Periotic sticky clutch

[targa80]

This is one of those problems/issues that rears its ugly head for a period of time and then goes away and waits for another day. In the 1998 time frame I did a complete engine rebuild and at the same time I replaced the clutch and associated hardware i.e. throw-out bearing, clutch cable, rebuilt pedal assembly. Once the engine was back in and all adjustments were made the car ran great for about 2 years. then one day in the 2000 time frame I fired it up and pressed the clutch pedal to the floor to engage first gear and heard the gears grinding. Tried reverse with the same issue so I jacked the car up and checked the clutch cable. All seemed normal, but just in case I adjusted the cable to remove any slack due to possible cable stretch. Problem persisted, so I would put the car into first gear and then start the engine and drive the car and was able to shift up and down shift based on the speed of the car and engine. After a day or two the problem went away. It occurred again in 2002 just before I took the car off the road for a restoration of the body. Fast forward to last year, finally put the car back together. But, before installing the engine I separated the transmission to inspect the clutch, end bearing and the transmission spline just because of the previous problem. All looked visually normal to me so I put it all back together and got the car on the road. Well about a month ago it happened again, grinding gears with the clutch pedal fully depressed. I took the car for an hour ride and it corrected itself. Yesterday, it happened again and today I went for a short ride and it corrected itself again. Normally, the clutch will start to grab about 2 to 3 inches from the pedal being released from a fully depressed position and the shifting is easy and fairly smooth. When the problem occurs the shifting into 2,3,4 and 5 feels stiff.

Has anyone had this same problem and resolved it?

I don't think the flywheel and clutch pad are sticking because I have revved the engine with the tyranny in first gear and the clutch pedal depressed to the floor and the car barely moves. If it was sticking, I would expect the car to move forward or at least the clutch to become unstuck.

[targa80]

Bump!

[DRACO A5OG]

Brother Pat,

When you did the clutch job, did you replace the FORK? It may have looked fine but they tend to break/fracture and bend.

I write this because you wrote you adjusted the cable and ran fine then "it" happened again.

I am defaulting to the FORK.

Jim

[gamin]

Had this problem many, many years ago on the 70. In my case it was a leaking seal behind the flywheel. Car was still under warranty so the dealer fixed it. Been good for 40+ years.

[Jack Stands]

I'd also think of a bending release fork first, though cable stretch or deteriorating rubber centered clutch discs could also show similar issues.