Clutch knackered?

The Oily Bits S1 Specific Topics
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Cheers Uldis.My clutch woes are still ongoing. I’ve had the slave cylinder and the trunnion bush on the pedal replaced. It seemed perfect for a couple of hours and then the clutch pedal suddenly stopped working for a moment. Now it’s working again. I just don’t trust it. We’re going to try replacing the master cylinder as well.

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Well, we replaced the master cylinder, and it’s still not working right. It seems that if I ease off the clutch pedal slowly, the pedal doesn’t come all the way up. If I press it down again and then ease it up again, it’ll be lower still. Repeat this a few times, and the bite point will be on the floor, and I can’t get in/out of gear. Wierd!I think we’re going to have to get the gearbox out and take a good look at everything in the clutch area.On the bright side, I guess this is a good opportunity to upgrade to the motorsport clutch and maybe the UCR gearbox [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]

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quote:Originally posted by Brendan:Repeat this a few times, and the bite point will be on the floor, and I can’t get in/out of gear. Wierd!There was some discussion on the Elise BBS about a similar effect.Seems that on some cars the connection between the clutch hose and the solid part on the slave end can develop a harline fracture as the engine rocks on it’s mountings and the hose flexes near the join.This will very slowly squeeze fluid out every time you press the clutch pedal and allow air in when you release.After a few times: no more clutch…Just something to check out…Bye, Arno.

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Good point Arno. RussT (still on holiday!!!)has got through 3 clutch pipes in around 30K miles, due to the problem you describe.Fitting one of Eliseparts Nylatron engine mount bushes will considerably reduce/eliminate the engine rocking.Brendan - have you driven an Exige with the UCR gears? IMHO it’s not worth fitting - unless you intend competing on track. 5th is too low for “normal” Mway driving, & you would have more fun spending the dosh on doing more trackdays [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]

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Brendan,i’m sure it’s what Arno said, i had the same problem…Pesky:I’ve a UCR g/b with 4.2 final and i can tell u it is another car to drive. I would never fit the original g/b again! [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image]Nicolas

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BrendanI would definately check or change that pipe where the cracks happen before you pull the gearbox there is too much pointing to that - the problem you have just doesnt seem possible to mechanical.

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I had exactly the same problem, and it’s as Arno said… the hose itself.Left me stranded at Admin5’s house, and no matter how well we bled it, 2 clutch presses after it’d be full of air.Get the new hose from www.eliseparts.com and route it through the middle of the car. Much easier. Bri

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quote:Originally posted by Nicolas:Pesky:I’ve a UCR g/b with 4.2 final and i can tell u it is another car to drive. I would never fit the original g/b again! [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image]NicholasI agree that for track use, it’s absolutely great. I drove one of Lotus’s own Exiges with the UCR on track in Anglesey, & thought it was fantastic. However, I personally still wouldn’t get one for my car, which I still have to use on normal roads including the very,very,very boring motorways. Is the 4.2 final drive standard, or is it a higher ratio, therefore making 5th gear “more sensible” for road use? Sorry if you’ve previously covered this - I’m feeling too lazy (old!!!) to search the archives [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif[/image]

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Pesky,no problem.Normally lotus fits the UCR with a 3.9 final. I kept the standard one (4.2), that means my gears are shorter.218 km/h at 8000 rpm in fifth.I agree with u that on mw is not so confortable, and straight cuts do not help; but i love it. It is so nice to change a gear at 8000, and the next gear is always far over 6000!Last month i drove a standard exige without mods(only 190 upgr) and it was incredibly different.Anyway i’ve to tell u that a 6th gear would be very welcome, but…cheers,Nicolas

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quote:Originally posted by Nicolas:I kept the standard one (4.2), that means my gears are shorter.218 km/h at 8000 rpm in fifth. [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/shocked.gif[/image] [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]

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Thank for all the replies guys.Can anybody who had the clutch hose problem tell me whether pulling the pedal back up allowed you to start again? Mine does this, which makes me think it’s not due to fluid leakage, or air in the system. Or am I talking out of my arse?As for the UCR 'box, I always try to avoid motorways. If I’m doing a really long journey, I’ll use my wife’s Alfa.It seems like a relatively cheap way to make the car feel noticably quicker without affecting reliability, or the remains of my warranty.I’ll only upgrade to the UCR 'box if the gearbox is coming out under warrany - fingers crossed [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image]

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Brendan - take off the pipe at the slave end, and “waggle” the flare - you can just about tell if it is cracked. Simon Scuffham on the Elise BBS has a fix for it - I will not be buying another Lotus pipe for sure.[This message has been edited by RussT (edited 05 January 2003).]

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Cheers for the tip Russ. I’ll get that checked.