Clutch does’t work.

[1930 roadster]

Hi guys,

I’m blinking new on this forum.
Read a lot of post though.
But now I’ve got a question that I have not seen in any of the posts.
The books by mister Les Andrews could not help me.

I bought my model a roadster last april.
My roadster never felt smooth when shifting gear.
I always double clutch. But lately it doesn’t shift at all.
Gears grinding etc. last time I drove it, I had to abuse the gearbox to get it in first.

When I looked into the little hatch op top of the bell housing, I saw the throwout bearing spinning while in neutral and no clutch ingaged. Not a good sign
I thought it had to be the clutch disk. Why else would you set the clutch this tight?

I pulled out the back axle, gearbox and clutch. Turned out nothing to see.
The previous owners did a nice job. Everything new or well preserved.
Clutch disk looks new. Checked the thickness….. must be new, over 9 mm thick.
As everything was out, I changed the throwout bearing.
Put the clutch disk back in.
Then I thought is could have been the fingers on the pressure plate.
Put the pressure plate back and set the fingers.
Put the gearbox in. I left the back axle of, to save me some work when my efforts did not work.

With the clutch fully engaged and first gear the axle won’t turn by hand.
I tried the starter. the axle turns with the clutch fully engaged.

Only thing I can think of is that clutch engaged, the axle needs some counteraction from the rear axle, to see if the clutch works. Am I right?

Otherwise I’m out of options.

I don’t think it has anything to do with the pressure plate. If the springs are worn out, the clutch would slip. In my case this seems to be the other way around.

Is there anyone who can point me in the right direction?

Thank you.

[Jacksonlll]

Two things: Get under and take a good look at the clutch actuating arm. Several have failed in our club. It can fool you. The replacement is much stronger. The old one cracks at the shaft.
The other thing is your pilot bearing on the face of the flywheel. I hope you replaced it or at least checked it. Good luck.

[1930artdeco]

Did you break some teeth in the rear axle?


Mike

[Farrell In Vancouver]

30 Roadster, What weight of gear oil are you using in the transmission?

[Y-Blockhead]

Originally Posted by Jacksonlll

Get under and take a good look at the clutch actuating arm. Several have failed in our club. It can fool you. The replacement is much stronger. The old one cracks at the shaft.

Good call. Happened to me.

I had to drive home in 2nd gear. When I came to a stoplight I had to shut off the engine. Luckily with my 12v system I could restart the engine while in 2nd gear. Not a fun experience.

[1930 roadster]

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Thanks guys for reacting so soon on my post.

I have tested the clutch actuating arm, when the transmission was out. I could pull the slider of the trow out bearing over the edge of its shaft. I should have noticed a crack in the actuating arm then. But I ll check again.

The pilot bearing in the flywheel seems OK. It rolls, with a little drag.

Mike, could you explain what happens, when some teeth are missing in the rear axle. I don' t understand.

I don't really know what kind of oil there was in the gearbox. One thing for sure it wasn't w600.

the clutch actuating arm crack would explain a lot. But with turning engine I can see the throw out bearing working the fingers on the pressure plate.

Leon.

[Patrick L.]

You mention the fingers working the pressure plate, how much does the plate move ? Does it release the disk enough so it will turn ?

I was also wondering if the flywheel had been cut and if it was cut correctly.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Clutch engaged means the clutch pedal is all the way UP, and not down to the floor.
Disengaged clutch means pedal to the floor.
So far it sounds like you need to adjust the clutch pedal for 1" of free play. With 1" of free play your throw out bearing should not be spinning.

[Jacksonlll]

On the pilot brg. Any drag will keep your disk spinning when you push the clutch to the floor. Hard to get it gear, but you can with a little grinding. Hard to live with and big job to replace it.

[1930 roadster]

I’ll check the pressure plate movement.

Tom, I learned something Today. I thought it was the otherway around. Improving my English Every day thanks For that. The spinnig of het trow out bearing I’ve fixed that.

JacksonIII sounds logical. Should this bearing really spin freely? If so, I Geuss we found the problem.

Leon.

[Big hammer]

With my idle too high I will grind gears

[wmws]

Is the clutch disk stuck to the flywheel. They will sometimes after sitting for a time.

[1930artdeco]

From reading further posts I think you found your problem. But, if you have chipped or broken teeth the rear axles will either turn in really jerky manner or not at all. Namely as there are no teeth pushing against one another.


Mike

[Patrick L.]

If all this still in't working out for you then I'd ask how/what you set the the pressure plate fingers to. Did you set them all at 5/8", 11/16" or 3/4" and did you make sure all heights were within .002".

Then with full pedal travel/return the freeplay should be 1.0-1.5". That should be enough to keep the bearing off the fingers.

[1930 roadster]

Hi Guys,

The weekend is coming and I’m planning to get dirty.
I’ll keep you posted.

Leon

[1930 roadster]

Hi guys,

After a weekend in my garage, under, in and behind my car, I’ve come to this conclusion.

The original throw out bearing must have been worn out. It spun while the clutch ingaged. This is what confused me.
I already installed a new one. But now I know that 1 inch travel on the paddle means until the fingers on the pressure plate are moving. Not until the throw out bearing is moving. I should have known better.
The worn out throwout bearing spun probably because of vibration.
The fingers on the pressure plate where way of. I’ve set them on 0.625 inch from the top.
Turns out, the pilot bearing was not that bad.

I tested shifting with the engine running No test drive jet.. (it was raining cats and dogs in Holland, Hey I own a roaster but I’m not stupid).

Minimum gear grind, but I also overhauled my carb a few weeks a go and could not test drive because the clutch issues. So probably the ideal is too high.

Next weekend the weather looks better…..

I guess for you guys nothing new. But I got to know my car better. And had fun doing it.

Thanks for all suggestions and help!

[J Franklin]

Keep it up and soon you will be dispensing Model A wisdom to others too!