No Clutch?

PMMessina · #1 (**permalink**) 05-17-2006, 11:03 AM

Last fall I locked my 78 Spider in the garage with the right front side propped up on a ramp. I'd been doing body work, sanding and priming and it was getting too cold to work. With the warm weather returning I went back to work on the car a couple of weeks ago. I started it up and was planning on backing it off the ramps but all I get when I try to shift is a grinding noise, the transmission won't engage in any gear.

Could it be that having the car leaning to left side all winter has pulled fluid away from some significant seal in the clutch master cylinder? Or is the car just punishing me for leaving it locked in thegarage all winter? any ideas?

VeloceOne · #2 (**permalink**) 05-17-2006, 10:21 PM

Greetings,
Sounds as if the clutch disc is stuck to the flywheel. With the car sitting and things could have been damp, the disc may have frozen.
Have someone push on the pedal, and see if the clutch fork moves properly.
Regards Ian

lowmileage · #3 (**permalink**) 05-18-2006, 08:46 AM

This happened periodically on another car (not Alfa) that I had in storage for over 10 yrs. I started the car about 2x /yr. and sometimes the disk apparenly stuck to the flywheel and didn't disengage. What I did with no ill effects as now the car has been on the road since 1990 is the following (it may or MAY NOT work in your application)
since my car was parked head in, in the garage - I put the trans in reverse and crank the starter. The initial lurch would break the disk free. If you have it in a forward gear, the car is going to lurch forward - so make sure you have room either forward or backward and that no one is standing in your way. Whether you try this or not is up to you and I can't guarantee it would be safe for the Alfa

SILVERBULLET · #4 (**permalink**) 05-18-2006, 09:30 AM

I had the same problem last spring. ROLL IT OFF THE RAMP FIRST!

Then do as lowmileage suggested: with a lot of room to run, put it in gear, depress clutch, start it up. it will buck, but I'm betting your disc will pop free with no ill effects on the first or second try. Have fun.

tmt · #5 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 01:55 PM

I discovered I had the same problem!
Reading stuff from this forum really helps alot

With the help of my brother the gears slid into place.
Thanx

Jan

**Andrew** · #6 (**permalink**) 09-05-2007, 08:51 AM

Just parking the car at an angle should not have caused clutch fluid issues unless the system already had problems anyway. That is, unless the angle was so steep that it caused the fluid to spill out of the reservoir...

Andrew

MrT · #7 (**permalink**) 09-07-2007, 09:19 AM

What did it was humidity encouraging rust to develop to bond the friction disc to the flywheel. I've experienced this on old Volvos many times. I have had to drive the car to break the bond loose once or twice. Driving slowly enough to cause the engine/trans combination to do the characteristic "bucking," but with the clutch pedal fully depressed, puts a lot of strain on the rust bond and breaks it loose.

Michael