Broken bellhouse

Ok. I'm drivin my car and all at once the engine boggs down as if it going to stop, then it runs fine for about a quarter mile then boggs down again and dies. As I'm pulling off the x-way, I push in the clutch and it goes to the floor with no resistant at all. Car wont start. I assume that the cluch isnt engaged and the transmission is in gear and that the safety switch wont let it start. Tow the thing home and find that the clutch master cylinder is compleatly out of fluid. Replace fluid. Upon further inspection I find a crack that is completely around the bellhouse. The starter is hanging on only with the wiring. On the two bolts bracket on the starter, one of those are broken. When this clutch went out all that happened was the car died and when I pushed in the clutch in it went directly to the floor. No loud bang or grinding. How could I have drove the car to where it broke down without a clutch? I wasnt with the car when it was towed home. My question is, do you think that the clutch may have broken the bellhousing? I feel that the tow truck may have dropped the car some way to cause this kind of breakage. This is a major crack in the b/h. ...Many thx ... Don

Reply to
d.roberts
Loading thread data ...

There could be several reasons why the bell housing on your

1995 Grand Am broke. Before blaming someone else, I would look at: motor mounts half shafts abuse loose bolts
Reply to
« Paul »

Was the car towed directly to your house or was it taken to the towing lot. I can't imagine how a car could be been dropped hard and far enough to cause only the bell housing to crack. I suspect that the car was worked on by someone with less than the requisite skills and tools to do the job properly and a few bolts were not tightened down.

Reply to
John S.

I assume that the cluch isnt engaged and the transmission is in gear and that the safety switch wont let it start

o.k. the safety switch that you refer to is worked by the clutch pedal located INSIDE the car.

The starter is hanging on only with the wiring. On the two bolts bracket on the starter, one of those are broken.

sounds like the starter bolts have been loose for a while and one of them finally fell out leaving your starter to twist under torque and that propably broke the bracket you are referring to and possibly what cracked the bell housing.

How could I have drove the car to where it broke down without a clutch?

well, you were driving down the freeway, and your car was already in high gear so it wasn't a problem until you were slowing down and "bogged" the engine down, if you had pulled the tranny out of gear and reved up the engine until such time as you could drop it into a lower hole (the same way you down-shift a diesel) you would have been o.k. until you had to stop, which creates a whole new set of problems .

. My question is, do you think that the clutch may have broken the bellhousing?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

I feel that the tow truck may have dropped the car some way to cause this kind of breakage

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

do yourself a favor and quit worrying about how, when, where and why this happened and focus on getting it fixed and perhaps not by the same guy that has been doing the repair or maintenance on this car.

oh, and by the way:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Reply to
plainoldmechanic

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.