Stuck clutch

[Domiteaux]

So, My Titan has been garaged for 10 years without moving, I updated all the systems and waited to get a new fuel cell. After starting for the first time all systems looked great except not able to disengage the clutch. Both master cylinder and slave were replaced.
Race coming up in two weeks and I am not looking forward to pulling the engine/trans. Any and all thoughts on how to break this clutch plate loose would be super helpful.
Marko

[Thomas Wirtz]

Have you tried setting the car on the ground, engaging a gear and rocking it back and forth ?

[DaveW]

So, My Titan has been garaged for 10 years without moving, I updated all the systems and waited to get a new fuel cell. After starting for the first time all systems looked great except not able to disengage the clutch. Both master cylinder and slave were replaced.
Race coming up in two weeks and I am not looking forward to pulling the engine/trans. Any and all thoughts on how to break this clutch plate loose would be super helpful.
Marko

It's likely rusted/corroded together (disk to FW and/or PP), so like Thomas said, you may be able to jar/rock it loose. Just don't use reverse to do that since it's much more fragile than any other gear. Try it in a low gear so that the engine has more resistance than in a higher gear.

[Garey Guzman]

Having had a similar experience with my similarly stored March FF, I'd first try to pinpoint WHAT the issue is. Does the pushrod from the slave have good movement? Is the lever being pushed with the clutch pedal and returning when released? Is the return spring in place?

My issue ended up being an incompletely bled slave cylinder, which was a tough bleed by myself. Once I got it bled, it worked great until the the clutch throw-out bearing failed before the last race of the first event. Had to take it apart anyway before the next event but just pulling it back far enough to get to the clutch wasn't horrible, just disconnected some suspension to roll back the gearbox.

[Domiteaux]

Having had a similar experience with my similarly stored March FF, I'd first try to pinpoint WHAT the issue is. Does the pushrod from the slave have good movement? Is the lever being pushed with the clutch pedal and returning when released? Is the return spring in place?

My issue ended up being an incompletely bled slave cylinder, which was a tough bleed by myself. Once I got it bled, it worked great until the the clutch throw-out bearing failed before the last race of the first event. Had to take it apart anyway before the next event but just pulling it back far enough to get to the clutch wasn't horrible, just disconnected some suspension to roll back the gearbox.

Looking at the clucth release lever, ( again hard to do solo) it does not feel right, a little to soft at the start of pressing the pedal, unlike the rock solid brake pedal. so am going to bleed the system again as a start. If I get firm pedal and better release lever movement but no more move on to Dave’s suggestion. Thank you both!

[Garey Guzman]

Looking at the clucth release lever, ( again hard to do solo) it does not feel right, a little to soft at the start of pressing the pedal, unlike the rock solid brake pedal. so am going to bleed the system again as a start. If I get firm pedal and better release lever movement but no more move on to Dave’s suggestion. Thank you both!

The two pedals definitely should feel different. The clutch pedal may be soft as it's taking up slack in the system, then more solid as the hydraulic pressure pushes the push rod and lever down to where the TO bearing touches the clutch PP.

If you have a GoPro, it can video the rod/lever movement for you while you get in the car and operate the pedal, or you can prop your phone up. If you can see into the bellhousing, and everything seems to be operating properly, then you may find that the disc is just stuck to FW or PP as Dave mentioned. Unless it's clearly an issue of air in the system, it's likely that the clutch/PP/FW should be checked more closely by separating the gearbox and engine.

[stonebridge20]

Most likely what you have going on I've described a fix for in this thread.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app

[Domiteaux]

Most likely what you have going on I've described a fix for in this thread.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app

Well, turns out many of you were right… an amalgam of ideas, First I needed to reset the pushrod from the slave to the clutch release lever, pushed the rod all-the way up into the slave then adjust length to leave 1/16” of play, then rechecked the bleed to make sure all air was out. Hah, so then reading more responses from some time back, it is a common soft pedal symptom, and opened the link showing the cross-section of the Girling slave, wow, there is at least 1/2” of air space at the top of the slave that cannot be evacuated by bleeding. 50 years of racing FF and we have probably put up with this issue. So the final attempt worked but its clear that a better solution exists, but it involves modifying the slave to bleed the air out the top rather then the side. Amazed that someone (willwood) has not come out with a modified version that would solve the soft clutch pedal for good.
I will be modifying an old slave before the next race to prove out the theory. Everyone, Thanks for all the comments and help.
Looking forward to being back on track in a few weeks!

[stonebridge20]

Well, turns out many of you were right… an amalgam of ideas, First I needed to reset the pushrod from the slave to the clutch release lever, pushed the rod all-the way up into the slave then adjust length to leave 1/16” of play, then rechecked the bleed to make sure all air was out. Hah, so then reading more responses from some time back, it is a common soft pedal symptom, and opened the link showing the cross-section of the Girling slave, wow, there is at least 1/2” of air space at the top of the slave that cannot be evacuated by bleeding. 50 years of racing FF and we have probably put up with this issue. So the final attempt worked but its clear that a better solution exists, but it involves modifying the slave to bleed the air out the top rather then the side. Amazed that someone (willwood) has not come out with a modified version that would solve the soft clutch pedal for good.
I will be modifying an old slave before the next race to prove out the theory. Everyone, Thanks for all the comments and help.
Looking forward to being back on track in a few weeks!

https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/pr...asp?RecID=5210

[10rmotor]

What I used to do when I had an external slave on my motorcycle clutch in my DSR was to make a mockup slave cylinder fixture with a non moveable pushrod pickup point. Because the bleed screw wasn't at the very top of the cavity the way it was mounted, you couldn't really bleed the air bubble completely. Having a mount that could be oriented such that the bleed screw was up was all it took. I just clamped the fixture to a frame rail to keep it easy to work with. I also have a long piece of aluminum tubing with a little foot welded to it to catch the top of my clutch pedal that I can push with one hand from behind the roll bar where the slave is located when I bleed it.