Clutch problem

[Chris_911]

Hi

I wonder if any of you knowledgeable guys can help me.

Used my car today after it has been standing idle in my garage for about 5 weeks. With the car idling in neutral pressing the clutch pedal right down to the floor produced a very strange 'knocking' noise - clearly some part of the clutch mech contacting with something rotating. Proceeded to drive the car over to PCGB HQ - about 25 miles.

No problems at all with shifting or selecting gears.

Arrived at PCGB HQ and sat with the car idling in neutral. Could still detect the knocking with the pedal fully depressed, but now v.much reduced. By repeatedly pressing the pedal to the floor and allowing to release under its own force managed to eliminate the knocking.

Any ideas? No problems on the way back. Shifting no different than it ever has. No further sign of the knocking.

Can't quite work out what it is.

 

[twinny]

Mmmm tricky one. I had a problem with my clutch that started a little like this, it turned out to be one of the bolts on the bell housing working loose so when you depressed the clutch it separated from the engine! My knocking noise was the flywheel ring gear clipping the casing.

May be worth checking the engine mounts as they can cause some funny things to occur when declutching.

Not sure if this is any use.

 

[sentwistle]

This maybe completely different but I had similar last week.

Mine seemed to be a pipe which runs in cabin under the clutch pedal - my battery had been flat and I think engine was running a little rough after jump start hence the pipe was vibrating more than normal.

After 5 mins it stopped knocking unless I REALLY pressed hard on clutch.

Steve E.

 

[Chris_911]

Thanks for your thoughts.

This has me really puzzled.

I'll try to use the car again this weekend.

 

[Guest]

Just had the same fault. If you just dip the clutch there is no problem I did the Evo Triangle like this!). If you push it to the floor there is a metallic knocking noise. The initial diagnosis was that the spring had broken allowing the clutch to work out of plane and the arm to catch.

On splitting the engine this was not the case and although it was not clear what was causing it it was clear that the arm was in fact making contact.

To cut a long story short as all the bits had been ordered it was all fitted. The only discernable difference was that the plane of the clutch spring was slightly different on the new one. I suspect that the spring had for some reason 'gone soft' and was allowing the clutch to go slightly over centre.

Anyway new clutch, problem now solved. It's not a cheap option so I suggest you explore all else first!

 

[JB 3.2]

Repeated pumping of the pedal sounds like there may be a little air in the system on a hydraulic clutch possibly from a slave cylinder starting to leak. The pedal pumping would compress any air in the system allowing greater movement of the clutch fork giving full disengagement. I'm not quite sure why this would cause the noise unless it was the release bearing not being as far forward as usual.
Regards...JB