Hi Everyone, hoping someone can offer advice on my clutch problem. It was talked about before when a guy was driving through some fast food joint, and he said it cost about $300 to fix and was a master/slave cylinder or something? My story's a bit different because it happened after I drained the oil in the gearbox, filled it up and jumped in to drive it and bang, no clutch! There are no fluid leaks and the clutch fluid is full.

I purchased a Haynes manual for it and the troubleshooting guide says that it could be a broken release bearing or fork, which would mean I'd have to take the gearbox out to fix it, right? What I need to know is: how can I tell if it's broken the release bearing or fork? Or if it's the master cylinder? :confused:

If I push back on the master cylinder piston, the release lever swings freely from left to right with no give at all (the release lever extends from the gearbox and is surrounded by a square rubber boot, I think :D ). So is this the tell tale signs of a broken release bearing or fork?

I can't afford to have it towed somewhere and fixed, so I will rely on any info given here to help me decide to fix it myself or sell it. If anyone is interested in a good car with no clutch give me a yell. :badgrin: It's a TS, red and goes like a rocket... when it's going.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated, I just hope you can understand what I've tried to explain.

how much fluid went into the clutch system?
did you bleed the clutch fluid propperly?

i'm not familiar with the whole clutch setup, but as its hyraulic, is it possible you have an air gap in your lines?.... this would give a dead feel and would only need to be bled to fix it.

No, I never touched the clutch fluid, I just drained the gearbox oil and syringed 2 litres back in. If I push slightly on the SLAVE CYLINDER (sorry I kept calling it a master cylinder... it's also called a release cylinder or operating cylinder according to manual) piston the level of clutch fluid in the resevoir rises up past the full level. When I release the piston it springs back out and pushes firmly into the hole of the release lever - the piston seems to be extended more then it should be?? :confused:

did you connect everything (and i mean double checked) back on the right way? maybe you've left something disconnected?

if the fluid level is ok and you didn't disconect n e clutch components then my advice would be to remove the slave cylinder(2 bolts) and check if the release fork is pivoting ok. it should pivotabout 10 centimetres inside tour bell housing.

i have a tr 5speed, i had a quick look at the clutch on it for you. :D
The release lever should sit pointing out at ROUGHLY 90deg from the bellhousing when the clutch is engaged (foot off pedal). The fork is able to move freely most of the way back towards the cylinder when the piston is pushed back. The lever shouldn't move away from the cylinder much past the 90deg unless your foot is on the pedal. if yours does then its either a colapsed clutch diaphram or release bearing or as you suggested the fork is broken. with it in neutral and running try to push the fork away from the cylinder and see if it knocks or grinds or if the fork kicks back, if it does then it's the clutch or bearing. if there is no noise but it engages too late or trys to twist as it engages then it's probably a broken fork. Don't grab hold of the lever too hard, god only knows if it's going to kick back in your hand.
Why did you change the gear oil in the first place?
Pm me if you want to sell it and your in nsw or qld

Thanks for looking at your car for me. What you say makes sense and indicates I have no problems with the hydraulics. If I push hard on the release lever away from the cylinder it makes a squealing noise and moves up and down slightly (twists?) and no gears can be engaged. I think this means removal of the gearbox to fix, something I can't do myself I'm sure. :cry:

I only just got the car (cheap buy from a friend) and I was in the process of tuning it up and making sure all fluid levels were ok etc. I checked the gearbox filler hole but could not feel oil so I decided rather then topping it up, I'd just drain it and put fresh oil in. The old oil was very brown and stunk like nothing else. And then the clutch failed.

It's time to sell it, I can't afford to have it fixed and then pay for rego. I'll message you with details Benau.

u can still drive the car without a clutch
wont need a towing, any mechanic should be able to drive it

i know i can drive my car efficiently with no clutch, down and up gears hehe

my old TP did this i think it was the master cylinder or something :S but nothing to do with the clutch

It needs a good wash

thanks for the pics, I got your pm, I will call you. You should have requested my email rather than posted the pics as there is limited bandwidth available to the site. As "the regulars" well know we are often without a forum for a few days at the end of every month due to the available bandwidth being exceeded. to everyone else, please don't open the pics this uses up bandwith also

Bit late maybe, but it sounds like your problem may be the linkage at the clutch pedal, or the master cylinder itself. When you push the slave cylinder piston in, fluid should only flow back into the reservoir if:
a) The master cylinder piston is fully retracted, hence opening the fluid return port in the master cylinder
b) the master cylinder is shagged, allowing fluid to bypass the piston / seal.

(a) would occur is the pivot pin or pushrod has come adrift where your pedal connects to the master cylinder. If the connections / linkages are all ok, then I'd suspect (b)

HTH