Clutch problem

[alfaparticle]

My son Ben who lives in Fort Collins is driving a Milano Verde that I recently bought.
FS: Milano Verde $2500 obo

He just called to say that the clutch has suddenly failed. It slips so badly that he can only drive it very slowly in first and reverse. There had been no signs of clutch problems before today. I am looking for ideas about what might have happened. Can a failed pivot do this?

Thanks,
Ed Prytherch

[DonBeeson]

You can check the pivot quite easily. Get your son to head under the car and move the clutch fork. If the pivot is broken I'd bet the fork will be removeable.
If there is a piece of pivot ball that fell inside, that could probably lead an inability to grab gears.
If the pivot has failed and the fork is freely moving, the slave cylinder will not last long (gets pushed past its seals and then catches on its seals)

[gt601]

I have also seen a spring in the disk break and jam the pressure plate. I had installed a new one in my old 87 Milano and was jacking around and dumped the clutch too hard and broke a spring with the same results.

[alfaparticle]

Thanks.
I think that it must be either a failure of the pressure plate or a leaking front gearbox seal that has put oil onto the clutch.
Did the broken spring change the pedal feel or the movement of the clutch release fork?
Ed

[gt601]

The pedal felt pretty normal but not quite right. When the pivot ball broke I had a very hard pedal. If this happened all at once I would tend to say it is a mechanical failure. When a clutch usually wears out it will give you some notice. Slippage in higher gears such as mashing the gas in 4th going 30mph. I use that one to test for slippage. The times that I see instant failure is usually abuse. You can burn up a clutch into a pile of fuzz in a couple of minutes of screwing around. I had a customer bring me a Volvo S-60R that they had let their kid use for a date the night before. The remnants of the clutch looked like an afro in the bell housing. That only cost them in the neighborhood of $2500.00 to get that one fixed. It ate the flywheel
I would get someone to get it apart and if the disk is the only part screwed up you can just get a disk and be back on the road. Make sure that the assembly is marked BEFORE taking it apart so the clutch stays balanced. If it is beyond just replacing the disk get ready for a pricey clutch assembly.

Paul

[alfaparticle]

Hi Paul:
I bought my first Verde with a slipping clutch, 3 years ago. I did just what you suggested - replaced just the disc. I drove it for several weeks on the slipping clutch with no problem. I thought that the biggest hassle was disconnecting and re-connecting the gear shift linkage. It has been fine ever since.

The problem with the new failure is that this car is in Colorado, I am in South Carolina and my son is not a mechanic.
Ed

[gt601]

I'm sure that there is someone on this BB that can suggest a good mechanic there in Ft. Collins that would not rape you guys. Any one have suggestions?? Make sure that they use a small punch and mark the arm and the shaft. I have found that it is too easy to lose a paint or crayon mark when using solvents to clean things before assembly.

Paul

[Alfar7]

Ed,
bet there is a Master Cyl or Slave cyl. issue. Have him loosen the line at the Clutch MC & see if it changes. I bet something in one of the two cylinders is wanky. (British term right?)
If pivot problem it would not release......
Rj