Gearbox Problems

[martsam]

Hi All,
Well the engine runs however I cannot engage any of the gears. I can when the engine is not running but as soon as the engine is running then I cannot engage. I have a sumo and have changed the clutch from a cable clutch to a hydraulic one by modifying the pedal box- fitting a master and slave cylinder. I have bled the hydraulic pipe so I know there is no air in there. The master cylinder I have is a girling 3/4 inch unit and the slave is a rover slave cylinder. Any ideas ??? What sort of pedel travel should I have???

Regards

Denis

[Sidecarbod]

An easy way to find out whether your clutch is dis-engaging would be to put the car in gear with the engine switched off, get someone to sit in the car with the clutch fully pressed down then try to push the car, if it does move get the person pushing the clutch pedal to slowly lift it until the clutch bites.

I reckon that the bite point should be about 25-30mm before the clutch pedal runs out of travel. Too much travel after the bite point may overload something but can be combatted by making a positive stop for the pedal. Too little travel after the bite point will cause drag or stop the gears engaing at all. (i.e your problem).

Regards,

Pete

[Dax SC]

hi
This is a really simple one - you have adjusted the clutch so that the plate is not fully disconnecting from the flywheel- this is causing the gearbox synchro rings to stop you putting it into gear and grinding the teeth off the gears!!. Depending on whether you have fitted a pusher or puller slave, you need to either back off or tighten up the adjuster to get the plate to fully disconnect. It will probably take three or four goes to get the adjustment right. Alternatively - back the adjustment right off until you can feel the slack in the clutch arm. Tighten up until the slack has disappeared when the clutch is not depressed.

You might find that you don't have enough travel in the system - as critical as the sizes of the slave and master cylinder pistons is the length of the release arm. If you can't get this to work, you might need to move the slave cylinder closer to the gearbox to reduce the length of the arm. If you can't do this, a slightly smaller dia slave will do the same thing.

If you can adjust the clutch so that the gears will engage, really check that the clutch isn't slipping by accelerating hard - find a bit of antiskid off some trafficlights to give you some more grip!!

[dinosoar]

Check that your clutch plate hasn't stuck to the flywheel. Has it been stood up for a while?

Andy

[martsam]

Thanks for the replies.
The engine/gearbox has been in for about 3 months so I don't think the plate isis stuck. I think it may be the travel but not sure hence the question on the travel of the pedal.

Regards

Den