Cluth release bearing

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1

A word of advice :-If, for any reason your gearbox has to come out, change the clutch bearing whether it is buggered or not. I just found out that I will be needing another one (whilst mine is having a crank oil seal fitted), at a cost of around �30 for the part, but 6 hours for the 'box removal.You know it makes sense.I believe it is an MGF part, but I do not see how, even if I have 1000 bhp, there should be adverse wear on this part, so it could well be a design fault. Anyone else had this? BTW, this is the 4th one to be fitted in 30k miles. [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/frown.gif[/image][This message has been edited by RussT (edited 23 October 2002).]

2

Hi Russ,We had the clutch bearing totally destroyed after 7k miles only 8 weeks after we had the engine out to change a leaking crank shaft oil seal, so a new up-rated clutch plate and basket was also fitted at the same time.Steve.

3

Steve et al, I had the bearing replaced whilst the 'box was out - lucky for me - it was only a �30 job, rather than �300-odd.Had a snippet from a good source about these clutch plate/bearing failures on ours and the higher powered Elises - apparently the primary shaft from the box only runs on one bearing, so the “expert” reckons that this can let the flywheel end of the shaft “flutter”, as it is not supported by anything. Next time my box is out, I am having an extention piece welded on and a bearing fitted into the flywheel so that the primary shaft is more stable.

4

Just out of interest, do you start your car with the clutch pedal down ??

5

No I don’t Phil - do you think this contributes to the problem?

6

It�s hard to say Russ, I was told by my Porsche dealer, never to start my cars with the clutch pedal down as this will cause the bearing to fail, something to do with the forces exerted on the bearing when starting the engine.

7

Russ,Could you expand on that bearing and extension concept? It seems interesting as I’m going to have my box out soon to replace the clutch (nothing wrong with it, except it slips occassionally).More details, please.Cheers,Uldis

8

Uldis, I am not a mechanic, so bear with me on this description:-If you have the box on the floor, the primary shaft should be coming roughly straight out of the middle. The end of it effectively does not touch anything and is therefore unsupported and rotates freely inside the bellhousing. If this were to be extended properly, it could be then supported by a bearing in the flywheel. It would have to be balanced etc. to work, but this would prevent the primary shaft from oscillating at high revs.If you understand that, you deserve a medal [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]

9

Russ,Has lotus made any attempt to resolve the fluttering of the primary shaft?I am a bit concerned about this, although my motor hasn’t done many miles yet (lots of high revs though [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]), it would be somewhat annoying to change the bearings regularly.Kev.

10

Understood, did a nice picture of it in my mind.Now, we should call Minister to see what they have done in their race engines.Or maybe Dave Andrews…I’ll ask somebody.Cheers,Uldis

11

Kev, I think it would be fair to say that although our friends in Norfolk know about the problem,(because they have had to repair, under waranty, three clutches that I know about in the North West)they do not (allegedly) really give a monkeys because:-a) I think it is confined to the higher performance models, i.e. Exige, 340R etc.b) It would cost far too much to solvec) Most of the above are out of warranty as we speak.I would be happy to be corrected. [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif[/image]

12

Just on the line of Primary/Input shaft and spigot bearings, Just given brother a hand to take his box out due to release bearing giving up at approx 8K.He’s got the Ultra close box and the input shaft already has the spigot on the shaft where as the old standard shaft hasn’t. Don’t think the bearing is in the flywheel but guess it might be worth trying to get one.