2.0 TD - Clutch/cable problem?

[Nick Read]

Hi,

A friend of mine has a 1994 L reg Maestro Clubman 2.0 turbo diesel with 145k on the clock, and she has been having problems selecting gears recently.

Symptoms are occasionally the car suddenly refuses to go into any gear at all. 99% of the time its fine, goes into gear easily, but then part way through a journey it will refuse to go into any gear briefly. Stopping and turning the engine off seems to 'cure' it temporarily. When started again its normally fine for the rest of the journey. Initially I thought it was the carpets getting jammed under the clutch pedal, but removing the carpet has made no difference.

I've had a look at the gearchange linkage, there's nothing obviously adrift, no strange noises from the gearbox etc. My thoughts are it could be either the clutch cable, maybe something wrong with the auto adjuster on the cable, or maybe the clutch itself is on the way out and is dragging slightly?

Does this seem a likely explanantion? Any suggestions of anything else I could check?

Cheers,

Nick

[G Force]

Hi there.

I would say your instincts are probably right with regard to the clutch itself, I would say that it is likely the clutch friction plate that has possibly lost one of its damper springs and that is getting jammed now and again making the clutch drag.

Cheers Gary :)

[Nick Read]

Thanks Gary,

I've just had a look at the cable, the auto adjuster seemed to be stuck and I've pulled the cable back as per Haynes to take the slack up, there did seem to be loads of slack in it.
I hope thats all it was, but we'll see.....

Regards

Nick

[E_T_V]

The adjuster would be my first guess too. If that doesn't help check/change the gearbox oil. (If it comes out all "glittery" then you will probably need a new box). Also worth a little check is the engine mount on the bottom of the gearbox as if the engine pitches too much in the engine bay then gears can becoem mear impossible to select, (although you'd notice the gearstick jump all over the place on acceleration/deceleration if that were the case.
At that milage it could have worn out its first clutch. Lets just hope it is the adjuster, if it isn't a clutch isn't too difficult to replace.

[Nick Read]

Hello again,

I thought adjusting the cable had sorted it but...my friend rang me yesterday morning to say the car had been fine, then suddenly refused to go into gear again!

It had packed up just up the road from me, so I went to have a look. I drove it a short distance to get it in closer to the side of the road away from the traffic, it was weird, the biting point of the clutch kept moving. Sometimes it was very smooth, other times I had to practically press the pedal through the floor to get it in gear, and it went with a crunch. My first thought was the that cable auto adjuster was allowing the cable to go slack occasionally, then taking the slack up again, but no, the cable was still tensioned fine as I had left it the day before. I think this confirms Gary's theory about one of the clutch plate springs? Anyway, we got it towed to a garage and they said it needs a new clutch.
The garage in question are usually very good, its where the car is normally MOT'ed. They quoted £152 parts, labour & vat, for a new clutch. That doesn't sound too bad to me ?

Nick

[E_T_V]

It doesn't sound too bad if that price includes all the parts and labour and VAT. A new clutch will cost about 30-40 quid, but the labour in fitting it is the important bit. If you can DIY then great but it'll probably take a garage 3 hours to change one. I don't think you are being ripped off from what you've said so far. At 145k I think the clutch is allowed to be worn out!

[Nick Read]

Just noticed the mileage is slightly higher than I thought, 153k, and I guess the clutch is probably the original so its not done bad at all. Having said that, the car is an ex minicab so you could probably add another nought onto that mileage ;)