92-93 L300 5spd STD, Clutch having issues.

[electrik_jester]

Hello All

Having some issues with the clutch. This morning driving to work in the space of 5- minutes or so the bite of the clutch started fading away, not biting until the clutch was almost totally released. even when totally released you can easy slide it by giving it a bit of gas(normal typical acceleration).

Anyway limped into work made it. Called the shop (reputable) that recently replaced the master and slave cylinders. Checked the Brake fluid level as they use the same reservoir by request, this was still full as I did have to fill it (dot3) after the fore mentioned tuneup and work (the brake light was blinking at me and it was empty). so when I checked the Master and slave for leaks both appeared dry and no leaks were appearant. The pedal seemed to have no resistance there for a sec and I slid under and was able to jiggle the slave cylinder a bit.

Any way first shop said I should take it to a close shop to get looked at. So drove it to a local shop (does deli, some go there some dont) but has had and have a guy look at it. On the way there the issue seemed to go away or at least become not noticable, 2nd shop confirmed no leaks, took it around the block and said it does not feel like slipping. he took a wrench and tweeked a nut under the dash on the master. Not sure it made any noticeable difference. No Charge. Anyway back to work thinking ok a bubble in the line, not a $700 clutch. This is nice because I just spent $2600 on the previous work.

On the way home. no joy there is goes again, going going gone. Trying jiggle the slave again. slave does not jiggle as it did before seems solid. uncapped reservoir pumped clutch alot, not joy. Tapped the cylider a good couple wacks to see if it would free up, nada. Called dad for rescue. Had him pump the clutch while I looked at the slave. It moves in and out moving the control arm that leads to the internals, not sure if this is covering the entire range that it is supposed to but its moving.

Ok I think this is not a bubble, I am humped. Starving give up, go for food call a tow truck and leave it in parking lot bcaa closest shop (big name, not canadian tire, but I did buy my tires there).

Any ideas? My credit card and I are feeling depressed.

Cheers

Sean

Sorry if this double posts, I timed out

[jessef]

90% of the labour is pulling the tranny back to expose the clutch.

10% of the labour is replacing the throwout bearing, pilot bearing and clutch plates/pack.

I would buy a clutch pack kit with throwout bearing and have a shop replace it.

The cost of pulling it off to diagnose worn clutch plates, you may as well pay the extra $60-70 to install the new clutch at that point.

You can buy them locally (for montero pre-1989) or from one of the JDM parts dealers :

http://www.delica.ca/forum/clutch-kit-f ... -8459.html

I paid $450 for mine 2 years ago from Japan including the throwout bearing and pilot bearing, so $399 locally is pretty good.

[jessef]

Did you have them look at it ?

The plates are probably worn down so much that it's not grabbing.

[thedjjack]

I remember seeing the clutch kits for less $$$ on here...Cannot remember who had them.

If the hydraulics fail it should be the opposite of slipping (unless the master cylinder is damaged and it is not letting the pressure out of the line).

Warm the engine and put in low range. turn off. Take off the slave cylinder. Start in gear with no clutch. Go for drive see if slips. If it slips it is the clutch. If it is solid the master cylinder is most likely the problem. That's what I would do.

[thedjjack]

http://www.delica.ca/forum/clutch-9108. ... ght=clutch

[nxski]

Ebay seems to have some good deals...

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?rt=nc&LH_Pr ... 86.c0.m283

[jessef]

http://www.delica.ca/forum/clutch-9108. ... ght=clutch

Holycow I paid almost double. Didn't know Maximum carried them for so low.

[electrik_jester]

Hey people

Thanks for everyone's input, references and links. The Van is in the shop at this point. FYI Fountain tire Langford did not want to touch it (and really kudos to them for admitting it) no charge for throwing it on the lift, the poke, telling me I was humped. They also called around looking for a shop that would take it, (West shore transmission was willing to take it and do the deed,the quote I got for seemed reasonable, owners name is Larry and side they had worked a l300 before but could not remember if it was the clutch, he did say they do a lot of import work). Most of the local quotes seemed high but they went high as not being to sure the cost of labour of the job. One said they would have to move the fuel tank, not sure this is true or not.

Decided to go with the devil I know though, so trucked it up to Coombs. Granted they are a little out of the way for Victoria types, they have done this before and the quote was no more really than the local including the trucking it up there (ps they found a guy with a flatbed that would do it for a fair bit less than I could get through BCAA or a local tow.)

Of an interesting note regarding the BCAA membership for south island deli drivers. The tow truck driver who originally rescued me and took me to Fountain suggested I should get the "Plus" membership. I had the basic (5km tow for free). Evidently the plus membership gives you a much larger tow radius (160 km tow radius). So for the +$40 bucks a year you could get a free (or near free) tow to Coombs should that be your preferred Mechanic. This is also quite likely a good thing should you be busted down on or near one of the mains around here. Evidently there are benifits if you are a gasser too like fuel delivery. Just an FYI.

[jessef]

I don't get why other shops won't do the clutch.

It's the same as the north American Montero's and it's a straight forward job.

[electrik_jester]

Hello again

The epilogue is:
The clutch was done. CCauto got it in for a good price,( best I was quoted actually) showed the original plates and yeah it looked done, down to the rivets that were holding the wear pad. The new clutch is in. Feels pretty good. warranty. Very light now but the grip is there. Think my top end speed may have increased even. Might also have had a heavy foot on the way back south also. Still have a bit of vehicle angst but I am sure that will go away by the end of the week.

For the individual who PM'd me there is no option to reply to your PM so you might want to check your privacy/security settings.

The answer is however 176,000 km on what looks like the original clutch (Mitsubishi on the plate), so if you are driving standard and reaching that magic number you might think of adding that to the list of things to do. I must admit having it fail between here and there totally sucked and made one of those weeks an epic journey.

[thedjjack]

I don't get why other shops won't do the clutch.

It's the same as the north American Montero's and it's a straight forward job.

X2 a clutch is a clutch. Pull the engine or the transmission. Not that hard any mechanic should be able to do this in there sleep.

[nxski]

It seems that these clutches wear out faster than japanese cars I've had experience with. eg) Mazda protege went over 300,000km on the original clutch and Honda civic went to 249,000 on the original before being totalled.

Are there more forces being placed on the clutches in these vehicles? Is that what causes them to fail earlier?

[jessef]

When I did the clutch it was at 210,000 and still tons of grab.

It all depends on how it's driven.

You can burn the plates off in a week if you raced the thing or have it last 20 years if you pampered it.

All up to the driver's left foot.

[nxski]

Probably would have been a good idea to have done the one in my civic at that point. The reason I totalled it was because I had to pop the clutch to get it to move and it caught more quickly than usual while turning left across the street. Not to mention the fact that I was working as a Delivery Driver which I was not insured to do.

Live and learn I suppose. So really no matter what vehicle you have the clutch should last a long time if you take care of it!?

[thedjjack]

Clutch = driver, city/hwy, hills, load, etc....

I seen people wear out a Civic clutch in 60,000km, hot rods blow a clutch by the end of the first 1/4 mile, and others go 500,000km.

Used standard.....anytime.....

But I would rather change the clutch and rebuild a standard transmission, than rebuild an automatic again!