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MG MGA - Wierd clutch thing

My MGA MkII sat for several years with little use. I pulled it out of storage, serviced it, and got it back on the road.

The only "repair" I had to make was replace to the handbrake cable and a leaky wheel cylinder.

I now drive it once a week or so. When I leave it sit for a while and start it, the clutch won't release. What I've been doing is throwing it into reverse (to reverse out of the garage) and it will move, even with the clutch pedal depressed. I'll then take it out of gear to stop.

Once I've done this the clutch works perfectly well for as long as I drive the car and even after sitting for a short period of time.

Then the car might sit another week and then the same thing happens-- I throw it into reverse with the clutch pedal depressed and it moves!

I'm thinking it could require bleeding, have a bad slave cylinder, or perhaps a bad master cylinder seal. Any ideas?
David Littlefield

Sorry for the dyslexia. Meant "weird," of course.
David Littlefield

David, I wouln't think that air could be getting into the clutch hydraulics while it was standing idle. More likely to be a bad seal in the MC, or I wonder if the clutch plate could be getting "glued" to the flywheel due to oil contamination? Of course the other answer is not to leave it sitting idle for too long!
Lindsay Sampford

David,

Sounds like time to do a rebuild on your master cylinder and I would also do the slave cylinder.

It is not an expensive hard or complicated job. Just remember the new MC seals will be tight so exercise them until they loosen up.

Check Barneys site for all instructions and information.

Jim
Jim Ferguson

Sounded like the fault was opposite to what you have thought Lindsey

If I understand correctly David is suggesting his clutch is NOT DRIVING.

David are you saying that the clutch is acting as if you have your pedal depressed all the time until it finally releases?

If so then the clutch plate will be sticking on the splined shaft and not sliding correctly when the pedal is released?

Bob Turbo Midget England

Sounds like the clutch plate is sticking to the flywheel. This used to happen to me frequently when I used to use a classic car during the summer months only. To unstick the plate I used to start in neutral, depress the clutch and throw it in first gear. engineering wise it's a horrible method and will put strain on the transmission or even maybe chip some gear teeth if you're unlucky. A better solution would be to put into gear, depress clutch and use the starter motor to free the plate. This will just stress the starter motor and battery. The best way which avoids abnormal stress is to raise the back wheels off the ground, start the engine in gear and then use the brakes to unstick the plate.

If the plate is only lightly stuck you may get away with a helper rocking the car before you start the engine while you have the clutch pedal depressed with car in gear.

As to why the clutch plate sticks---God knows! .......Mike
m.j. moore

Bob,
"I throw it into reverse with the clutch pedal depressed and it moves!" Sounds like a clutch that refuses NOT to drive to me!

Lindsay Sampford

Yeh maybe you are right Lindsay.

However I just could not understand how you could engage reverse if the clutch was stuck? I assume "throwing it in reverse" means selecting reverse gear?
Bob Turbo Midget England

What I meant was that I would start the car in neutral. Then depress the clutch and try to get it into reverse. It wouldn't go into reverse easily without a lot of graunching, so I would "throw" it into reverse quickly and the car would start moving (clutch still depressed).

It acts like Mike suggests-- that the clutch plate is stuck to the flywheel. I've had that happen in the past when the car has sat for a long period of time in a damp climate. In those cases I would raise the rear end and use the brakes to free it as Mike describes. However, in this case the car has sat for only a week, which seems to be a short period of time for the clutch to be sticking to the flywheel, although I suppose it is possible.

I'm going to go ahead and rebuild the master and slave cylinders since that is a relatively easy job. The alternative seems to be pulling the engine and replacing the clutch and perhaps resurfacing the flywheel, which is not so easy!
David Littlefield

This thread was discussed between 26/08/2010 and 27/08/2010

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