Broken clutch lever?? RESOLVED!!!!

[ga.spyder]

It is the dreaded snowball effect.My starter bit the dust last Sat.I had one that kmac took off his,in favor of a gear reduction unit.What a PITA ,but got the new one on and the car is back!! Starts well,no issue.So,I reconnected the ground wire and the clutch cable that I had to remove to get at the starter bolts.I had marked the clutch cable with paint,so I wouldnt have re-adjust problem.Put it all back,and reconnected the return spring...No Clutch! It stays on the floor when engaging.I played with ajustment,spring tension,and took off and reinstalled several times.Nothing.Start the car and it wont go into any gear with the pedal depressed.Clutch is not engaging.I took the dust cover off and the clutch release lever has no tension on it.I dont think it is pulling the throwout bearing in or out Any ideas? Everything was working perfectly before the starter change.I wish I had worked around the freakin' cable!!Cable is working fine,pedal is moving cable in and out,and the return spring on the pedal is intact.HELP!!!!

[ga.spyder]

PS...is there any way that clutch lever can come off the pivot.That is almost what it feels/looks like

[lanciahf]

Yes it can, Happened to me while driving. Luckily it was easy to push back in there. Just get under the car and feel for the pivot.

Good Luck!

Ralph

[ga.spyder]

Thanks Ralph.I just came in from the garage and I think that is exactly what has happened.The lever is very loose and you can wobble it all over.Is that pivot toward the front(throwout bearing) or back of the bellhousing? Even with the dust cover off,I cant see it.Neither of my manuals has a decent picture,that shows the location.

[manoa matt]

Craig the pivot ball is on the opposite side of the throwout bearing. You will have to try and re-engage it by feel. Hopefully it just came off the pivot ball when it got moved around. There is another possibility. The throwout arm is held to the pivot ball via a spring steel clip that is riveted to the throwout arm. The spring clip can break and the throwout arm will not re-engage with the pivot ball.

Here is what it looks like:

http://www.midwest-bayless.com/fullView ... 159-OE.jpg

I'd suppose that if the clip broke off while driving you could limp home by taking up the slack in the cable so the throwout arm and bearing are in constant contact with the clutch springs. That geometry would force the throwout arm to stay on the pivot ball.

[ga.spyder]

Thank you Matt.It is safely up on jack stands in my garage This all happened during a routine starter change! I hope it is just off the pivot.

[nibbes123]

Boy that really sucks. Hope you get it resolved.

[ga.spyder]

I know.I was estatic to finish the starter install relatively unscathed.The last chore was to reconnect the clutch cable,and take it for a spin.

[kmac33]

Man Craig, you really pissed the Spider off bringing that Miata home didn't you?
I can't believe the cascade of issues! It does sound like the arm came off the pivot. Sure hope you can manage to pop the arm back onto the pivot without having to pull everything apart!

[narfire]

A few pics that might help:




Good luck
Chris

[ga.spyder]

Yeah...the Fiat is a very jealous bitch!!! The clutch lever is definitely off...no question about it.
Chris,thank you so much for those pictures.That is exactly what I needed to be able to visualize the repair.I wasnt even close on trying to re-engage it.
I have family in town,so I probably wont get a chance to try and fix it until Saturday.

[ga.spyder]

Thats right...RESOLVED! I got back under there and had the arm re-attached in a matter of seconds.Thanks everyone,but especially Ralph,Matt,and Chris.I was clueless what was wrong until Ralph mentioned the arms ability to 'come off'. Matt gave me the technical advice,and a picture of the arm.That was of great value when all I can see is a bellhousing.The pics Chris took showed me how the arm actually attached.Thanks guys,for taking some of your valuable time and sharing your knowledge.This is an example of why this forum rocks!!!!
Craig

[JerryH]

...and it all happened in less than 48 hours! I agree--this forum is great!