Clutch gone - a long way from home!

[Speedyblue]

I may have been a little simplistic in my description, as it's not a simple thing to explain the touch required.

I did however drive a valiant centura home (through traffic and the hills) less than a month after getting my license when the clutch pedal went straight to the floor so it isn't overly difficult to do. As it seems to me, the syncros will keep the box out of gear until the revs are perfect, and then at that point, let it slip into gear. The hard part is finding the right amount of pressure to apply to the gearstick. Too much and you push through the syncros and grind the gears. Too little and it will miss the point where the revs and GB speed are matched perfectly and won't push into gear.

[AJ]

yep, it is possible to drive without a clutch in a manual, but as mentioned a very deft touch is needed, personally, I wouldn't try it in such a sensitive gearbox as the MX-5 has..........IF I was going to try anything in a 5, it would be to get it into 2nd gear, bounce start it with the starter motor & drive it all the way(if possible) in 2nd gear.....that of course is worst case scenario.......my first choice would be a tow.

old ford & holden & valiant gearboxes are more forgiving & a helluva lot more robust, driving them without a clutch is a piece of piss

[Speedyblue]

Yeah, I tried it on the drive home. The MX5 boxes seem a little precious. Not as easy to shift clutchless at all. Must have lighter syncros.

[Benny]

Truck gearboxes are the easiest to drive without the clutch, aren't they AJ?

Old cars are also fairly easy, bit for some reason modern gearboxes are difficult to change gear with if you don't use the clutch.
It can be done however, but you need to be very experienced with double de-clutching to be able to do it without wrecking your snchros and gearbox as it is all about rev matching the gearbox shafts.

[corners]

Truck gearboxes are the easiest to drive without the clutch, aren't they AJ?

Old cars are also fairly easy, bit for some reason modern gearboxes are difficult to change gear with if you don't use the clutch.
It can be done however, but you need to be very experienced with double de-clutching to be able to do it without wrecking your snchros and gearbox as it is all about rev matching the gearbox shafts.

Yeah most crash boxes get dríven without a clutch, but they have no synchros.

[AJ]

Truck gearboxes are the easiest to drive without the clutch, aren't they AJ?

OLDer truck gearboxes Benny, yeah, would still hesitate to try it in a modern truck gearbox, they're also very sensitive...........My '09 Isuzu for instance, air assisted clutch, air assisted gearchange (all air actuators run by the ECU), triple cone synchros on 2nd, 3rd, 4th......double cone synchros on 5th & 6th, no synchros on low, they're a very intricate & sensitive gearbox & you'll find ALL modern manual truck gearboxes are the same, it says in the handbook "DO NOT DOUBLE CLUTCH!!"............the Isuzu is literally the same sort of gearchange action as the NC, light fingertip touch to change, just a helluva lot slower change

as jcs86 said, old crash boxes are sometimes better dríven without using the clutch, I drove an old Louieville tipper once, 15 spd road ranger, as long as you were on flat ground, or slightly downhill, if you stayed off the clutch & just put some gentle pressure on the gear stick, she would rumble her way into low/low with no dramas, then you could go right through the gearbox & back again (including range changes *patterns of 5*) without touching the clutch..................of course you HAD to be a rev matcher of the highest order to do this, if you were, you could change her quicker than someone clutching her

[Quicksilver]

Picked up the car from Lismore today (five hours down on a bus, two hours drive back in the 5) with reconditioned clutch master and slave cylinders. Only Spy vs Spy can understand the releif of feeling a good clutch pedal under your left foot!

Looking through the car's service history, I see it had a clutch master cylinder replaced at 60,000km, this current failure happened at 130,000km. Is this normal life of a clutch cylinder? Car has never been dríven really hard, to best of my knowledge.

[wun911]

I have replaced a clutch master at 100 k km and a clutch slave at 100 k km...

It only does occasional track days...

[JBT]

Is this normal life of a clutch cylinder?

No, they will normally last much longer if the brake and clutch systems are completely flushed at least every two years. Generally, the cause of the failures is corrosion from water in the hydraulic fluid which is hygroscopic.

[93_Clubman]

Looking through the car's service history, I see it had a clutch master cylinder replaced at 60,000km, this current failure happened at 130,000km. Is this normal life of a clutch cylinder? Car has never been dríven really hard, to best of my knowledge.

clutch master cylinders usually last longer than slave cylinders, but as JBT says for longevity
drain, flush & new fluid every 2 years.

[Benny]

Truck gearboxes are the easiest to drive without the clutch, aren't they AJ?

OLDer truck gearboxes Benny, yeah, would still hesitate to try it in a modern truck gearbox, they're also very sensitive...........My '09 Isuzu for instance, air assisted clutch, air assisted gearchange (all air actuators run by the ECU), triple cone synchros on 2nd, 3rd, 4th......double cone synchros on 5th & 6th, no synchros on low, they're a very intricate & sensitive gearbox & you'll find ALL modern manual truck gearboxes are the same, it says in the handbook "DO NOT DOUBLE CLUTCH!!"............the Isuzu is literally the same sort of gearchange action as the NC, light fingertip touch to change, just a helluva lot slower change

as jcs86 said, old crash boxes are sometimes better dríven without using the clutch, I drove an old Louieville tipper once, 15 spd road ranger, as long as you were on flat ground, or slightly downhill, if you stayed off the clutch & just put some gentle pressure on the gear stick, she would rumble her way into low/low with no dramas, then you could go right through the gearbox & back again (including range changes *patterns of 5*) without touching the clutch..................of course you HAD to be a rev matcher of the highest order to do this, if you were, you could change her quicker than someone clutching her

With so many things to go wrong, why didn't you just buy and auto?
I though it would be much better in traffic than having to change gears all the time.

[AJ]

Truck gearboxes are the easiest to drive without the clutch, aren't they AJ?

OLDer truck gearboxes Benny, yeah, would still hesitate to try it in a modern truck gearbox, they're also very sensitive...........My '09 Isuzu for instance, air assisted clutch, air assisted gearchange (all air actuators run by the ECU), triple cone synchros on 2nd, 3rd, 4th......double cone synchros on 5th & 6th, no synchros on low, they're a very intricate & sensitive gearbox & you'll find ALL modern manual truck gearboxes are the same, it says in the handbook "DO NOT DOUBLE CLUTCH!!"............the Isuzu is literally the same sort of gearchange action as the NC, light fingertip touch to change, just a helluva lot slower change

as jcs86 said, old crash boxes are sometimes better dríven without using the clutch, I drove an old Louieville tipper once, 15 spd road ranger, as long as you were on flat ground, or slightly downhill, if you stayed off the clutch & just put some gentle pressure on the gear stick, she would rumble her way into low/low with no dramas, then you could go right through the gearbox & back again (including range changes *patterns of 5*) without touching the clutch..................of course you HAD to be a rev matcher of the highest order to do this, if you were, you could change her quicker than someone clutching her

With so many things to go wrong, why didn't you just buy and auto?
I though it would be much better in traffic than having to change gears all the time.

Don't worry, it came down to a split last minute decision between the auto & the manual for the '09 Benny
the end result was due to the factory discount on the manual freightpack (already had a curtansider body on it ready to go) & the Premium (with not such a great discount) that had to have a body built for it (premium is the only model you can get the auto in) the $16,000 diference between the 2 trucks got me a chrome grille, (which I can buy seperately anyway) a navigation system (already have a Navman) & the auto, so I couldn't even justify it to myself, let alone the MWAF!!!

apart from anything, the manual is a very reliable & easy gearbox to use, & I've been driving manuals for 30 years now, maybe next time!!!

[Stu]

... I noticed the clutch needed to be pressed right down to disengage then finally it did nothing at all - she was gone! ...

Had the same happen to me yesterday afternoon, wasn't fun standing around waiting for a tow truck. Wasn't going to try and limp her to the dealer, will find out later this week what a dealer charges to fix the problem.

[JBT]

All you really need to get out of these situations (with a disabled clutch hydraulic system) is to refill the system. Normally that will get you home/to a dealer plus some. Generally these things have been leaking for ages and just finally succumb when the fluid has gone.