply to
Ian Johnston

: > >

: > >I suspect the thrust bearing has disintegrated or got so worn it doesn't : > >work. : >

: > Might also be that the fulcrum pivot pin has broken or fallen out. : >

: Less likely, but I have seen it once, so don't rule it out - the friction : material may have come off the clutch plate because the rivets weren't : rounded over properly.

The clutch on my DS failed in Wales at Easter - I discovered that all the lining had come off one side of the driven plate, every last shred, while the other side is just fine.

Ian

Reply to
Ian Johnston

: I realise at this stage I am more than likely looking at removing the : gearbox. my question is what should I look for. The haynes manual : does not cover this type of fault. Is the problem with the clutch or : is there stuff in the bell housing or gearbox that I should be looking : at.

This is easy. Your clutch is knackered. You are going to have to take the gearbox (or engine, if you prefer) out. Once you've done that you can't find out which bit is broken: could be cover plate, driven plate or release bearing. Whichever it is, replace all three with a full clutch kit unless you are really skint. While you're at it, replace the crinkly washer thingy which holds the pivot pin in place. Designing the bellhousing so that pin could fall out is just one of the crimes for which Triumph's designers are now, if there is any justice, burning in the fiery pits of hell.

I don't know how long this will take, but on a Herald I would allow myself three hours working on my own. Tip: if you are taking the gearbox out through the car, remove the steering wheel and front seats. Doesn't take long and gives far more room to play with.

Oh yes, and make sure you buy a proper Borg & Beck clutch kit. Everything else is inferior, and reconditioned clutches are only for fools.

Ian

Reply to
Ian Johnston

WILL REPLACE THE CLUTCH MECHANISM IN ITS ENTIRITY ND POST HOW I GET ON. ONCE AGAIN CHEERS. STEVE

Reply to
steve clay

Theres also a fairly well known problem with these engines that they eat Crank thrust washers. When the gearbox is off check for forwards and backwards movement on the flywheel, try and lever it backwards and forwards with a lever or by hplding the flwywheel edge. If there is more like 1/8" of movement rather than just a few thou then the crank thrust washer has dropped out allowing the crank to move when the clutch is depressed. No crank thrust washer(s) will also affect the clutch operation. Steve the grease

Reply to
R L driver

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "steve clay" saying something like:

WILL REPLACE THE CLUTCH MECHANISM IN ITS ENTIRITY ND POST HOW I GET ON. ONCE AGAIN CHEERS. STEVE

Good luck with it and when you return to let us know, it'd be great if you could re-discover your capslock key and turn it off.

Reply to
Grimly Curmudgeon

Not as unlikely as I thought then! The one I saw was on a Jowett.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Warren

: > The clutch on my DS failed in Wales at Easter - I discovered that all : > the lining had come off one side of the driven plate, every last : > shred, while the other side is just fine. : >

: Not as unlikely as I thought then! The one I saw was on a Jowett.

How much of a Jowett do you have to take out to get at the problem? For the DS the answers is "practically bloody everything"

Ian

Reply to
Ian Johnston

I once had a Lancia Dilambda, one of whose endearing features was a shaft about 6" long with bolted flanges either end between clutch and gearbox. Clutch replacement was a matter of dropping the bottom half of the bellhousing and removing said shaft, which enabled you to unbolt and remove the clutch with the engine and gearbox still in place. I never had to do it, but the proceedure was detailed in the handbook.

Ron Robinson

Reply to
R.N. Robinson

Last winter I checked my Spit's thrust washers. I was hoping it was worn down a bit. Why? The clutch is very fickle. It slips intermittently. When I'm shifting from first to second at too high of an RPMs, I let go of the clutch, but it freewheels(slips). I let go of the accelerator and it "thunks" into drive.

Well, the thrust washers were fine. Perfect to the measurement. So last week I bled & flushed the clutch fluid(it was partially black). I'm hoping that does the trick. Overall the clutch isn't that bad, but every so often when I take up drive it slips regardless of my frustrated mashing on the clutch pedal. Thankfully that's the only driveability problem I've had with it(oh,and the horrible gas mielage).

Reply to
S1500

I didn't see it taken apart - I only saw the plate with a "Look at that!" exclamation. ISTR though that the Jowett radiator was behind the engine, so that the engine and gearbox would slide out through the(removed) front grille opening. A bit like an Imp arrangement, but at the front.

I have always fancied a DS, but you don't make the repairs sound attractive!

The worst clutch access problem I ever encountered was on a Standard 10, where you can't get to the top bell housing bolts with the engine in place. So you put blocks under the engine/gearbox assembly, undo the bits that attach it to the car, then remove the front crossmember and lift the body off the engine and gearbox. Alternatively, you put the whole car on ramps to get enough room under it for the gearbox tail to drop right down without hitting the road, and then if you remove the bonnet and radiator so that you can tilt everything to the right angle, there is just enough gap between front crossmember and bulkhead to lift the gearbox through. If they wanted to design a way to make drivers treat a clutch kindly, they couldn't do much better than that.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Warren

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