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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - UH-OH!

Hello all,

Well it looks like my little clutch problem just became a big one. Driving home from a trip on a rare warm day, the pedal began to have a "crunching" feel to it when pressed down. By the time I got home, I barely had any clutch action left. The pedal has proper resistance, but "crunches" when pressed. With engine off, it feels fine...just doesn't work. It looks like "open up "time. My concern is what happened? Bad pilot bushing? Pressure plate? It wa installed very carefully following procedure...but ya never know. Cab anybody offer anything...greatly appreciated!!! I only want to fix this once!


AH
ah harad

Pardon my spelling...result of stress!

AH
ah harad

If it's a carbon release bearing in your car, that's what I'd put my money on.

I don't know if a roller release bearing conversion is available for the 1275 and earlier engined cars like the one installed on the 1500 engined midgets.
Clive Reddin

This Is an easy one....Hopefully...I had the same issue.

Its the clevis Pin that connects the clutch pedal to the housing/ MC, its worn out of round and has play, you wont see it till you take it apart....Its been so long ago I cant remember how or where the pin attaches


I think its number 40 in the moss catolog

Im baseing my thoughts on the chrunching sound your experiancing and decribing

http://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=29302

Prop
Prop

Prop
Boy do I hope you're right! Before I start breathing again, why would it only crunch when running? I am getting a little bit of clutch because if I start the car in gear it moves (pedal down) forward as if the clutch is partially disengaged.
AH
ah harad

Clive,

release bearing is roller type in my 1500. it has been
noisy in that I would sometimes get a short squeak during pedal travel, then it would stop.

AH
ah harad

Sounds like the release bearing has seized/disintegrated, and is turning on the spigot it sits on. With that mileage, I'd guess that Sheng Futzu forgot to put the grease in - something I've experienced on a number of power tools from the "other side". The cheap Chinese power saw didn't surprise me, the Bosch router with a "made in China" bearing p***ed me off after about 1 hour use.

FRM
FR Millmore

AH...

Is the crunching sound comming from the transmission or at the pedal assembly?

if its in the bell housing ... then I got to go with FRM

I may have spoken to soon...For me the crunching sound came on fast and got worse, and severally affected clutch action, because the holes go out of round (egg shape) Id certianly look at that 1st before pulling the engine...btw, you can get the clevis pin from any decent hardware store


I sure hope its a celvis pin


Prop
Prop

I'd check the spigot bush in any case... my pedal would sometimes judder when cluth depressed (felt a bit like an electric shock to my leg!) and the 'only' problem I could see was the spigot bush had separated into two (axially) to give 2 pieces of ~the same size.

I can imagine it was binding and freeing quickly in succession.

A
Anthony Cutler

I'll absolutely check the clevis pin. Hope that's it, but that little voice is telling me that I'm gonna have to pull the engine to check the spigot (pilot) bushing and release bearing...and I was so careful the first time. If it is the bushing, any quick way to get it out? The last time it was a bear to remove. Thanks.

AH

ah harad

For the pilot bushing ....Ive never been able to make the stick and grease trick work

But I found the mirical cure...Go to Harbor frieght and get a blind hole puller kit....Super sweet, comes out in under 30 secounds and no mess...I got mine on in store sale for around $30.00

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95987


I know they do make a ball bearing based release bearing for the ribby ...peter may in the UK has them and Im fairly certian winners cirle has them also

http://www.spridget.com/ (winners cicle)
http://www.petermayengineering.co.uk/index.htm


BTW...Dont be afraid to look to the UK, even with the value of the dollar being more worthless then a used donkey wiping paper...there prices many times offset to makke it attractive...and shipping is with in a week for delivery
Prop

Thanks everyone for all the great advice. This weekend will be partially spent unravelling the mystery . Stay tuned!

AH
ah harad

Getting the spigot bush out is not as hard as you think. You need to use a technique applicable in all sorts of situations... hydraulics.

Use a 'spare' gearbox input shaft (or if you don't have a spare lying around... make up a hard-wood or similar dowl to fit the bush).

fill the spigot hole with gease to max half the depth of the bush, pusing grease to back to eliminate air.

Hammer the shaft/dowl into the bush, and the bush will come out...

A
Anthony Cutler

AH Harad, assuming that your Midget is a 1500cc and has the same clutch/bell housing arrangement as the UK version . . . the clutch 'release arm' (Moss 207887) will operate fine without 'pivot pin' (129410) or 'tolerance ring' (129412). This is just as well because the pivot pin has a habit of falling out (onto the road!). Unbeknown to me, I was driving my 1500 Midget for years with a missing pivot pin.

But, from the description of your noise, it does sound like your release bearing (GRB207) has a disintegrated internal ball-race. This is probably causing the 'sleeve' (139563) to rotate and grind against your thrust plugs (112509). In which case, it is a case of having to remove the engine and/or gearbox/bell housing.

Hope that helps.
Andy Hock

Andy,

I believe you are correct. The noise is definetly coming from the bell housing. I've already began the prices of removal. Just waiting for a rain free weekend day to finish. If it turns out to be the bearing, then I'll advise the brand name so this doesn't happen to others. Of course, I just could've received a bad one from a good company. Stay tuned.
AH
ah harad

This thread was discussed between 10/11/2009 and 11/11/2009

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.