Moss Motors, Ltd

O.K. thought I'd give this a try as not many folks around here work on MGs. Have a 16,000 orginal mile Midget that now will not allow gears to be changed or engaged.  Grinding gears from nuetral into any gear or I should say attempt to get into gear.  Reading self help and internet advice it appears the commom problem is the clutch mstr clyinder and or the slave.  Neither appeared to be leaking but it was a good place to start. Removed both , disassembled and inspected.  Each one appeared  new with no scoring and the seals looked as new as well. The fluid was dirty and I thought that was the reason as maybe one of the seals had failed, but that was not the case. Put it all back together , installed new fluid and bleed the system. No change still grinds and won't take a gear.  The clutch actuater arm, inside the clutch housing, moved freely and made a slight clang noise when pushed and pulled by hand. No resistance. But then I don't know what to expect.  This failure happened once before and I turned the car off ( from trying to put into a gear from start up) put the car into gear , depressed the cluch and restarted the vehicle. This seemed to " Jar " whatever was hanging up loose and everything was O.K. after that. Before I start taking a engine and tranny out of a car to get a look at whatever might be the problem, and not knowing what I should consider normal in the first place, thought I would ask some advice from fellow owners and those who are familiar with what the issue could be. Thanks !!!

yearslatter,

Spridgets have only just enough throw to get the job done properly when everything in the system is brand new. As things wear, the looseness of clevis pins and clevises, the bushing and bolt for the fork, the pedal bushings, and ANY other moving, sliding, or pivoting part in the system, contributes to less and less disengagement travel over the years. Perhaps you have finally gotten to that point wher the cumulative effects of all these components wearing down has conspired to deprive you of enough travel at the end of the system to disengage the clutch, which is the symptom you describe. You need to know that this is chronic, epic, and inevitable with any aging Spridget 1275cc automobile.

So, take care of the hydraulics first, then "tighten up" any of the linkage you can access with the power unit still in the car. Replace loose clevis pins and repair or replace the clevises they serve. Make sure there is no obstruction at the bottom of the pedal stroke. Eliminate all but the very slightest free play as the pedal engages the master cylinder. If all these things don't significantly improve the action of your clutch, you may have to pull the engine and gearbox out and apart to examine the fork, release bearing, and the amount of sloppiness in the fork pivot. You can't tolerate looseness here. I hope this helps you diagnose your problem, and perhaps solve it.

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Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

First , thanks for the reply.  Just as further discussion--- The pedal has maybe 1/2" of free place before it's obvious that there is the start of resistance.  As I had mentioned the car REALLY does only have 16,000 miles on it ( Verified ). Thinking that I must have done something or overlooked something I took the slave off and had assistant push gently on clutch pedal while I watched the plunger in the slave travel.  Thinking as you did that maybe there just wasn't enough push to get the job done.  The plunger went to within a 1/4 inch of the end of the cylinder ( with the rubber cap at the end removed from the slave! ) so I think I have the push needed ( ?) .  This did happen once before and when I could not get into gear I shut the car off , put the car in gear , depressed the clutch  and started the car.  That seemed to jar the system and everything was fine after that.  In both cases it happened when the car had not moved in about 6 weeks. The clutch actuater rod just seems to move back and forth without any resistance by hand when worked.   Should it not have some end of travel where something should be felt as a mechanical operation taking place ?  As you can surmise I have some knowledge but obviously not enough to fully understand the problem or how the clutch really works.  Is it possible that something is frozen in a position inside the housing?  Just really hate to pull the engine - one of those things that maybe I'll just have to grin and bear but I sure don't want to. Thanks, again

yearslater,

Your clutch release system is what is known as hydrostatic. This means that the only thing that returns the slave cylinder piston to a resting spot is the clutch spring (diaphragm) itself. The reason for this is to optimise the travel when you step on the clutch. That's why there is no detectable free play at the rod, but you can indeed move the rod further back into the slave cylinder. It would be useful to me for you to mount everything back up and measure the LINEAR travel of the slave pushrod when someone fully depresses the clutch. You may indeed have an internal clutch mechanical problem, but first, let's see if it SHOULD be working in there! Also, before connecting back up, wiggle the release fork lever about and see how much wear there might be in that area. Let me know. We'll get this figured shortly.

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Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

Motorbill , I figured I might just as well pull the engine and do a complete inspection of everything as I also had a couple of small leaks of lube as well from various parts of the driveline.  Nothing major but it won't get any better so spring my garage floor will look pristine.  Paint the engine compartment etc. However , one simple question on the engine removal.  Pulling the cat converter requires that the " Pre-heat connection " for the  air system be removed which is directly below and hidden by the intake manifold.  The workshop manual says that there are a couple of tabs to depress and the connection elbow should just come out. Well, I have inspected, felt all over the elbow at the top etc. etc. and I can't fine anything as they say it should be.  I do not want to just pry the elbow off and damage the part which has no replacement - but the trick of removal escapes me. Any ideas ???  Thanks again for the help and I'll let you know on the clutch issue when I have a eye on it.  

What year is your car? From your latest post, I would assume it to be later than a '75. This makes a number of things different, as those cars used a different, 1500cc engine sourced from Triumph, along with a Triumph gearbox. My comments and advice still stand, but the specifics will change if it's a later car.

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Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

Motorbill, The car is a 1979 in pretty much orginal condition.  Aware that it has the Triumph engine. Thanks , again, and will keep posted.