vtluu
10-31-2005, 03:30 AM
As I was leaving today's autocross I experienced a strange problem I've never seen before. While the car was sitting (off) I had it in 1st gear, and when I clutched in (pedal all the way down) and started the car, it lurched forward a few times and then stalled, as if the clutch was still engaged. That was strange, but I figured maybe there was a bubble in the clutch line or something that had allowed the clutch to become engaged again even with the pedal down. I put the car in neutral, started it again and drove away without further problems.
Later tonight, I was leaving a friend's place. The car had been parked in front of his house for a few hours. I had the car in neutral; after I started it, I found I couldn't engage any of the gears--I'd try to shift to a gear and it felt "blocked". With the car off, I could change gears just fine... so it became obvious that I couldn't shift with the car started because the clutch was still engaged. We looked under the hood and verified I was getting good movement on the clutch cylinder and the clutch release fork lever. Clutch pedal feel was normal so it didn't look like it was a problem with air in the clutch line, and the physical linkage between the pedal and springs in the clutch was intact. But try as I might, I couldn't get the clutch "open"--pumped the clutch pedal many times, etc.
Finally, I was able to "unstick" the clutch by putting the car into 1st gear, and starting the car. As had happened earlier, the car lurched a few times and stalled, and the lurching seemed to be enough to cause the clutch to release properly, because I started the car again and then the clutch seemed to engage and disengage just fine. I drove home and stopped for gas along the way. Leaving the gas station, the clutch worked just fine--so it seems that the problem only happens if the car has been sitting for a couple hours or more.
Anybody know what the problem might be (more specifically than "my clutch is hosed")? :?
Later tonight, I was leaving a friend's place. The car had been parked in front of his house for a few hours. I had the car in neutral; after I started it, I found I couldn't engage any of the gears--I'd try to shift to a gear and it felt "blocked". With the car off, I could change gears just fine... so it became obvious that I couldn't shift with the car started because the clutch was still engaged. We looked under the hood and verified I was getting good movement on the clutch cylinder and the clutch release fork lever. Clutch pedal feel was normal so it didn't look like it was a problem with air in the clutch line, and the physical linkage between the pedal and springs in the clutch was intact. But try as I might, I couldn't get the clutch "open"--pumped the clutch pedal many times, etc.
Finally, I was able to "unstick" the clutch by putting the car into 1st gear, and starting the car. As had happened earlier, the car lurched a few times and stalled, and the lurching seemed to be enough to cause the clutch to release properly, because I started the car again and then the clutch seemed to engage and disengage just fine. I drove home and stopped for gas along the way. Leaving the gas station, the clutch worked just fine--so it seems that the problem only happens if the car has been sitting for a couple hours or more.
Anybody know what the problem might be (more specifically than "my clutch is hosed")? :?