This happened twice today, never happened before.

I push on the clutch pedal and it stops part way, maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of the way down.

The strange thing is that it still seems to shift in and out of gears fine in that state. It might just be far enough that the clutch is pretty much disengaged. If

Anyway... seems like this car is throwing something new at me every week lately, after 2 years of pretty much not making a peep.

Any ideas what could cause this? The clutch itself was replaced a little over 2 years ago.

__________________

You need to get under there and check all your bolts holding that system together.... potentially very dangerous....

__________________
1980 240d ,

chain elongation, cam marks reference:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/10414-help-i-need-check-stretch.html

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/305365-9-degrees-chain-stretch.html

evap fin cleaning:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/156207-photo-step-step-post-showing-w123-evaporator-removal-1983-240d-1982-300td.html?highlight=evaporator

A/C thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/297462-c-recommendations-mb-vehicles.html

Thanks for the response leathermang.

Could you elaborate? You mean the rods from the shifter to the clutch, or the pedal? Under the car literally?

__________________

I checked fluid level and the bolts on the three clamps on the levers that connect the rods from the shifter to the transmission under the car. That all seemed fine.

Also checked the pedal -- as far as I can tell everything seemed normal/in place with the pedal and the connections to the clutch master cyl.

__________________

Check the Slave Cylinder bolts. there are 2 13mm bolts that hold the cylinder to the transmission.

The cylinder pushes a lever in the Bell Housing which slides the Throw out bearing against the Pressure Plate fingers. pressure against these fingers seperates (disingauges) the PP from the Clutch Disk and Fly Wheel.

something in this area could have broken etc... there is no window or door to take a look

Check the Clutch Peddle operation with a flash light to see if verything is all connected. maybe something came loose. there are 2 bolts that bolt the Master cylinder to the assembly. then the rod that slided in/out of the MC, it is bolted the the Clutch lever. check it for tightness.

the shifter rods to the transmission wouldn`t have anything to do with the peddle not going all the way down.

probably something simple. though I did have the Clutch Disk break 2 of the 6 springs in the center after it was in for 22K miles.

Charlie

__________________
there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Thanks. I checked the slave and it is on tight. Same with the master.

I do wonder if this is a more serious thing. Since I bought the car about 3 years ago there has been a "rattling" from the transmission at idle when the pedal is out and the car in neutral. It had been suggested that his might be the throwout bearing.

I haven't noticed any change in this sound though.

__________________

I would suspect broken springs in the clutch friction plate. Ford's eat them up all the time. One of them could have bound up and cause you to not be able to move the clutch out further. As more and more break the clutch gets less and less effective.

I've found on the fords a Heavy duty Luck clutchs with a new pressure plate cures the problem. Might be something similar available for your car.

I'm personally not fond of re-surfacing ressure plates as many folks don't know how to provide a consistant product.

__________________
Mad_Matt's Current Stable:
Oil Burners:
09 Jetta TDI The highway queen @ 105k
83 300D. Sold
Gassers:
16 A4 sport line
10 Passat
83 Recaro Trans AM WS6 Bone Stock Survivor
11 Harley Ultra

I had a clutch Disk in my Datsun PU have a piece of metal break off right next to one of the 6 springs in the center. It lodged into something and wouldn`t let the clutch assy disingauge. this one only had 65K miles on it.

this one and one I mentioned above are the only 2 mechanical problems I have had with clutches over the years. I have had the pressure plate fingers get weak and not fully disingauge the clutch. but that was with over 100,000 miles +++ of driving.

Charlie

__________________
there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

I drove it to work this morning. Mostly freeway, but in the couple miles between the freeway and my job, it happened twice fully and partially a third time.

It feels like a hard jam of the clutch pedal - push and it hits a hard resistance.

I was able to still change gears each time this happened.

I also notice a squealing related to the clutch being engaged. Even a slight pressure on the pedal and the squealing varies, so it is definitely clutch related. I have no idea how long this has been happening because I usually listen to the radio in the car and wouldn't be able to hear it.

__________________

If you are in traffic and need to take the power off the drive train to stop.... and can't.... what kind of consequences might that entail?

You need to treat this more seriously than you are.

The noise with clutch out, car neutral, is almost certainly throwout bearing... but can be that in addition to the things mentioned already in thread....

By continuing to drive it you are also increasing the chance that the cost of repairs will skyrocket due to collateral damage...... extraneous of any accident it might cause....
much like letting the rails and guides on the chain go long enough to lock up the chain and it cause the pistons to contact and bend the valves..... that sort of ' chain' reaction...

__________________
1980 240d ,

chain elongation, cam marks reference:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?threadid=10414

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/305365-9-degrees-chain-stretch.html

evap fin cleaning:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/156207-photo-step-step-post-showing-w123-evaporator-removal-1983-240d-1982-300td.html?highlight=evaporator

A/C thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/297462-c-recommendations-mb-vehicles.html

Thank you for your concern leathermang. I'm making plans to rent a car tomorrow presently. I realize it is not a good idea to drive it like that, but don't have an alternative vehicle. Where I work, neither calling in sick nor public transit is an option, and I had to leave my house at 6am this morning.

I can pop the car out of gear into neutral without the clutch pedal, so if need be, that is my option. I have had to drive the car without a clutch one other time, when it failed almost 3 years ago.

Most definitely I am going to get this worked out before I make any other trips with this car other than to a mechanic.

__________________

I do understand ' rock and hard place' situations... if one can afford it the rental car sounds like a fast safe plan.... sometimes people let wishful thinking push the potential danger ...or simply do not have the past background of mechanical danger potentials in their knowledge base (18-21 I was an Army Huey pilot ...so it was drilled into me early ) ... the car is replaceable , you are not.... I know on occasion (very few ) in the past some have felt insulted that I warn of my worries ... that is fine with me compared to not speaking up and something avoidable happening...

__________________
1980 240d ,

chain elongation, cam marks reference:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?threadid=10414

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/305365-9-degrees-chain-stretch.html

evap fin cleaning:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/156207-photo-step-step-post-showing-w123-evaporator-removal-1983-240d-1982-300td.html?highlight=evaporator

A/C thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/297462-c-recommendations-mb-vehicles.html

Haven't been using the car for a few days and went to test it today and now the clutch has very little resistance for about 1/2 the travel, but will still pull out the clutch.

It seems very weak though, like no drives other than on side streets in the neighborhood just to check it out.

The easy movement of the pedal seems to say something with fluid to me, but what do you think? Neither the clutch master nor slave is openly leaking and the fluid is full to the top.

Also, it is no longer "sticking" like it was at all, now just very short (1/2 way?) distance in normal feeling pedal resistance.

__________________

Something is not right in the bell housing. You need to tear into it and find out what is going on.

__________________
1968 230S Automatic, Elfenbein
1975 O309D Executive Westfalia Camper Bus, Blau/ Weiss
1972 280SEL 4,5 Dunkelrot
1966 VW Type 34 "Grosser" Karmann-Ghia
1963 VW 1500 Variant Pearlweiss
1969 VW Variant Automatic, Perugruen
1971 VW Squareback Automatic, Clementine Orange
2001 E320 4Matic Wagon- Our belated welcome to the 21st century! Polar White
1973 280SEL 4,5 Sliding Roof "The Bomb", Dunkelblau.

the master could be leaking internally also. I 2nd the hydraulic theory, but it could be two issues.

Earlier on in the thread I was thinking a binding release bearing on the shaft where its supposed to be sliding, which still may be a problem. Either way transmission is light enough and simple enough to remove that it can easily be done at home with no special tools.

__________________
This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.