Hi there, i've got a problem with my bus at the moment, and wondered if anyone can shed some light on it for me Basically, i've done over 1500 miles in the van since i fitted the engine and got it on the road. The van has been fine since then with no problems up until yesterday.... On the way to work, i stopped at the shop to get some milk, and when i pushed the clutch pedal to put it into neutral, and the pedal "popped" under my foot, i heard it and i felt it......when i came out of the shop i had no gears other than 4th when the engine was running. I turned the engine off, and selected reverse, then fired him up whilst having the clutch depressed, and then reversed back, i then had to turn him off, and select 1st gear, then depress clutch and move off. When starting the engine with it in gear and clutch depressed the van was trying to push itself forward as if the clutch wasnt working properly....... Anyway, i made it to work, using revs and engine speed to change gear rather than the clutch (as it wouldnt help me at all). I put it on the ramp last night, put him up in the air, and the cable seemed really slack.....so i wound the wingnut up about 3 or 4 turns, until i couldnt do it with my fingers anymore......got in the van, fired him up, and hoorraah 4 gears and revers, and a clutch pedal back agaain...... So i drove him home, no funny noises, gears all worked perfectly, no probs, so i said to the misssus to take him out instead of her golf, as she was going out anyway. You can all guess what appened........after about 10 miles she phoned me and said she cant select any gears at all, so i had to go and rescue her.... Got there, clutch pedal felt like just the return spring on the box, and not a clutch plate at all, so i climbed underneath, as sure enough i could wind the cable up again.... So i wound the cable up another 3 or 4 turns, ran out of adjustment on the cable end, and still had no clutch pedal, so i had to start it in gear as before, and drive it home again, using engine speed to change gear.... So i got to work this morning, confused, again, using no clutch to drive to work, lol.....im a bit of an expert now, ha ha...... couldnt see anything wrong underneath at all, so i though its gotta be a clutch issue (as the gearbox works fine when im driving it without a clutch, and also fine when engine is off) so i've now removed the engine, and the clutch.... I still cant see anything wrong? The clutch is still as new, and still has the sachs logo visible on the wear surface, the pressure plate looks fine, and the bearing looks ok? Also in the bell housing, the fingers on the arm that pushes on the release bearing look ok, and not cracked or bent?? What else could cause this?? Any Ideas?? Im confused completely, and need the van on the road for the weekend??
A poss is that your clutch cable is on the way out and is down to a couple of strands. Undo the wing nut & pull the whole lot out from the front to take a look.
clutch cable is brand new, or was 1500 miles ago, as was wingnut, and clutch cable clevis pin thing?? also it looks fine, but i did wonder if it was perhaps pulling out of where it should be crimped on maybe?? but it doesnt look like it??
really confusing this one it still sounds like a problem with the cable almost like the wingnut is somehow unwinding or losing tension?
Clutch cable. They are pretty robust and can give service with one or 2 stands broken. Best bet is to remove the able. Chances are there is 1 or 2 broken strands. Whatever happens though, replace the cable and the conduit that sits at the side of the gearbox that the cable glides onto. This will eliminate the clutch cable from being the culprit. If it continues then it will be an engine out job to look at the clutch.
check the clevis pin aswell new ones are made of chocolate and can wear quickly, i have a new full kit to go on mine which i still havent fitted, comes with new cable bowden tube and all the other bits
And a new conduit. They cost pennies and ideally you should replace every time you replace a clutch cable.
Following this post with interest, same problems I am getting. Ordered new conduit and wingnut and cable today but have spare cable in van so will change this tommorrow. I checked all linkages tonite and all is ok so it maybe the cable!
woohoo....thanks peeps. its fixed, engine is back in, and works perfectly. There was nowt wrong with the clutch or bearing, the problem was that the bracket at then end of the bowden cable tube thats on the side of the gearbox, had worked loose, and the top bolt was almost out, this in turn had made the complete conduit break its welds, and wobble about, so what was happening was the entire outer was moving instead of moving th clutch plate ;-) all back together, and welded back on the floorpan now also i've inadvertantly made it faster too, ha ha, turns out the acc cable wasnt adjusted properly, now it is, i can get more throttle, and it flies ha ha......
