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MG TD TF 1500 Release bearing advice needed BBS discussion at MG-Cars.net
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MG TD TF 1500 - Release bearing advice needed
| I removed the transmission to change the pilot bushing. Hopefully that will ease some of the the noise. I inspected the release bearing and thought it looked rather pitted. It only has less than 15 miles on it (test drives around the cul de sac). In my experience it should be evenly worn not pitted. What do you think? Does anyone have a good/better suggestion for the release bearing than this Moss one? Thanks Tim TD12524  |
| TW Burchfield |
| Shouldn't look like that - is it possible to see a photo of the Release Lever Plate, that the release bearing pushes against. |
| R A WILSON |
| RA here it is. Tim  |
| TW Burchfield |
| Tim For a release bearing to have sustained that much damage in 15 miles you would need to be changing gear for every yard of distance traveled. It appears that the release bearing was permanently in contact with the release lever plate. Is there a finger bent or misaligned in the clutch pressure plate, I have had new Holden pressure plates supplied with this problem. Does the release bearing move freely along its full length of travel when operated by hand? There is severe pitting evident on LH release bearing actuator arm, maybe they are binding. Does the release bearing rotate freely by hand? Going to be difficult to diagnose now,if there is metal swarf in the bell housing was it present pre or post driving the vehicle. Mate carbon faced release bearings have been used for eons.For a metal one to score to this degree there has to be something out of left field occurring. Graeme |
| G Evans |
| What noise? Make sure the lever plate is exactly parallel to the flywheel when bolted up, and not cocked. If not, it will make a rattling sound when clutch pedal initially pushed. George |
| George Butz |
| The Release Lever Plate, second photo, is not central, so the clutch has been assembled incorrectly. Thus it is possible that one of the springs has been scoring the release bearing. Graeme Evans asks if the release bearing rotates freely, but it does not rotate, although it does swivel; also a bit puzzled about the comment 'out of left field occuring'. |
| R A WILSON |
| Gentlemen, the release bearing appears to be off center in the first photo because the bearing is in the rearmost position. As I move the bearing forward it centers on the output shaft. It does move freely back and forth. There was no noticeable metal in the bell housing. The lever plate in the second photo is centered. I just checked it again. It looks off center because on the angle of the photo. I'm going to order another release bearing. I know there is a long history in the roller bearing vs carbon face release bearing debate. Any personal experience with the roller bearing type? Regards Tim TD12524 |
| TW Burchfield |
| In view of what you say, a replacement release bearing is probable the next step. The clutch thrust bearings used in modern cars do not have roller bearings, but have ball bearings, - if it is possible to get such a clutch thrust bearing for our engines I would be interested. |
| R A WILSON |
| Perhaps I should say that all the ones I have changed have had ball bearings. |
| R A WILSON |
| It is available but I have no experience with it so I cannot recommend it-not cheap though. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/clutch-roller-release-bearing-Austin-Healey-Sprite-MG-midget-MGA-MG-TC-TD-TF-ZA-/181896540574 Regards Declan |
| D Burns |
| I just watched a John Twist video regarding carbon faced vs ball bearing release bearings. He makes a pretty good case against ball bearing release bearings. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KIdkOWVcGg Tim TD12524 |
| TW Burchfield |
| Regarding the release bearing on ebay, despite the title, it looks like it contains angular contact ball bearings. The release bearings made by SKF for many modern cars contain angular contact ball bearings. I will consider the ebay type for my next engine rebuild, although will view the video to see if it influences my decision. |
| R A WILSON |
| A number (bunch) of years back I tried a ball/roller throwout bearing. Within a couple of months I pulled it out and went back to a carbon release bearing. I've stayed there since then. Bud |
| Bud Krueger |
| The system tells me the video is unavailable (I did check that I had keyed in the correct access code). |
| R A WILSON |
| a ball throwout bearing need to be on a sleeve to locate it central to the clutch otherwise it will not be concentric and will wear the face. The carbon can be removed from the housing and replaced the other way round. Just heat the metal till it falls out. In the 1950's we never bought new housings just carbons. Ray TF 2884 |
| Ray Lee |
The second photo appears to indicate that the carbon release may have been riding continually against the steel. Some discoloration would be normal but it looks like it has had some extreme heat for such limited mileage. Just my thoughts.
 |
| L E D LaVerne |
| Tim, Is it possible that the clutch driven plate is in the wrong way round IE long end in towards the flywheel.(see WSM fig E1) On some replacement plates they will foul on the flywheel by the pilot bush, this will cause drag and noise. Not wishing to doubt your skills as I have done this myself. Luckily not on my TF but on a Morris Minor where you can get the lump out in 20 mins. Ray TF 2884 |
| Ray Lee |
| Ray, That must be a record. On my Morris Minor it takes me 20 minutes to get the damn Hockey sticks off! Regards Declan |
| D Burns |
| Declan, they were already off with everything else from the first time I took the lump out. Ray |
| Ray Lee |
| Also make sure you had the correct bearing. There was an article in TSO or somewhere that mentioned 3-4 different ones fit, but the carbon thickness/depth is different. Really check to make sure adequate pedal/linkage clearance when assembled, and nothing binds to hold the bearing against the plate. Ditch ball bearing idea as above suggest, not designed for that. Again, what kind of noise were you hearing? That could give a major clue at to the problem. George |
| George Butz |
| George, the release bearing is from the moss catalog 190-290. I think you and those above who mentioned constant contact with the clutch release plate surface are correct. I installed a pedal stop in the pedal box and it may have been adjusted incorrectly allowing the bearing to ride on the clutch plate when in neutral. I removed the stop and will reinstall and correctly adjust it when the new bearing arrives. Thank you everyone for the advice and comments. Regards Tim TD12524 |
| TW Burchfield |
| Ray, I don't believe you can install the pressure plate correctly with the clutch plate in backwards. I'm pretty sure it was in the right way. As far as questioning my skills I will refer to my father, a life long auto mechanic, who said the reason he knew so much about cars was that he had made every mistake there was to make with them. Regards Tim TD12524 |
| TW Burchfield |
This thread was discussed between 22/02/2017 and 24/02/2017
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