Clutch Adjustment

[Jeff Turbo]

Hi Gary. Was thinking that the bolt hadn't been put back in rather than sheered. Could also be the release bearing not attached properly to the fork as I've seen both. As Pete has to remove the gearbox really to find out what's wrong it was just an extra thing to look for but I get your point.

[Sussex Pete]

Maybe just to pre-empt what I'm going to find when I take the box off, I just checked back on the spec of the clutch kit I bought. I'm pretty certain this was based on what others had done, but the clutch was marked as being for Rover 200 (XW)(89-96) 220 2.0 TURBO 16V (92-96). Is this where the problem may lie, or should all be Ok in this area?

[Doctordiesel77]

Don't see how it could get you no drive, even if it was not identical, cover squashes plate onto flat flywheel....as long as input shafts are the same size it should drive... plenty of ways it could drive all the time, but no drive is a weird one, be interesting to see what you find.

[E_T_V]

That clutch shouldn't have fitted a standard flywheel. (Rover 220 clutch is 228mm - maestro clutch is 215mm). However you'd have noticed this when you put it in - you couldn't have bolted the clutch cover on - the bolts wouldn't line up. (The early Rover 820 turbo is a 215mm clutch though).

The usual mistake people may make is putting the friction plate in the wrong way around but I think that gives a clutch that won't disengage drive not one that won't engage.

[Sussex Pete]

That clutch shouldn't have fitted a standard flywheel. (Rover 220 clutch is 228mm - maestro clutch is 215mm). However you'd have noticed this when you put it in - you couldn't have bolted the clutch cover on - the bolts wouldn't line up. (The early Rover 820 turbo is a 215mm clutch though).

The usual mistake people may make is putting the friction plate in the wrong way around but I think that gives a clutch that won't disengage drive not one that won't engage.

If you remember Dan, I have fitted a Rover 820 flywheel (mentioned on the Ignition Problems thread, bottom of 1st page) to cater for the bigger clutch.

Probably going to start on this tomorrow, with final check that CV's are engaged in the box correctly and haven't blown their innards before stripping the box from the engine. So, unless I find something fairly evident early on, there probably won't be any updates until its out and actual problem found.

[ian drew]

If my thinking is correct, if the front is jacked up and you turn one wheel, the other will turn the opposite way. That'll test that the driveshafts and CV joints are all home. Would also rule out a potential diff problem.

Good luck with the gearbox removal, it's not my favourite job....

Ian

[E_T_V]

Yes I'd guess an inner CV isn't in place if there is no drive. You might get the speedo reading in the car though - even if there is no movement as the diff would still be spinning.

[Sussex Pete]

Bringing everyone up to date, I confirmed that wheels rotated in opposite directions when wheel free. RH CV joint easy removal, LH more difficult, so I will replace the circlips this time. Gearbox is now out. Confirmed that spinning the input shaft resulted in diff outputs rotating as expected with 2nd gear engaged. Clutch assembly looked good, and friction plate was clamped in place. On removal, fitted friction plate to gearbox input shaft to confirm that was as expected (see photo). No sign of wear on friction plate faces to give an indication that clutch had released when pedal pressed down. No stiffness in release bearing arm and bearing moving through expected arc. By measurement, confirmed that friction plate would sit 20mm from end of input shaft when fitted, so would be well onto splines.

Ignore off centre friction plate in assembly pic, it was just the angle It took the pic from. Only other concern (and maybe sidetracking myself) is that there is no front support for the gearbox input shaft - just that big hole in the flywheel. Is that correct, or should there be a bearing there of some sort?

[E_T_V]

No bearing in there. The input shaft has two bearings inside the box. So that is normal
Is the release bearing and fork looking ok?

[Sussex Pete]

No bearing in there. The input shaft has two bearings inside the box. So that is normal
Is the release bearing and fork looking ok?

Thanks for the clarification about bearings Dan. Release bearing is new and fork working correctly.

[G Force]

Ignore off centre friction plate in assembly pic, it was just the angle It took the pic from. Only other concern (and maybe sidetracking myself) is that there is no front support for the gearbox input shaft - just that big hole in the flywheel. Is that correct, or should there be a bearing there of some sort?

Hi Pete
In the second picture, the one with the clutch assembled on the flywheel. Are we looking at the assembly with the clutch cover bolted down fully?
Regards, Gary.

[Sussex Pete]

Hi Pete
In the second picture, the one with the clutch assembled on the flywheel. Are we looking at the assembly with the clutch cover bolted down fully?
Regards, Gary.

Yes Gary, I took the picture more as a reminder, because the bottom end has been fully balanced, so that I could reassemble with the cover in the same position.

[G Force]

Hi Pete
That's interesting, I realise sometimes a photograph can deceive the eye somewhat, but something does not look quite right to me. I am looking at the three dowels that positively locate the clutch to the flywheel. Under normal circumstances the dowels should pass through the holes in the pressure plate to give the positive location. In the photograph the dowels look to be slightly out of position and not locating in the pressure plate. If this is happening then the pressure plate could be sat on top of the dowels, stopping the pressure plate from giving the full clamping force on the friction plate. The pressure plate might even look as if it is tight against the flywheel but it will have distorted already when it was tightened down.

If any of the theory above is correct and that's a big if! The dowels are either not centred correctly in the flywheel or the pressure plate is drilled wrong. This would give you the no drive you are experiencing if it is extreme enough.
What do you think?
Cheers, Gary

[Sussex Pete]

Hi Gary, Well spotted, and would have been great if that had been the cause. Unfortunately, I took this photo after I had slackened all the bolts as the reminder, so was a bit of a last minute thing. So although the pic shows the pressure plate at the top of the locating dowels, they do in fact, protrude right the way through once the bolts have been torqued down. It was one thing I wasn't thinking of when I took the pic, just anxious to ensure it went back on in the correct place!

[Sussex Pete]

Well, curiouser and curiouser! Its all back together again, taking plenty of checks along the way, with no changes or repairs to any item. After the clutch was reassembled to the flywheel and the gearbox reattached, I checked the clutch action through the starter motor hole. All looked as it should and the friction plate was being released when the clutch pedal was depressed and clamped when the pedal was released. Further checks with the gear lever connected by turning the engine confirmed that the brake discs were rotating again as expected. Finally, with the car back on four wheels, I have just checked that the engine is turned with the car in gear and pulled forward. So after all that, I've changed nothing and as far as I know fixed nothing, but I'm happy to say that at the moment it appears to be working OK. What was wrong and causing a lack of drive, I'm totally at a loss to explain. Final test will be to drive the car out of the garage, but to do that I have to move my caravan - and thats not a five minute job!