Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 clutch

Dear folks,
I went on a trackday on monday in the 3W. It was good fun, even tho a gasket went on the way and oil spewed out for a few miles which was soon fixed up.
I drove the car quite hard round the circuit.
On the way home I noticed it was hard to get 5th gear. Is the clutch a common thing to do after around 9000 miles?
Has anyone else done any gearbox work.
Regards,
Charles

Only person who had a clutch problem honestly stated that due to his height and length of his legs he had to replace the clutch since he always had some kind of pressure on the clutch pedal. As soon as he figured out how to get some distance by moving the entire pedal assembly the problem went away.

The Mazda 5 speed is probably the most reliable piece of kit on this car.

I've replaced 3 clutches now. Highest mileage was at 11k and lowest was at 2.5k

I have also have had a strange clutch problem; big problems getting gears then damn near impossible. Turned out to be down to the chassis replacement that was done. If I remember correctly, there had been a change in the type of clutch over travel stop fitted from a stop mounted on the pedal box to an internal one in the clutch housing but when my chassis got changed they also changed the pedal box but not the over travel stop which meant that there was no end stop for the clutch which inevitably led to clutch failure and some red faces at the factory. It did all get sorted out really rather quickly. Please read the above with the words "VICE VERSA" in mind - I'm just back from watching the rugby in a local pub.
Perhaps more likely would be that the plastic socket/seat that the ball of the gear stick pivots in has started to fail/break up. When this happens the gear shift becomes very notchy and could if it goes further easily become obstructive. There is also a spring steel washer above the socket/seat that has three tangs on it that appears to be prone to failure - I don't know that this directly causes any symptoms but...
The good news is that if the gear stick seat is the problem it is very quick and easy to take it off and find out and just as quick to fit a new assembly. The bad news is that MMC appear to insist on a two month wait before sending out the replacement parts.
Good luck with it.
P.S. what track did you go to?

yea, those mazda miata transmissions were originally designed for a truck and are way overbuilt for the cars they were put in. Certainly the most reliable portion of the M3W

Eek! Not got figures for two and three speeder clutches but ought to be way more than that. I've changed the thrust bearing (carbon) but I wrecked the old one, and can't blame the car! I put the same driven plate back to get more use as well.

Two people can do a clutch plate replace on a two and three speeder in as little as 20 minutes. No need to replace driven plate as a rule.

Blimey
What were they doing to them?
I'm on 13k and clutch feels good as new (wish I hadn't said that)
I would like to think that 60k is perfectly possible.
Charles. Regards your issue. If all all gears select fine can't see its a clutch issue.
More likely linkage related.
M

Adjust clutch

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think I will wait to see how it feels over the next 1000 miles.
It was Bedford autodrome. There is good run-off there!

I don't think the clutches are adjustable Q8? How have you done yours?

I too find it incredible that Lawrie has had to change 3 clutches at such low miles, but I can only put it down to drivers riding the clutch, as there is nowhere for the clutch foot to rest, and many people don't realise the danger of using the clutch pedal as a resting place.

Any other thoughts on the reason for such early failure Lawrie?