First really wet trackday and although I ended up in the gravel at Gerrards at one point, (combination of cold tyres and lack of talent ) took it really easy and learnt a lot about the car, A048s and wet conditions.
We had an issue in the pits after the sighting laps where the Exige decided to either release the handbrake or pop out of gear and travel down the car park on it’s own. Steve can’t remember if he left it in gear or with the handbrake on.
Anyway, I dread to think what could if happened if a car had been parked in front of us but instead it mounted the kerb and stopped - balancing on the rear of the front clam.
A lot of paint from the bottom of the clam was left at the scene but apart from that the cosmetic damage was minor. I still can’t work out how it managed to clear the front splitter…
However, the clam has been pushed back slightly as it is interfering with the driver’s door. Didn’t get back until late last night so couldn’t do much but hopefully loosening it off slightly will do the job.
Later on, I lost clutch pressure intermittently 2 or 3 times. Could this be related in some way? I’m confused…
do not use the handbrake after a circuit session. Depending on disc temperature u can damage discs but also happend what happened to u. When hot it works then u go away and cooling down the car goes away…
clutch:
check oil level and bleed clutch and brake lines.
Sorry to hear of your problems. As Nicolas said, do not rely on the handbrake after circuit use. I too had a problem at Mallory a while back. Except in my case it was a TVR that rolled into the back of my (your) car.
Can you explain the clutch problem a bit more clearly? Did the pedal gradually drop to the floor? If so, could you pull the pedal back up and get it working again? I had this problem once, and it was a tiny fracture in the metal clutch pipe where it meets the slave cylinder. A pretty common fault on these cars.
Steve won’t live this down over on MLOC . Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Clutch was intermittent - I could get into reverse when the marshals were trying to push me out of the gravel but it wouldn’t engage. At this point the clutch wasn’t dropping and once I was back on track, was fine.
About 10 minutes later on the way back into the pits, the clutch dropped to the floor and could only get it into gear by pumping the clutch. Happened once again when we were at the petrol station but I got home without incident afterwards.
Brendan, it doesn’t still have the red clutch hose? Were these ever fitted to Exiges?
I don’t know if the red clutch hoses were ever fitted to any Exiges, but mine never had one. I know the problem with those because I had one on my first Elise. I clearly remember the embarrassment of trying to park the car in a pub car park with a couple of blokes laughing at the crunching noises when I tried to get it into reverse.
I would check the clutch fluid level, and the pipe at the slave cylinder see it it just weeping slightly.
I did once have a sticking clutch problem during a long drive. The cluth would go to the floor allowing a gear change but would not return to it’s normal position, unless pulled up manually (This was on an S1 Elise). Sound familiar?
Turned out the linkage was sticking, nothing to do with fluid levels or pressure. A bit of lubrication was all that was needed & it never happend again. Dealer said it was quite common. It never happend with the Exige though.
Clutch peddle would go to the floor and return as normal, but not disengage the clutch plate. Couldn’t get any gear but oddly no crunching, just wouldn’t push into gear.
Pumping the clutch a few times cured the problem, but felt it going again after leaving the circuit.
There’s a pipe exiting the fluid reservoire going to the slave cylindar which is a bit wet (brown/red fluid), but the overall fluid level is fine.
Also noticed recently that it’s starting to crunch when quickly changing from 4th to 5th.
It really does sound like it’s leaking fluid somewhere.
If the slave cylinder has gone there’ll be fluid inside the dust boot on the pushrod to the clutch. Easy to spot.
To tell if it’s the MC, push the clutch down, put it in first and leave it held, the clutch will slowly start to engage and push you forwards regardless of the fact you have the pedal down.
Clutch, how many miles? Also you can see how far the rod has to push with someone dipping the clutch.
Pipe leak, that’s my bet.
No red hose, all were braided.
Unlikely the gearlinkages, they just make you miss gears
Mine went on xmas day, the hose had split but not at the solid metal bit, a bit further down where the hose had been rubbing against the gearbox housing before it finally let go. Then any amount of pushing just forces fluid out of the hole in the pipe, rather than pushing the slave. But worse, it then draws in air!
You should be able to feel for fluid somewhere. From the sounds of thing it may have cracked at the MC end if that is wet… It should smell of break fluid of couse
It’s too late now digs spoon into tub of extra chocolate uber chocolate fudge
Your words are like salt, lemon and battery acid into the deep deep wounds!!
Jeez enough already with the guilt trip I already offered you a drive in the other thread what more do you want? See what happens when you sell yer Exige people,…you come over all pre-menstrual
Steve won’t live this down over on MLOC . Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Clutch was intermittent - I could get into reverse when the marshals were trying to push me out of the gravel but it wouldn’t engage. At this point the clutch wasn’t dropping and once I was back on track, was fine.
About 10 minutes later on the way back into the pits, the clutch dropped to the floor and could only get it into gear by pumping the clutch. Happened once again when we were at the petrol station but I got home without incident afterwards.
Brendan, it doesn’t still have the red clutch hose? Were these ever fitted to Exiges?
Fiona, from what you’re sayoing you just boiled the brake fluid, which happens to be shared with the clutch.
My clutch failed at Oulton about 6 weeks ago.The pipe into the slave cylinder fractured-possibly because of vibration because of sustained high revs.Kelvedon in Spalding do a kit so that you dont have to replace the whole pipe-good service and advice from Pat!!