Clutch release fork problem

[CraigD]

Hello all,

Another problem...I took a nice drive on some curvy back roads yesterday. I had noticed that the clutch was engaging closer to the floor as I was on my way back. Then after shifting into 5th gear the clutch pedal remained on the floor. I managed to limp home running a few stop signs along the way. I had assumed the problem was the clutch cable, but on inspection I found that the clutch release fork was loose within the transmission housing. I dropped the engine and tranny, wow is that easy. I only hope it goes back in with so little effort. After separating the engine and tranny I find that the clutch fork pin (#5 on the diagram) had backed out leaving the release fork dangling. The threads for the clutch fork pin itself and in the tranny housing don't appear to have any damage. Has anyone ever heard of this happening? Is there a certain type of locktite or whatever that I should use for reinstalling the fork pin?

Thanks for all the great help I have been getting here

[john walker's workshop]

they do that . against the bellhousing there is a flat washer, then on top of that is a flat spring that pushes on the fork, then the pivot ball and fork are attached thru these items. use red loctite. if the flywheel has been machined, use another flat washer under the spring or the release geometry will be messed up.

[CraigD]

John,

Is the clutch fork ball pin sold by Pelican an improvement over the stock unit? I'm not even sure the stock unit is available anymore so the question may be mute but thought I would try and get some input.

Things have been moving slowly...yard work, shopping for the holidays, work, etc, but I have the transmission case and starter degreased and looking good. Will start clean up on the transmission side of the engine next week.

[john walker's workshop]

i haven't seen the pelican unit. i believe somebody made a stronger piece, but can't remember who. the original ball is still available.

[nhromyak]

The fork itself could have cracked...

Mine did this. It made a loud BANG. Then dropped halfway to the floor.

Big Bummer...

Good luck.

Nick

[Roland Kunz]

Hello

We had a bad straw series with the spare parts and we send them to a institute to check why the failure happend.

The original units where forged and the sold replacements where turned from a billet raw piece. The company said they dumped them all and replaced them with correct made ones.

Right now it is still open who pays for the missfortune.
3 cars had a failure and mostly the fork and other items
had seen some deep scratches plus one car had to be repaired on the fly while a endurancerun some 1000mls away from home.
OK all 3 cars where used hard and extensiv ( one is a daily driver 2,2 S ) like they where used the years before as well. That problem might not hit someone who isnīt driving 15 000 mls a year. Also make sure you have the correct lever in the pedal assembly. And the adjustment will not "overpull".

As long this story isnīt cleared up I canīt give details but if you have the problem then look at the part and ask a expert and then go to the saleing company and "talk" to them.
It would maybe help us also as we are the only known company reporting failure on that part. The saler from the part has proved that the replacment is made strong enough to replace the original item. The manufactorer has aproved that he worked in the specs from the saler and the galvanizer has aproved his ISO 9000 standard and a reputation for zero failures.
You guys can imagen the points ?

Right now I would recomend to stick with the old unit or get a improved one. We made them on our own using surface hardend C45 parts and a calibratet 12.9 DIN 610 bolt. Yet those parts where made on our specs and full on our own risk so we are not thinking about saeling them ( Anyhow they are to expensive in single manufacturing ).

For all slow thinkers or input mail me direct.

Grüsse

[CraigD]

An update on my release fork problem. After much indecision I ended up reusing the OEM release fork pin. I put it back together using Locktite Red. Not sure about the long term prognosis but went for the first drive in a while today and shifting was better than it ever has been. Note: I have only had the car since the end of August, so not that many miles/shifts previously. Slides nicely into second now while before I always had to move the shifter steadily and SLOWLY toward second if engine RPM were greater than 3000. If I shifted too quickly I would get grinding which as we all know is not a good thing. While I had everything out I cleaned up the tranny case and the tranny side of the engine. Man, 30 years of oil and debris can make quite a thick gooey mess. Lots of citrus based cleaner and a tooth brush cleaned it all off. No pictures but the tranny case went from gritty black to dull grey and IMO looks beautiful.