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If anyone's seen my clutch please contact me...
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 7:01 am
by El_Freddo
Long story short. Halfway down Hotham to Omeo, go to shift gear but it won't go into the one I'm after and the clutch pedal was super hard compared to normal.
Dropped in on a mechanic in Omeo who reckoned he might know a trick or two - I put my foot on the clutch and all he had to say was that it is internal. No worries, I'll just shift without a clutch - I know how to do it!
So Omeo to Lakes and halfway back was all sweet - that's about 300kms without a clutch. Around town it wasn't fun.
15km from Ensay, 55km from Omeo on a slight down hill I get off the throttle but not enough to engine brake, take a bend in the road, back on the throttle gently and the EJ was revving its tits off. There goes the pressure plate
So she's been towed to a mates place to wait for me to get some time off to do the required work on her. Bummer. But I did have trouble putting it into 1st sometimes at the traffic lights recently and she's been making a cricket like noise from the clutch area... Yay, more money to spend.
I can't wait to find out what the problem is!
Cheers
Bennie
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 9:18 am
by steptoe
Never conveniently happens as you pull up at home where you have tools and spares and the time to do it.
Just how do you change gears without the clutch - rev matching?
This still with EA5peed D/R box ain't it? Have you ever fitted new clutch to this or just used ones or never- kept same in car as you got it?
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 9:27 am
by TOONGA
Mine was in Germany for a while perhaps it was practicing for cold weather.
hope you get the problem fixed soon Bennie and from the sounds of things you will have bits of clutch in your bellhousing
TOONGA
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:35 am
by AndrewT
Bugger hey. Yeah I have the same feeling when stuff goes wrong, annoying that it's gone wrong but a little anticipation to find out what it was and why, so I can add to my experience
I had a similar situation the other day in monsterwagon. Clutch pedal went to the floor and it felt like it was stuck in gear.
I pulled over and discovered that the little metal bracket I'd made all those years ago to adapt the L series clutch pedal to operate the rod for the hydraulic master cylinder had snapped in two!
Turned around and drove the rest of the way home with no clutch, just by rev matching.
I'd made the bracket out of 3 sides of a piece of 40x40mm box section. I now know that it's not a good idea to use the side with the seam weld in it, because that's exactly where it split, right down the seam.
I made another bracket out of slightly thicker box section and made sure that the side I cut out was the seam one this time.
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:32 am
by El_Freddo
steptoe wrote:Never conveniently happens as you pull up at home where you have tools and spares and the time to do it.
Just how do you change gears without the clutch - rev matching?
This still with EA5peed D/R box ain't it? Have you ever fitted new clutch to this or just used ones or never- kept same in car as you got it?
Start in 1st gear... then rev match as you go - once you're moving it's piss easy. Doubling the clutch (heal and toe trick) all the time helps too...
The clutch plate was swapped for a new one, the pressure plate which is what has given up was a second hand unit without any heat cracks but in good working order - it's been in there for 18 months without an issue until now.
I keep telling myself that I was lucky it wasn't when out 4wd'n trying to get out of a hole like the one I was stuck in on the last cobaw trip!
TOONGA wrote:Mine was in Germany for a while perhaps it was practicing for cold weather.
hope you get the problem fixed soon Bennie and from the sounds of things you will have bits of clutch in your bellhousing
I don't think they'll be in the bell housing, I reckon the bits will still be inside where the clutch
should be in one piece - when you start it you can hear things tinkling but once started there's nothing moving in there other than the engine. Hopefully tuesday coming I'll have the engine ready to pull out...
AndrewT wrote:Bugger hey. Yeah I have the same feeling when stuff goes wrong, annoying that it's gone wrong but a little anticipation to find out what it was and why, so I can add to my experience

Yeah, this is partly why I want to do the work - other than the fact that I enjoy working on my subi (when it's not EVERY night!), plus I've not been to a mechanic for work other than a front end alignment, so why start now?!
I'm just keen to get this on the move again... Although I'm now hoping to have some other parts ready so I can do all the work at once and have a fresh Ruby Scoo again
Cheers
Bennie
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 11:53 am
by guyph_01
Reminds me of this, Staring at post 108 on my thread:)
below are the pics of what happened
guyph_01 wrote:Hummmmm, I wonder why my car suddenly stopped!!!!!??????


Notice the three cracks in the clutch disk :S

Ohhh well, SHIT HAPPENS!!!
Looking for a clutch disk now.
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 12:13 pm
by El_Freddo
guyph_01 wrote:Reminds me of this, Staring at post 108 on my thread:)
below are the pics of what happened
Interesting... Did this not give drive to the gearbox? And was the clutch pedal hard to push as well??
I'm now wondering if I just need a clutch disc or if I need the whole kit with the pressure plate as well... I've just ordered a kit today, but will ring them monday to see if there's much difference in a performance kit to an OEM standard kit - if there's ~$100 in it I reckon I'll lash out and hope I don't start mashing gearboxes!
I'm really starting to itch in regards to the autopsy - that's the thing, I would have usually got to the bottom of this issue already if I was at home and it wasn't below 5 degrees outside!!
Cheers
Bennie
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 3:37 pm
by Venom
I've got a HD exedy clutch that was running my FT4WD box if you're interested. I found the EJ25 had a brand new standard clutch slipping from the moment it left the shop after the conversion. Ballarat is a long way from Mt Hotham though.
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:35 pm
by El_Freddo
Venom wrote:I've got a HD exedy clutch that was running my FT4WD box if you're interested. I found the EJ25 had a brand new standard clutch slipping from the moment it left the shop after the conversion. Ballarat is a long way from Mt Hotham though.
That would be great, just one question though, is this for an EA82 flywheel or an EJ flywheel?
I need one for an EJ flywheel, that's why I'm asking.
Yes hotham is a long way from ballarat - but so is brisbane where a set of foz seats are headed my way

They should be here next week with any luck!
Cheers
Bennie
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:58 pm
by guyph_01
yep no drive and pedal was very hard....
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 5:09 pm
by Venom
I have NFI what flywheel my L series is using. Another -1 for paying someone to do a conversion for you.