6 hours of blood sweat and swearing later i have taken the engine out turned the clutch plate round and put it all back in

now the clutch goes down...and doesnt come back up/go back in???it goes if i push the fork back.

Any ideas? Im thinking maybe the fork has come off at its attachment on the other side of the 'box so nothing to make it return to normal, but i hope its something really simple!

p.s. 1600 xflow on escort 4 speed box

but does it work when you press it? Does it disengage the clutch? If it has come off its clippy thing, it won't move the CRB.

I dunno, thing is i dont want to continue putting the engine back together only to find i have to take it out again so once id secured engine to bellhousing and got rid of the engine crane i tried it

Is only way to find out finish reconnecting everythign then try it?

I would imagine if the clutch fork had come of its pivot point it would be sloppy and there would be no resistance as it wont be pushing clutch properly,

Does the centre plate slide up and down on the input shaft sounds like its stuck on there, maybe a bur on the splines

Just a thought

Gary

bur on the spines?

When i had it out i checked and everything was oving smoothly, there is no resistance on the clutch it just slides down to the bottom and stays there

sounds like i may be unfortuantely right and the fork has left its pivot

grr cant for the life of me seperate the gearbox from the engine by more than about 2cm so calling it a night, why does everything go wrong in the good weather?!

With a torch and a crawl under the car you can see quite a lot inside a type nine bellhousing. May be able to get a direct visual check.

Hmm ill try that i tried to reach inside but i couldnt get my hand in properly, to be honest it doesnt matter if its stuck or off the pivot ill have to take the engine back out to look, although the engine has decided it likes the gearbox and the two refuse to come more than an inch apart!

any hints on that?never had a problem before! yes all unscewed and yes gearbox supported and engine on crane

Can you get to the clutch securing bolts maybe through the clutch lever hole in the bellhousing? might be worth undoing them if all else fails at least that should help get the engine out

Try taking the s/plugs out and turning the engine over as you wiggle!! The two things may be related! Did you have the plate dead central?

Yep i spent ages lining it up!

It seems to like the engine coming out at a funny angle but go in at a different one, you know just to be awkward!

Will try turning it over see if that helps

cheers

And Im back soo i get the engine out and the clutch fork is fine...infact everything seems fine, only thing i can think of is try to reset the clutch plate and see if it wasnt quite lined up straight...

Nipping to get more oil but meanwhile, anyone got any ideas????

Not sure if this is relevant, but here goes....

When I did the clutch on my Bedford Rascal I had a lot of trouble mating engine and gearbox and in getting clutch to work properly. It turned out that the release bearing was tilting from the vertical as I pushed the gearbox onto the engine. The CRB was meeting the clutch plate springs at an angle and was hanging up on the end of the splines.

Made sure the face of the CRB was vertical as it met the clutchplate and no further problems.

Best of luck

Still no luck so a quick review..

Xflow engine, 4speed ford 'box

Clutch pedal goes down, pulls the fork on the gearbox forward (towards engine) but doesnt return. If i pull the pedal back up it goes but it has no auto return. The clutch plate is the right way round ive checked and oiled all the bits on the splines. Dropped the engine in last night i lined up the splines and checked everything twice and engine went in nice and smoothly

Still no luck, Im clean out of ideas (and not very good with clutches)

Due to move house in 2 weeks so the pressure is kind of on with this...and yes I know the idea of driving without a clutch and just stopping the engine when i want to stop but thats a last resort

Clutching (sorry) at straws here...you DO have a clutch release bearing attached to the fork?

Shoud there be a spacer? When you push the pedal forward does it actually apply the clutch? If not, sounds like you may just need a spacer/different release bearing.

Yes there is a release bearing etc as far as I know clutches everything looks fine

Ive got a mechanic coming to look over it on thursday and see what he thinks (dont worry its a mate, not broken the golden rule and paid a fortune :-P )

Ill let you know what he says and we can add it to the list of wierd things that you can do to a clutch to break it!

You may know this already, but ...

Does your clutch cover have straight fingers, or is there a significant bump at the end of each? The bump is a ____/- shape around 5mm high (apolgies for the rotten ASCII graphics!).

The straight finger type needs a release bearing with a rounded front, but the bumped-finger type need a flat fronted one.

David

quote:

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Originally posted by AlexS
Yes there is a release bearing etc as far as I know clutches everything looks fine

Ive got a mechanic coming to look over it on thursday and see what he thinks (dont worry its a mate, not broken the golden rule and paid a fortune :-P )

Ill let you know what he says and we can add it to the list of wierd things that you can do to a clutch to break it!

---

So wot did mechanic say ?

Oh he said the drive plates on its last legs and id fitted it wrongly

Anyway he went off to get me a new one and he cant get it so im fitting old one back in tomorrow (with help this time) and will have 2 last a few weeks till the new one arrives!

Feel rather daft now especially after 3 attempts i still didnt do it properly! Thanks guys! clutches arent that complicated but the people trying to fit it can make it seem that way