Stuck clutch!!!

[JetDoc]

Hello everyone!

Well i'm finally down to the question part of my quest to get my Z on the road! To refresh.... 1978 280Z 126,000 miles, anyway when i got the car it had not been on the road for 9 years, i bought it from the orginal owner who had a new clutch installed right before he quit driving it. When i got it i installed a new clutch master and slave cylinders as well as flushed the system and installed a new hose, bled the system, adjusted the pedal as called out in the book, everything seemed to be working fine until i went to shift it (difficult to get in gear) when the engine was off but would not go into gear while running, i raised the rear and i believe the clutch if stuck (will not disingauge) anyone got any ideas how to free a stuck clutch without removing it? My pedal feels good and the slave is doing its job so any help would be greatly appreciated! Question #2 is there a rubber plug that goes on the brake pedal to turn off the brake lights? My lights stayed on and i looked at the switch where i noticed a hole in the pedal where something should go! Hope everyone has a great day!

Thanks!

Al

[sblake01]

Let's start with the brake lights. Yes, there is a plug that goes in the hole in the brake pedal shaft. You should be able to find one at the junkyard. The clutch thing is a puzzlement to me, however. I can't think of anyway to 'unstick' it without going in there to see why it's stuck. If you have good pedal when you depress the clutch then something is definately wrong inside. If the pressure plate and throwout bearing are both okay and it won't disengage when you depress the pedal then it's either way out of adjustment or the wrong components are installed.

[Marty260z2+2]

mines rusted to the flywheel and my uncle told me to put a socket on the harmoic bal. and rock the motor back and fowards whilist in gear with the hand brake on its yet to come apart but yeh i'm wondering if neone else know of another way? cause its the only thing stoppin me from driving it

i've got the same good pedal good travel at the slave and i'm possiative theres no air in the line, and mines only been sitting for about 2 to 3 years

[JimmyZ]

Have you verified movement of the slave cylinder? Does the clutch fork move 1-2"? (Have someone look at slave while U pump clutch pedal.) When you press the clutch pedal do you feel resistance in the pedal at the beginning of travel? By asking this I mean to ask if the clutch master adjusting rod is set right. There may not be enough travel in the MC's piston if this is the case.

If you have verified the above and seen proper movement of the clutch fork then it is a question of just how stuck the clutch is. Sometimes you can unstick it by simply running the engine and pressing the pedal several times (20 -50) occasionally trying to put it in gear to see if it works.

If this fails and the situation permits start the car in first gear and drive it. Rev up the engine (Increase speed of car) and cram on the brakes just short of stalling the engine. Punch/release the gas and generally try to get a real jerky ride also. High RPMs will increse torsional vibration which can help liberate the plate fromt he flywheel. Please be careful not to wreck and don't try this unless it is safe to do so. An abondoned parking lot with no traffic would be best.

The last resort is to take tranny out and remove the clutch. Naturally nobody would ever try to use WD-40 or parts blaster etc etc to try and free the asbestos disc as this would create the need to replace the disc.

You can't do this with a car but we used to take tractors with stuck clutches and drive them into a tree as the very last resort prior ro teardown. The jolt usually worked!

My2c

Jim

[Marty260z2+2]

i've fixed it i just had to drop the gearbox out and half the motor and yeh it drives fowards now after 4 hours of endless fun [****in **** of a job]

but yeh it was also stuck hard to the pressure plate which i think qwas the problem but hey next time i'm just goin to use my clutch miore often or keep hook up and screwed to the firewall then it should be peachy