S1 Elise Clutch Mechanism Issues - Self-Fix Or Garage Job?

[GreyKnight]

Hi folks, long time no post - not really used the car very much this year (or last year ha ha) but trying to find reasons to get out in it more next year so just in the process of bringing it out of hibernation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, In the past year I have experienced problems with the clutch which back in April, whilst on holiday in Wales, resulted in the car having to be recovered by Green Flag back to a local garage. The clutch was “stuck” open so I had no drive at all. The clutch plate itself is fine, however the mechanism by which it operates is prone to seizing.

 

 

The local garage diagnosed that the problem was with the linkage on top of the clutch housing / gearbox which they said was seized. A common issue on the Rover part apparently. This has probably occurred mostly due to the fact that the car doesn’t get much use and can be stood for long periods of time. The garage spent a couple of hours oiling the linkage and “tapping it with a hammer” as they said, to free it up and immediately afterwards the difference was amazing, the clutch felt like new again, however the problem has now returned (as the garage said it would). They told me that the linkage ideally required stripping down, cleaning and reassembling in order to achieve a long term solution.

At the moment the clutch has not seized completely, however when starting the car from cold the clutch pedal is very stiff to depress and the biting point is very high. When the clutch does bite it will invariably slip quite easily as I guess it is not engaged properly. After some use this improves. I suspect that the master cylinder and or slave cylinder may also need attention.

 

So, my questions are:-

 

1) If I could get the car up high enough is this something I could perhaps attempt myself?

 

2) If taking it to a garage is more advisible (and I suspect this will be what happens) who is the Lotus specialist garage of choice these days for somebody from Warwickshire? I live in Alcester near Stratford.

 

thanks guys

 

Graham

[Martin R]

Graham, its not really an easy DIY as the box will have to come out. I think you can get an uprated part with a grease nipple fitted? You need to use it occasionally.

 

Gav at Unit 4 in Burton has a good reputation. Its a bit of a jaunt but may well be worth it. Besides that i suppose its Paul Matty who are good but tend not to be cheap.

 

Edit.

 

http://www.eliseparts.com/products/show/12/145/clutch-release-arm/

[GreyKnight]

Hi Martin

 

Yeah I know I need to use it occasionally - but having got married this year and with a baby coming in January it's not looking hopeful...

 

Anyway, thanks for the info, I'm glad you could understand what part I was talking about. I didn't know it was a gearbox out job though :-( Guess it's going to cost me an arm and a leg then.

 

So, the usual question to ask is "is there anything else worth having done / doing while the gearbox is out?"

 

Thanks

 

Graham

[Martin R]

Depends on funds i suppose. K series clutchs appear to last a long time. However worth considering a clutch assembly if its coming out. I expect box in and out will be approx 8 - 10 hours labour charge for a good independant?

[Elise+Imp]

you should be able to get a feel for what's wrong;

if you remove the retaining clip and the clevis pin from the cylinder you can then push the hydraulic cylinder piston back in by hand; if not the hydraulics are part seized,

 

the clutch arm can be operated by hand (you may need to unbolt the slave cylinder and swing it out the way after doing the above, you don't need to break into the fluid line so shouldn't need to bleed it)

anyway, the clutch arm should be free to move by hand away from the clutch, the lever should rotate away from the engine, the outer bushing can probably be given a shot of some lubrication but the inner bush is difficult to get to and i'm afraid is a gearbox off job.

 

there is a modified lever available (from mike satur, an MG specialist) which has a greese nipple to allow the inner bush to be lubricated, i've no experience of using one, just happened across some pics while looking for the piture below. my own opinion is excessive greasing could lead to clutch contamination and also it will attract the dust from the clutch, i'd say a reasonable amount of lubrication once it's in bits should suffice.

 

Cheers

Brian

 

heres a pic of the release mech

[GreyKnight]

Thanks for your detailed reply Brian.

 

I am being quoted 8 hours for the work plus parts so I guess this is likely to cost me in the region of £400 to get fixed. Not an unbearable amount.

 

It'll have to wait until the New Year now though, well, maybe until Spring seeing as baby is due in January - doubt I'll have much time for taking the Elise to the garage...

[John FISH Curtis]

While the box is out, it wouldnt hurt to fit a new clutch. They are not expensive and could save having the box out again if the exisitng one fails in the future.

[Elise+Imp]

The car i did at the back end of the summer (gearbox out for bearings) had no measurable wear on the clutch, there are wear limits in the manual and this had more material left than the 'new' figures in the book, that had covered 50K, i don't think they wear much unless you do traffic light grand prix's, mostly due to the lightness of the car.

 

you may consider that the oil has to be drained and you may choose to replace it, some of the favoured (synthetic) oils can work out close to £50.

 

Graham,

depending on when you want it doing i may be able to help

 

Regards

Brian

[Martin R]

Brian, the amount Graham uses it, anytime in the next 20 years should do

[danwebster]

Had exactly the same on my sisters car as she hardly ever used it.

 

I soaked the clutch arm in WD and pumped the clutch a lot. Once we got it moving, wrapped an oil soaked rag around it for a while. its fine now...

[GreyKnight]

Now now Martin, some of us have busy lives, we can't all sit around watching repeats of Come Dine With Me all day...

 

Brian, sorry for my ignorance (not been on here much lately) are you in the business then? Thanks for the offer.

 

I'm actually wondering whether one of the cylinders needs replacing as the pedal is very slow to come up from the floor when cold. It could be a bit of both, but the cylinders are cheaper to do than the fork arm.

 

Dan, that's good to know, I do suspect that recovery could be possible.

[Martin R]

Graham, PM Brian ( Elise + imp )

[GreyKnight]

Hi guys, ressurecting this thread as I've now had a chance to try and deal with this.

 

Went to bring the car from my folks place back to my new house on Monday and it wouldn't budge. Clutch was stuck solid again. It wasn't feeling great when I drove it there six weeks ago, but now it was seized completely.

 

I had a good crack at freeing it up last night - blimey the clutch arm was properly seized! Access isn't that great either because of the water pipes.

 

Anyway, I disconnected the slave cylinder from the top of the clutch arm and unbolted the cylinder from the bracket to get it out of the way, then I managed to find a strong piece of pipe which I threaded over the end of the clutch arm to use as a lever. It was a good two feet long and even then I had to use considerable brute force to get the clutch arm to move even a tiny amount. I kept spraying WD40 on to the area where the arm enters the clutch bell and after about half an hour I now have about 1.5 to 2 inches of movement at the tip of the arm itself, but it's still very stiff. I put it all back together and tried the clutch again, the cylinder is able to push the clutch in now, but still won't let it out again. It needs more lubrication and "wiggling" I think. Either that or could one of the cylinders not be working properly?

 

How "free" should the clutch arm actually be when it's working normally? Should I be able to move it by hand without a lever or not?

 

Going to keep having a go - I must be able to make some headway now it's moving at least.

 

thanks

 

Graham

[russelld]

Normally they move very freely until they meet the resistance of the clutch that is. I can move mine in and out with less than the pressure of a little finger ! Ooh err

[GreyKnight]

Right, well god knows how I'll get it freed up to that degree! I'm going to buy some proper penetrating oil today and see if that helps.