Clutch will not disengage!

[CwhillVT]

This came on suddenly with no previous symptoms about an hour ago.

 

Here is what is happening:

My clutch is not disengaging and dragging on the flywheel. When I started the car- Clutch pressed, trans in neutral- I could hear a light swoosing/dragging noise. The clutch was not fully disengaging from the flywheel/pressure plate. I let the clutch out and it sounds fine (fully engages) I pressed it back in and attempted to select a gear and it would go but it was clear that the input shaft was turning- it kinda "chunked" into gear. I tried this several times and each time it got worse (I suspect that each time the clutch would disengage even less). Now I cannot get it into gear while the engine is running and the clutch is pressed.

 

Next, if I place the car in gear then attempt to start it (clutch pressed) the car jumps and tries to move (saw that one coming right). Quite simply the clutch will not disengage-but it does a little bit.

 

The puzzling part:

The pedal feels fine- not mushy and not different from before this problem began. The fluid level is fine- thus I am pretty sure there is not air in it or a leak. I had the gf modulate the clutch while I watched the clutch cylinder moving and can clearly see it pushing the clutch lever arm. I cannot say for sure if it is moving all the way or not, I don't know how far it pivots under normal operation.

 

I will be bleeding the clutch tomorrow (just in case) I'll also pull the intercooler so I can try and see if the lever arm will go farther than the cylinder is pushing it. I'm aware of other people having clutch master cylinder issues, i'll check that, although i'm not really sure what to look for other than leaks or loose mounting.

 

Any advise or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

My set up:

ACT Clutch and pressure plate

ACT lwfw

OEM TOB replaced when I did the clutch (~30k miles ago)

[CwhillVT]

Bump, need some ideas here.

[PhilT]

Could be that the clutch fork has broken, had the same happen to me.

[CwhillVT]

Did yours break inside the bell housing? I can see it move and pivot on the top side. I guess I'll pull the slave cylinder off tonight and see how freely i can move the fork by hand.

 

Ive heard of the dimple where the slave cylinder pushes wearing through or breaking through to where it just pokes through and doesnt press on the fork. I now that isnt my case by inspection.

 

Edit:

I wonter if this happened? I will know after work when I pull the intercooler off and start wiggling.

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/broke-through-my-clutch-fork-05-gt-138669.html?t=138669&highlight=clutch+fork

[PhilT]

Did yours break inside the bell housing? I can see it move and pivot on the top side. I guess I'll pull the slave cylinder off tonight and see how freely i can move the fork by hand.

 

Ive heard of the dimple where the slave cylinder pushes wearing through or breaking through to where it just pokes through and doesnt press on the fork. I now that isnt my case by inspection.

 

Edit:

I wonter if this happened? I will know after work when I pull the intercooler off and start wiggling.

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/broke-through-my-clutch-fork-05-gt-138669.html?t=138669&highlight=clutch+fork

 

That's exactly what happened to me

[CwhillVT]

Great. Might have to seperate the engine all for a $20 part. Then the question of what else do I replace while i'm apart. I only have 20k on my clutch/fw/pp.....

[OBieXT]

On my Audi, I had one of the shock springs from the center of the clutch plate pop out and it acted similar to what you are describing. Sometimes it would be fine, sometimes you'd hear a bit of noise with the pedal depressed, sometimes you'd have to stop the engine, put it it gear, then restart (with a bit of a lurch) to get it into gear. I was actually able to baby it for quite a while until I had a good opportunity to change it out.

[CwhillVT]

Looked into the bell housing through the clutch fork hole- missing fingers on the pressure plate and twisted yellow pressure plate metal. Looks like the trans is coming out.

 

Throw out bearing probably caused this I suppose.

[CwhillVT]

Here is the pressure plate. It looks like the metal on that spring fatigued and finally broke. With close inspection, it looks like the one next to it was starting to go also (or took the extra strain as the one broke) Turns out that a siezed throwout bearing was not the problem.

 

This clutch/pressure plate had 20k miles on it when this happened. The Clutch disk had alot left on it. I had Agile auto do the work (I highly recommended them for those around MD/DE/PA area) and had a new ACT pressure plate, friction disk and throwout bearing in(recieved next day from Fred Beans). Hopefully this one will last a little longer:rolleyes:.