QuestionQUESTION: 1970 MG Midget (1275) I bought about 1 month ago. Clutch would not disengage. I have replaced and bled both the slave and master cylinders but the problem persists. I don't know how long the car has sat. Could the clutch be seized? Recommendations?
ANSWER: Hi James,
You have to first separate the problem into either a hydraulic problem or a clutch problem. A quick method I found was to push the clutch pedal with your hand. The first inch should be free play then the pedal should be firm and stay about the same resistance all the way to the floor. If it is soft at first and don't get hard to push until part way to the floor then you can have a hydraulic problem but if it is hard to push right away then it is most likely a stuck disk.
If it is just lightly stuck you may be able to brake it loose by getting someone to sit in the car and put it in 4th gear and hold the clutch pedal to the floor. With the brake off you and another if available rock the car forward and backward as hard as you can. Some brake loose that way.
Don't be tempted to use the starter motor as I have seen a mechanic try that and he destroyed the starter bendix and a flywheel ring gear.
I had a method that worked about 50% of the time on hard stuck clutches. I had a long straight road with little traffic and no stop signs or lights.
I aimed the car down the road. Started the engine and warmed it up. Then shut down and put it in 1st gear and started the engine. It lurched and jumped a little but most warm engines will start and I sped up and leveled off on the RPM and pulled it into neutral and set the throttle at what I thought was the correct RPM for 2nd gear at that speed and pulled it into second. Then I sped up again and leveled off and pulled it into neutral again and set the throttle to the RPM that is about right for that speed in 3rd and I did the same to get into 4th gear and when in 4th I sped up until about 3500 RPM and held the clutch pedal to the floor and open and closed the throttle quickly. If the engine can brake it loose this did it.
The reason I used 4th gear is that the most strain on a clutch is in 4th gear and the reason for 3500 RPM is that the most torque the engine has is at 3500 RPM.
If that didn't do it, then I needed to remove the engine and the clutch.
It takes a little skill to do it without a lot of jerking or gear clash but I learned it working on British motorcycles as their clutches would stick when left for a long time too.
Howard
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Howard. I'm convinced it's a stuck clutch. I disconnected the release lever from the slave cylinder and the release lever moves freely without any resistance. Before pulling the engine I'll cross my fingers and hope my car is one of the 50% that break free. If it's not, does the tranny have to be removed to replace the clutch or will pulling the engine allow me to get at the clutch assembly?
AnswerMost mechanics just pull the engine and trans as a unit but some just pull the engine alone. I have tried both ways but prefer to pull both as a unit because it is sometimes difficult to get the disk aligned and trying to put the engine back in then is a hassle. Where it is much easier to put the trans onto the engine out of the car.
Howard
