rotary_neubie

Well after swapping out the incorrect flywheel (82'), out of my recently installed (83'+) engine, I now cannot put the car into gear while the car is running.

I have been driving my 7 now for about 2 weeks since I pulled the tranny and did the flywheel swap mentioned above. Now, I was driving to work on tuesday morning, and passed someone, and went to shift into 4th, and I couldn't. Tried all the gears, and couldn't get into anything..... There was no loud noises nothing that could lead me to believe that the clutch blew up. I thought it was an air pocket in the hydrolic fluid... not the case, swapped the cylinder, to no avail. The clutch was not worn badly, there was no slippage prior to this. It was just sudden. I was able to drive the car home, matching the revs and shifting without the clutch. There was a noticable increase in vibration, which can also be felt in the clutch peddal, when its partially depressed.....

I can get into a buddies shop this weekend, and he has a hoist, but limited time on it. My funds are low, and I would like to know if I need a new clutch, since turnaround time to get one is probably a day at least, or even more possibly, and I need to get all this done in one shot, while its in his shopp.

I also have an 82 flywheel, counterweight, and NEW clutch, off of my blown engine. Can these items be transfered over to the 83 with the lighter rotors?

Sorry the post is soo long, but this is the 4th time I've pulled the tranny since october....Just want to get it right this time.

rotary_neubie

Anyone?

rotary_neubie

Please, help.

rotaryspeedracer

Not a tranny expert, but...when u put the clutch on, was there a lot of resistance against the pressure plate when bolting it up, or could u run the bolts most of the way on by hand?

If u could do it by hand, I'd say u have a mismatch between flywheel and pressure plate...had problems with friend's racing 7, had to get the right flywheel for her pressure plate.

Reviewed your post again, if u drove it for 2 weeks, then my response shouldn't apply.

Not sure why u r having problems with 4th gear, have u had the tranny apart? Could be it just happened to let go internally, they r kinda fragile. Did u replace the throwout bearing? Does the vibration go away when u press the clutch pedal? If so, should be throwout bearing.

Not sure there is a way to determine what flywheel goes with what pressure plate unless u have all parts there on the floor.

Sorry I can't be of more help

rotaryspeedracer

Reread post again (geez I'mt tired), the shift rod may have over-extended, causing the mechanism to over-travel and get stuck, possibly in more than one gear.

We confirmed the possibility of this happening in friend's 7 race car.

If this is it, the tranny has to come apart. I tell ya, I look forward to rebuilding our RE than taking a tranny apart and putting it back together.

rotary_neubie

Its not only 4th gear. When the car is running, it won't go in any gears....when the car is not running, it will go thru the gears fine.

shm21284

you dont want to put your counterweight from an 82 onto an 83. itll make it worse than just using the 83 flywheel (it probably wont be that disbalenced... my 79 has an 83 flywheel and its only a little vibrationy at redline).
from what your describing, it sounds like a clutch cylinder or slave, or even air in the lines, but it hard to tell without driving it...

rotary_neubie

I had a buddy push with a bar on the fork piece that sticks out of the tranny, the part the clutch is supposed to move, and the amount he could move it was to same amount that depressing the clutch would move it... I've ruled out air bubbles cause we spent alot of time bleeding the system after changing what I guess was the master cylinder, the one that is attached to the flywheel.

Rx7carl

Does the clutch pedal still feel normal? Happening all of a sudden like that sounds like something like the clutch fork popped off its pivot or something. Was there alot of restistance when he manually tried to move the fork?

rotary_neubie

No the clutch pedal doesn't feel normal. Its alot easier to push than what it used to be, and I do think there was a fair amount of resistance when he tried to move the fork.

Rx7carl

Then it sounds like a clutch hydraulic problem. Have a friend watch the fork move while you actuate the pedal.

shm21284

You definately have something wrong with the clutch system. You bled it, so there are no bubbles in the line. It SOUNDS like the master cylinder or slave unit (slave is on top of the flywheel) has gone bad. Heres what to do:
1)Pump the clutch pedal quickly. Does it feel better after you pump it up? Or, if you want, fire the car up. pump it up a bunch, and hold it in. As soon as you hold it in, try and put it in reverse gear. If it grinds, DONT FORCE IT!!! somethings wrong
2)have a friend help for this one. have him sit in the car and pump the clutch, while you are watching the slave unit (on top of the bellhousing). can you see the rubber boot move? if he pumps it up quickly, then pumps a bit slower, does it seem to have more throw? If not, replace the master cylinder AND slave unit, not a good idea to do one at a time because when one goes bad, the other follows soonafter... unless you have just replaced one

rotary_neubie

Well I got her back on the road today. It was the clutch. the surface of the cluctch that faced the flywheel (I think), was completely missing all of the clutch material, it all let go in big chunks, and binded between the clutch, and the flywheel, which would not allow movement to disengage the motor and trans. put in a different clutch and its find now. Thanks for the ideas.

Rx7carl

Glad you got it fixed. What caused the failure?

rotary_neubie

I guess the cause or the failure was just an old clutch. It wasn't in mint shape when I put it back together, but I thought it would hold on longer than it did. There was a small chip missing out of the outer edge of the clutch material when I put it in there the last time... Didn't think that small piece that was missing would lead to this, but I guess it can.