Clutch or What???

[Carl Beck]

Specifically,

1. Why can't I push the car when its in neutral and the brake is off ?

Because the brake isn't "really" off.

a) if you pull your e-brake when you park the car - it's possible that the rear brake shoes are hanging up - ie. sticking in the full open position.

quite common for the front brake calipers to stick as well

Normally if it's the rear brakes that are sticking - when you force the car to move forward - they release. If the front brake calipers are sticking - you usually need to remove them and clean out the piston cylinder walls. (ie rebuild the front calipers).

2. why might the clutch pedal fall as it now does?

a) faulty master or slave

clutch disk rusted/stuck to the flywheel

3. are these two events related (I''m sure they are)?

They are each independent variables, related to the time the car sits not being used. They are not dependent variables.

4. which caused the other to occur?

The cause - time, corrosion - related to the front calipers and clutch disk. The "self-adjusting" feature of the rear brakes - adjusts the brake shoes too tight if the e-brake is pulled too often and the car hasn't been driven enough to wear the rear shoes down. Corrosion in the rear brake cylinders is another cause - as they stick or hang up and won't allow the rear brake shoes to retract.

To break the clutch disk loose:

Hold the clutch pedal to the floor

Put the car in 3rd gear

Pull the e-brake and step on the brake pedal firmly

Bump the starter several times

Normally the above procedure will break the clutch disk loose.

If the above procedure doesn't break the clutch disk loose;

Start the car - out of gear - and let it warm up to full operating temps. - then shut it down.

Re-Start the car in 1st gear and get it rolling about 20mph. Make sure you have clear roadway ahead when you start the car in gear - so you can get it moving.

Hold the clutch pedal to the floor

Yank up hard on the e-brake to stop the rear wheels from turning, and at the very same time give the engine some gas to rev it up. You may have to repeat the process several times... but the clutch disk will break loose.....

FWIW,

Carl B.

[klpete45]

Ok, just to confirm that I"m confused, I don't understand why the clutch pedal would fall with no resistance if the clutch plate is stuck to the flywheel. Since contact is the normal position, and depressing the clutch pedal causes the pressure plate to disengage the clutch plate, wouldn't that (a frozen clutch plate/flywheel) have no effect on the movement of the pressure plate? Or, are you saying that since the clutch plate stays frozen in place, the pressure plate may also be frozen? If this is the case, wouldn't that make the depressing the clutch pedal more difficult instead of less?:stupid:

Oh well, hopefully I'll find out this weekend. I have already checked the front wheels and they spin freely. I also tried the starting in gear several times with no apparent luck. So now to the back end which is going to be a real challenge in a one car garage. I need some of those wheeled car movers that one puts under each wheel and then pushes the car around. Thanks, Ken

[klpete45]

First, thanks to everyone who offered suggestions. As it turns out, there were in fact two separate, unrelated problems (as some of you had already guessed). A new clutch master cylinder solved one problem and allowed my to resolve the second as well. Once the clutch was working, I was able to rock the car back and forth and pop the frozen rear brakes loose. I had previously determined that this was the problem by removing a rear wheel and attempting to rotate the tire. The tire would move only as much as the the brake shoes would wiggle on the backing plate - the axle never even wiggled. Sounded terrible when it popped loose. I will never leave the emergency brake on for extended periods again.