Unable to change into gear

[FRANKIE]

Got the car back with new clutch plates, a new flywheel and a replace shifter seal. Everything seems to be running well and the gear changes feel a little smoother then I ever remember them being.

That gives you peace of mind driving down the road........................Frankie

 

[John Penfold]

I know this is an old thread and is solved with a new clutch. Just in case others find this thread with the same problem, there was a quick fix in my case.

The car ran fine on Saturday. Drove 100 miles, not a bother. Sunday morning:

• Wouldn't go into gear (with the engine running)
• Went into gear OK with the engine stopped
• Rolled OK with the handbrake off in neutral, but not when in gear.
• The clutch pedal felt normal and came back OK (that indicates the hydraulics are OK and operating the clutch release plate).

So seemed like the clutch plates were stuck together and the release spring was not strong enough to separate them.

(Mine is a very light clutch so the release spring will give a low separating force. I had driven through floods the day before so I thought it might be water on the plates, and the suction was too great for the release spring to overcome)

So :

• Engine off
• Handbrake on 'medium' (enough to drag a good bit but still allow the car to move against the engine)
• Into first gear
• Clutch all the way down
• Turn the key and don't wimp when the car kicks back: grit your teeth and hold the key open

Then:

• The car lurched forward two feet and burst into life.
• Clutch working again

You can see the idea was to give the clutch a bit of a knock while the clutch release-spring was trying to separate the plates.

 

[Nodzed]

That causes wear to the face of the bearing, and to the surfaces of the fingers which release the pressure plate.

Sorry that's not correct, the outer part of the thrust bearing that engages with the plate fingers is static and does not spin against the plate fingers so neither bearing or fingers cant wear that way.

 

[IainP]

In theory, quite correct, in practice though, age, infirmity or general incompetence trumps theory.
You take the bellhousing off and think, How. How the foxes mints (other phrases are available), can someone make a clutch do THAT!