Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Drivetrain problems

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Re: Planning some gearbox maintenance over winter.

Postby Fredjohn » Sun 04.05.2014, 17:35

Your thread title H-J!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: Planning some gearbox maintenance over winter.

Postby HJ2 » Sun 04.05.2014, 17:37

Nope, it's just a thread i hijacked :bananasex:
(sorry Alan!)
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Re: Planning some gearbox maintenance over winter.

Postby Enright » Mon 05.05.2014, 09:19

It's a nice collection of tips for removal/maintenance of the gearbox, so I'll edit the title of the first post to rename the thread accordingly.
Then people won't be forced to only work on their cars in Winter - some of us can't fit our cars in the garage because they're full of Elan spares! :lol:
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Re: Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Postby HJ2 » Mon 05.05.2014, 09:23

I'd like one of those garages please! :P

Another quicky: Do i need to lube the input shaft of the gearbox? This was ' dry' upon removal, but is it supposed to be so :?:
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Re: Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Postby Enright » Mon 05.05.2014, 09:27

Oh it's amazing what you find (or lose) in there! :lol:
It wouldn't hurt to put a thin smear of CV grease on it - the input shaft, not the garage! Don't gloop it on though or it could fling outwards and contaminate your nice new clutch.
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Re: Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Postby HJ2 » Mon 05.05.2014, 09:30

Okidoki, just like i thought, thanks for the confirmation!
I'm afraid the garage is already ' lubed up' here and there, haha!
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Re: Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Postby dapinky » Mon 05.05.2014, 12:00

Enright wrote:It wouldn't hurt to put a thin smear of CV grease on it - the input shaft, not the garage!


YES IT WILL....

Sorry to shout, but CV grease is the wrong stuff to use - that's why you get a little sachet of the red lube in the clutch kit (it melts at a much higher temperature and wont get flung around onto the clutch surfaces)
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Re: Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Postby HJ2 » Mon 05.05.2014, 13:10

I allready used the latter off course! :-)
Also I am not sure if i need to use locktite for the bolts that hold the box to the block, but it can't harm so i'll use that as well.
The box is already in position again by the way!
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Re: Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Postby Enright » Mon 05.05.2014, 19:50

dapinky wrote:
Enright wrote:It wouldn't hurt to put a thin smear of CV grease on it - the input shaft, not the garage!


YES IT WILL....

Sorry to shout, but CV grease is the wrong stuff to use - that's why you get a little sachet of the red lube in the clutch kit (it melts at a much higher temperature and wont get flung around onto the clutch surfaces)

In my defence, my advice was exactly what the Haynes manual for my MG said to do when replacing the clutch. And as it was all I had to hand (I only had to buy a release bearing and was given the other bits when I bought the car, so no "clutch kit"), it's what I did with no ill effects.
Now I take the point that Haynes manuals don't always give the best advice, and who's going to notice if a rattly old MG/Rover that's done 160,000 is going to slip or judder a bit anyway, but I'd never intentionally give incorrect advice on here (ex)officer)! :)
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Re: Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Postby HJ2 » Mon 05.05.2014, 19:56

No need for defending :cheers:

My next challenge: How to get the drive shafts back in! They are in up to the point where the spring ring touches.
I need to slam them back i suppose, but what would be the handy approach here?
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Re: Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Postby dapinky » Mon 05.05.2014, 20:01

Neil,

I can't complain about your information - and for other vehicles (and Haynes' book of lies) - then CV grease may well be okay.....

.....but for the last few years they have been including the 'specialist' red grease with many clutch kits.....

....Not entirely sure what it is made from, but it is meant to stay put and not fly around inside the gubbins (according to the writing on the stuff that came with my Vectra clutch)...

...and seeing as Henk-Jan had previously mentioned his sachet of red goo - I used my (partially redundant) deduction techniques to decide that it was the right stuff.
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Re: Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Postby Brit-Car-Nut » Mon 05.05.2014, 20:09

HJ2 wrote:No need for defending :cheers:

My next challenge: How to get the drive shafts back in! They are in up to the point where the spring ring touches.
I need to slam them back i suppose, but what would be the handy approach here?


HJ: You can always compress the spring ring with a hose clamp and then disassemble it to get it out of the way. A band of thin tin could aslo be shaped as a compressor and held with mole-grips - like those used for a motorcycle engine.
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Re: Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Postby HJ2 » Mon 05.05.2014, 20:18

I understand.

That sounds like a top tip, and after your phone call a couple of moments ago i now understand how the parts are mechanically designed and thus how to tackle the problem :cheers:

Isn't this the best forum ever?! :drunk:
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Re: Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Postby HJ2 » Sun 11.05.2014, 20:39

Aaaaaand.... Succes! :bananasex: :burnout:


New clutch is in and i just had a very short testdrive. All looks OK! but some details:

* Boost not over 0.6 bar... I noticed i forgot to plug the connector of the boost regulator thingey back :oops:
* A small leak at the near side CV boot... Will re-grease and fix tomorrow (Metal strap is a tad loose)
* Braking was horrible in the beginning but after some bedding in, all is OK again. (Love the Hi Spec's!)
* No more exhaust rattling at speed-bumps, as I forced the rear-end a little backward before putting the clamp back and tighten it.
* Now a drone as the exhaust touches the heatshield on the side (Grrrrr!)
* Clutch needs fine adjustment


Questions:
* Does anyone know the torq spec for the Hi-Spec caliper to Bracket? (So... Aluminum to Aluminum, the Big Allen key)

Piccies soon to follow!
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Re: Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Postby ovi » Mon 12.05.2014, 12:32

Good news! :bananasex:
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Re: Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Postby par » Tue 17.07.2018, 23:25

Found this thread to be really useful as the clutch on my car started slipping the other week. Typically I found this thread after being about halfway through the removal so did some things slightly different but the guide with pictures from Alan at the start were a great help.

Gearbox is now removed but as usual with the Elan project creep has started to rear its head! When I removed the gearbox I had expected to find inside the bell housing to be dusty but dry, instead it is coated in a film of oily sludge mainly at the bottom:-

Image

Image

Upon further inspection all the faces of the friction plate, flywheel & clutch plate were bone dry and the clutch was slipping because it had definitely reached the limit of its life due to wear after 170,000 miles and not because of being wet with oil.

I think the sludge is due to a slight oil weep that appears to be coming from the top of the engine area and getting into the bell housing where it met the dust from the friction plate wear gathered at the bottom and mixed to form the greasy sludge. I will probably end up removing the flywheel to check behind for any signs of leaks in this area. Are there any seals that are recommended to change in this area anyway while the box is out :?:
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Re: Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Postby Brit-Car-Nut » Wed 18.07.2018, 03:28

I would suspect one or both of the O-Rings at the CAS or intake cam plug in the head. These are not as easy to see when they leak a little.
A Valve Cover gasket leak would be more obvious and more likely to be caught and corrected over time.

If it were a crankshaft seal, you would have a trail from the seal downward and it would be very obvious. Same with the front seal of the gearbox.
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Re: Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Postby dapinky » Wed 18.07.2018, 08:56

:agree: - 'O' rings would be my best guess as the other options *should* be worse than that!
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Re: Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Postby Rambo » Wed 18.07.2018, 09:50

Brit-Car-Nut wrote:I would suspect one or both of the O-Rings at the CAS or intake cam plug in the head. These are not as easy to see when they leak a little


I agree too. I didn't spot my CAS o ring weep until we compared Kathryn's CAS and HES with mine at Castle Combe a year ago. Dapinky spotted it immediately, waved his magic wand and I was sorted :smt023
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Re: Gearbox and clutch removal/maintenance tips

Postby Jamie N » Wed 18.07.2018, 10:37

That doesn't actually look too bad at all Steven, its very rare to remove a gearbox that's done a few miles and not see any
gunge, the clutch dust that collects in the bottom of the bellhousing makes it look a lot more than it actually is.

Let me know if you need a hand getting the box back in. :wink:
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