Hi Guys,
Well what an eventful day. Just when i thought i was getting somewhere and piecing all the bits back together it all gets so much worst.

A while back i hit this problem and thought it was the clutch plate etc.. So i took engine out and got a few new bits etc.. with some help from builders on here. Have finally got it back in car. To find clutch doesn't work.
I thought it was the way i was activating it. But today i have done a little test shown in the picture. That i tightened it up to simulate how the clutch should be when pedal down.


Clutch arm fully in, not wrkng

I then rolled the car out, put it in gear and it jerked when trying to start. Therefore its not working

Very annoyed and going through a point wishing i had done things differently.
Few more pics, one of the slave cylinder from wilwood fitted and one of the car in its current state rolled outside.




Clutch slave cylinder


Car rolled out in sun

Oh and speaking to a friend, a possible cause for this is the clutch plate being the wrong way round which is very annoying!

The clutch plate will not fit the wrong way around.

The spring dampers sits inside the cover plate.

You just would not bolt it together.

The clutch friction plate I have just fitted was flat on one side and bulged out on the other - the splines and springs were fatter than the plate.

I noticed that with the Fat side to the flywheel it fouled on the flywheel bolts the other way it did not - so maybe as you friend said.

Another possibility is your bearing is not pushing far enough - have you used a CT133 bearing?

I'm going to have a look at my Pinto Plate now in the garage to see if its the same design.

Yes the standard Pinto plate is fatter on one side. It does look like it wouldn't bolt together as previously said though.

Kev

[Edited on 11/6/10 by big-vee-twin]

Clutch plate will go in the wrong way around and bolt up. It just won't release. Sounds like the obvious cause. If you didn't know there was a right and wrong way then you had a 50/50 chance of getting it wrong.

Yep i've used the ct133 bearing. Well the correct one at least.

Don't really know what to do next.

Sounds like its a fair bet that the plate is wrong way round I only noticed by chance

Kev

which flywheel do you have?

Sure i've read on here that the 1.8 flywheel uses a different release bearing than the 2.0.

No idea what the 2.0 uses though.

Not a clue how to sort this but,

I believe you might have a problem with your fuel filler hose as well.

shhhhhhhhhh

I have never built a car or changed a clutch.

So, what would I do . . . .


Cut down the tank filler tube. Your filler cap is far to high to be ergonomically friendly when filling the car at a petrol station. I mean, it just looks ridiculous!

Dont be offended, im drunk!!!

quote:

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Originally posted by adithorp
Clutch plate will go in the wrong way around and bolt up. It just won't release. Sounds like the obvious cause. If you didn't know there was a right and wrong way then you had a 50/50 chance of getting it wrong.

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I believe there was a problem with quinton hazel where they had something like 7000
cc133 boxed up wrong and they had the standard bearing in..

they didnt recall them, were just waiting for them to be returned

If im honest, i can't really remember but i certainly don't remember a stamp on one side saying this way up!

is there a chance the fricition plate's stuck to the flywheel? how long has it been assembled and left with pressure on?

friction plate the wrong way round sounds far more likely though. fwiw, i don't recall ever seeing a friction plate with any direction markings on it.
tom

I only put the pressure on tonight so don't think its stuck....
Hopefully it is just a swap around. Unfortunately that means engine out. Which means a load of time spent taking rad off and wiring etc.. etc..

And in response to the filler cap situation. I thought i might start a new trend. No really, Will be cut down when i make the panel for it to go in.

Eddie, it looks like the release arm touches the bellhousing on full pull which to me means either the release bearing is to thin or the release arm has come off the pin at the other end.

What size master cylinder are you using ? normal for most clutch systems is 0.75"

I have the zetec fitted with a standard bearing and most of the clutch arm travel is taken up just by adjusting the bearing up to the plate there is enough travel to engage the clutch so lik others on here I would air on the plate being the wrong way around or a problem with the arm. Im sure I have heard that there are a couple of variants of release arm if so you may have the wrong one. the friction plate will have flywheel side stamped into it.

Yup correct master cylinder. I literally just tightened it up to simulate pedal down. This would tell me if i have an actual clutch issue which i do. Therefore engine out and maybe swap the plate

Bent clutch plate? If bent the clutch can bind.
Darren

Spent a couple of not to bad hours getting the car prepared to take the engine out. So clutch, wiring, throttle, fuel pipes are all disconnected, radiator off etc.. ready for it to come out. Just got to undo gearbox mount bolts and take off the gear stick! Weren't so bad after all

[Edited on 12/6/10 by eddie99]