Clutch Fork Loose

[Jutzi420]

I was driving home from work on Friday and I head a thump during a shift, then I could not get the clutch to disengage. I looked it over and found the clutch fork loose, and it doesn't put pressure on the push rod. So I would say something is janked between the fork and the release bearing correct? The clutch is a centerforce, six, maybe seven years old at the most, 15k a year.

So I'm looking for opinions, could it be as easy as a new release bearing, or am I looking at possibly needing the whole kit?

[wagZE]

So your slave cylinder (on the trans itself) is or is not moving when you have someone push in the clutch?

[Jutzi420]

Master pushes fluid, slave is fully extended, and the fork is loose. I rebuilt the slave ~5 months ago to fix a different problem.

I'm just looking for some input frok people who have fixed clutches as to how much might need to be replaced.

[Mooneggs]

This exact thing happened to me and it ended up being that the fork cracked in half. Fortunately I had a spare g series that I could get it from.

[Daninski]

This exact thing happened to me and it ended up being that the fork cracked in half. Fortunately I had a spare g series that I could get it from.

Hmm, a Mooneggs spare, possibly from 'the warehouse'?

[Jutzi420]

This exact thing happened to me and it ended up being that the fork cracked in half. Fortunately I had a spare g series that I could get it from.

Yeah, that makes sense. Being able to wiggle the fork as much as I can, I suppose that probably is what is broken.

[Mooneggs]

I don't know why else it would be loose unless it came off the little knob that it sits on... the whole thing just kind of hovers there. I suppose it's possible the throwout bearing could have exploded or disintegrated? There's only a couple of parts that work together in there...

http://www.mx-3.com/manuals/showimg.php ... J2-016.gif

this is is how mine was cracked:

http://i806.photobucket.com/albums/yy34 ... C06269.jpg
http://i806.photobucket.com/albums/yy34 ... C06268.jpg

[Jutzi420]

Just a quick question before I start pulling apart anything I might not need to, I had a quick look at it again this morning and the push rod on the release cylinder was loose with a lot of play as well. At rest the fork should be pushing the the push rod into the cylinder correct? It's fully extended now and not tight against the fork.

[davmac]

Sorry, but at 90K miles plus the trouble you're having you will need to pull the transmission to see what is going on. Maybe the clutch fork is fubar or maybe something else (fingers broken on pressure plate, clutch fork fallen off peg?).

In an ideal world if you're going to pull a transmission with 90K on the clutch components you would just replace them since they are old and you've already done the hard work of removing the transmission. If you're broke then just replace whatever is broken and hope for the best. Practically every clutch component is sold separately. I doubt it makes you feel any better about the work and money you may spend, but 6 - 7 years and 90K miles is good clutch life. Yea you'll hear stories of how so n so didn't replace their clutch for 250K miles, but anything around 100K is pretty good and over 100K is great.

Oh - the fork doesn't put much pressure on the slave cylinder at rest. It's like a teeter toter with one end (relaase bearing) softly spinning against the pressure plate inside the tranny and the other end outside the tranny stuck against the slave cylinder. The pivot point should be snapped onto a stud with a ball on the end of it. At rest you could wiggle it around some, but it shouldn't be loose.

[Jutzi420]

That's pretty much the answer I was expecting with the number of km on it. Seeing as how I've never done any clutch work on my own yet I was just crossing my fingers hoping that someone who had might have some insight into a quicker fix.

I recently decided that after the next major repair cropped up I would probably stop spending money on the car, as the frame is starting to get some bad rot in places. I was hoping to get through the summer, I was close. Keep your eyes out, I'll probably be parting her out soon.

[davmac]

oops - 90 - 105km = 55 - 65 K miles which means your clutch disk, pressure plate and the fly wheel surface could have quite a bit of life left.

Before you pull the transmission - no small task or part the car double check the hydraulics. I've replaced a slave cylinder only to have the master fail a month or 2 later. Get an assistant to sit in the car and push the clutch pedal while you stare and the slave cylinder to confirm the rod moves out with the pedal pushed down and then retreats when your assitant removes their foot from the pedal. Also confirm the slave cylinder is mounted solidly to the bell housing. You need to look for hydraulic leaks too. Wouldn't it be nice if you just had to replace the clutch master or slave cylinder? Cheap and easy compared with pulling the tranny.

[Jutzi420]

I had rebuilt the master cylinder near the end of winter. I'll probably double check the slave.

[Mr.mx-3]

It is possiable the throwout bearring is stuck. You should be able to slide that little black rubber boot out on the fork and get a small view inside my old man's truck used to do the same thing of course it was a mechanical clutch but the pedal would stick on the floor and would not move until he crawled underside and popped it back out with a screw driver. If all else fails if you have access to a shop with a lift you can have the trans pulled in about 2 hrs.

[Jutzi420]

Yeah, the slave is fine for sure. I'll see if I can't take a look inside next time I'm at the shop.

[Ryan]

There's also an access plate on the bottom... that with a mirror, you can see everything.