my 240d's clutch will not engage!
 

i just finished putting a new engine in, and went to take the car out for a test drive. much to my surprise, the clutch will not engage fully! the hydraulics are bled and have plenty of 'spring' in the pedal, that does not seem to be the issue. in 1st gear, on flat ground, the car will not do more than slowly move forward (5mph or so) no matter what rpm. the car can sit stopped in 1st gear with the clutch pedal fully released and there is barely a change in RPMs.

what could this mean? is it some odd kind of failure? did i do something wrong when assembling it?

if nothing else can someone post the exploded diagram of the 240d clutch / flywheel / bearings ?

Have you checked your clutch fork for proper movement?
It almost sounds like a loose or bad clutch cover.

when i had it apart, i checked everything as best as i could figure out. clutch slave cylinder functioning properly, throwout bearing smooth, fork moving properly, pressure plate bolts replaced, clutch disc had plenty of material left.

the only thing i can come up with is either i lined something up wrong, or assembled something out of order.

assembled in this order:

flywheel -> clutch disc -> pressure plate -> throwout bearing -> clutch fork -> clutch slave.

lined up the throwout bearing to where it fit into the clutch fork properly. installed the clutch fork onto its pivot rod and the clutch slave cylinder piston.

my theory is something in the assembly is wrong, causing the clutch to be disengaged even when the slave is not pushing. i just don't know what that could be, and i hate to pull teh driveshaft and transmission back out without any idea what i'm looking for. as i said, if someone could at least help me with the exploded diagram that would be helpful.

Is it possible to put the new clutch in backwards ?
Did you take pics as you put it back together ?
That might show what happened...
Did you use one of those alignment tools ?
Did you change the pilot bearing ?

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_K...325_154102.jpg

only picture i had. the clutch disc only fit properly one way. the other way wouldnt lay flat onto the flywheel for me to put the pressure plate on.....

-picture above.
-aligned using sockets in there, it fit together fine and the splines on the tranny input shaft fit in properly.
-used the same bearing, it seemed to be in fine working order.

Good, or bad depending on how you look at it... I have seen tractors which the clutch could be reversed... did not know about an MB.. sounds like it ought to work...

OK, one last shot..

have you seen the instructions as to measuring the amount of wear on a clutch ?
the " Go NO Go " fork tool ?

Are there ANY mechanical linkages involved in moving the clutch .. or something which could be not allowing free movement ?

Is the movement towards the rear of the car by the clutch pedal full ?

the metric i've seen was 1/16" or more from material surface to the top of the rivets. it had more than that.

what would be the symptom of the clutch disc having been installed backwards?

take the slave off and see if the arm springs back at you, if it does you might not have to take the trans back out. Stop running the engine you are ruining the clutch, plan on removing the trans and figuring out what you put in backwords.

I was not suggesting you did not have enough material on the clutch...only that the way in which that measurement is taken from outside the trans might be useful in seeing if the position of the clutch is correct....
Symptom of clutch backwards ? Non proper functioning ...LOL
I did not assemble it backwards... due to reading the instructions closely.. but was impressed with how much work I would have had to do had I had to take the whole thing back apart ....

right but would a backwards clutch fail to engage or fail to disengage? that is the big question in my mind. i can't find any good pictures or explanations on any existing threads / guides.

I do not know the answer to that...
Did you attempt to install it both directions and it fit one way and not the other?
Did you take pics of the old one coming out ?

i did attempt both because i wasn't sure and couldn't find an answer. it seemed that it only fit one way. the way i put it in, the disc would fit flat against the flywheel just by hand. the other way, the disc would not lay flat onto the flywheel (although i did not try to force it).

and no, i stupidly did not take pictures when i pulled it apart. :rolleyes:

LOL, you were probably low on electrons in your camera anyway....
How about the physical mechanical connection where the slave works...
any binding there ?
You have to go back and check everything... you can not assume because you have checked something already that it is off the list of potential problems... not fun... but can save you time in the long run... I have had things like this where I had to close the garage door and come back a week later.... and sometimes sleeping on a problem does help.... confirmed by scientists and talking about on Charlie Rose a lot lately...

What's this ring on the clutch fingers?
https://img.skitch.com/20110331-nj92...hgpbt9wbk9.jpg