So i got my car home yesterday (just) and found that now i cant get the car into gear when the car is on.
The clutch pedal goes about 3/4 of the way down and then gets very hard - like a metal feeling to it. And when you press it to that point you cant pop the gearbox into gear.
The gearbox can be operated fine, nice and smoothly without any strange noises with the engine off (which suggests its not the gearbox). And the clutch wasnt slipping heaps so i dont think its the clutch itself.
The only thing we can think of is that it'd be the hydraulic clutch slave cylinder on the gearbox or maybe the brake fluid? I bled a bit of the brake/clutch fluid and it was pretty dirty/watery looking. I havent changed it since the daewoo servicing expired on the car a little over 2yrs ago and even then im assuming that the daewoo dealer did it under their "free servicing" arrangement. If it has too much water/air in the mixture would it affect clutch pedal feel? I havent really noticed too much with the brake pedal as im more of a dynamic braking thru the gearbox kinda guy
it could be something with the mechanism of the clutch, might need adjustment or so... also your master cluch slave cylinder seal could be worn out and thus you are not appling enough force to push the piston on the gearbox case... are you leaking brakes fluid at the clutch skave cylinder or the piston at the gearbox case?
i recommend a brake fluid flush just to be sure but i higly doubt it is the fluid...when the brakes fluid is contaminated with water its boiling point drops and the fluid can boil under hard braking (too much heat) so if the fluid is causing this problem then you will notice problems with your brakes as well... also if the clutch does that when the car is cold then the brakes fluid got nothing to do with it... i still recommend a flush though.
Yup the slave cylinder was leaking a tiny bit of fluid from the rubber boot. Just bought a new one - was a bit over $100AU. Will see if that fixes it but pretty sure it will!
Ill have to arrange with my local shop to get it to them so they can strip it down and start replacing everything clutch related... So... who knows any good heavy duty clutch makers??
OK so i got a custom heavy duty clutch made up and the new kit is all in (new throwout bearing, pressure plate and disc etc). The fingers on the pressure plate were bent apparently. Even after all this we still cant get it into gear.
Any other ideas on what it can be?
Work been done so far
* bled and replaced the entire brake/clutch fluid
* replaced the slave cylinder
* replaced the clutch with a new heavy duty clutch kit (with new throwout, plate, disc etc)
The only things left that we know of are the arm/yoke that the slave cylinder presses against may be bent or the master cylinder - but it still appears to extend the slave fine.... Is there anything else?