Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Broken clutch on '89 Plus4

i have a '89 Plus4 with Rover M16 engine …. with the clutch "broken" , don't know exactly what , the fork lever go's way to far , i'm pushing the piston almost completely out of the slave cilinder.


I'm just wondering , can the gearbox be demounted with engine in place ? Is there room enough to pull the gearbox backwords till one can lower it down ?


Anybody done this ?


Many thanks for info !
Barry

Try google there are a few old threads about this subject and different opinions !

Found this post not sure it helps.
http://www.gomog.com/BLAIR/tech/44corner/art0027.html
Looks a big job!
Others will be along soon

thanks brownbaker ! yes, car is meanwhile on the lift and as far i can see , i assume no way to remove the gearbox…. it must come out trough the engine bay. I'm afraid it will be a engine out job... of course , as it's a broken clutch , i will not need to remove the gearbox in that case. ( i hope so )

damned, i have 2 oldtimers BMW CS from '70... takes a few hours to remove gearbox…. this Morgan is another story.

meanwhile , the engine is out … and it is the clutch release bearing . It's its melted in one horrible shape. I assume the bearing went bad and friction heat did the rest on the "plastic" housing... so you wonder, why not metal ? You would hear the noise but could drive home ... i think.
O well, now to look for a new clutch kit and some goodies "while i'm in there" .
Also new slave as it pushed the piston out , sticking at a angle, ….with damage on the bore.


Engine ( M16) is just passing, horizontal before lift ,with everything removed , sure not much clearance …. install will be a precision work

Plastic Housing? So the fork that the slave cylinder pushes against is metal and the bearing is metal but the housing the fork pushes against to make the bearing engage is plastic?

Anyway the reason I am posting is I know someone (with a RWD Toyota) who had a bearing fail and the Gearbox Input Shaft somehow got bent ending up not 100% straight. A few hundred km's after being put back together it snapped wrecking the new clutch, so then the gearbox had to removed again to replace both the clutch and the input shaft. You would hope you have not damaged the input shaft but certainly worth looking at before you put the engine back in.

Good luck with the car, certainly sounds like one smallish job has ended up being one much larger job with the new radiator etc. while the engine is out.

Indeed Chris, the guiding of the bearing is some kind of "molded plastic" tube .... the bearing itself is "melted" back half way that housing ! ( fork is metal )

I will sure check the input shaft … thanks for the advise.

Let's face it the manufacturer of the clutch assembly didn't expect that design still to be used 30 years later, if that is the original it has done well.

Smart cars have the clutch actuator plunger known to punch holes through the steel release arm.

No help to BelgiumBarry but it's just one of those things.