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lazy clutch

bennie

Enthusiast
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8
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Ventimiglia
Hello, after a couple of months a new issue popped out, the clutch pedal suddenly became loose.
when i start the engine the 4 jumps in the selected gear and the clutch doesn't seem to work.
i've checked the cable and seems to be still there and unbroken, everything works, i cannot change the gear while driving.

what could it be?

the service belt broke again (was produced in china, huh), but i don't think it has anything to do with it, i'll put a new one tomorrow.

symptom is a loose clutch pedal and i'm not able to change the gear.

wish you all a good afternoon and thank you for any tips.
 
Have you checked the cable?
Yes, it seems still ok.
If i push the pedal, the cable somehow "moves" inside the hood, but without any action on the clutch.
I'm no mechanic i have to say, i'm just presuming..
 
If you look under the bonnet you can see the clutch cable come out of the big black box that is attached to the bulkhead.

On a LHD car the cable runs somewhat next to the left of the steering axle towards the left side of the gearbox. It hooks into a bracket and from there the cable itself hooks into a lever that pushes against the clutch bearing.
If the cable broke it is probably not attached to the lever anymore.
Maybe it broke somewhere inside the guide cable. Then if you pull it either at the end of the clutch paddle or at the side of the gearbox it will come out easily whilst you pull

This is probably the best case scenario.

In short follow the cable from the bulkhead to the bracket on the gearbox and find out if it still attaches to the lever.

If not attached, re attache it or buy another cable and put it back on using a Haynes to guide you.

If the above isn’t the case please feel free to ask for help again.

Regards, Robert
 
If you look under the bonnet you can see the clutch cable come out of the big black box that is attached to the bulkhead.

On a LHD car the cable runs somewhat next to the left of the steering axle towards the left side of the gearbox. It hooks into a bracket and from there the cable itself hooks into a lever that pushes against the clutch bearing.
If the cable broke it is probably not attached to the lever anymore.
Maybe it broke somewhere inside the guide cable. Then if you pull it either at the end of the clutch paddle or at the side of the gearbox it will come out easily whilst you pull

This is probably the best case scenario.

In short follow the cable from the bulkhead to the bracket on the gearbox and find out if it still attaches to the lever.

If not attached, re attache it or buy another cable and put it back on using a Haynes to guide you.

If the above isn’t the case please feel free to ask for help again.

Regards, Robert


Thank you Rob!
Tomorrow morning with some light I'll check better.

All I can add by now is that I managed to change gear while the car was stopped (1st gear and reverse worked fine), but did not manage to do it while driving (the night the clutch broke).
It feels like the clutch pedal has no real effect on the clutch itself.
I really hope I'll manage to fix it soon (and without too much money, too).
 
Almost certainly the engine mounting support bracket over the top of the starter motor will be missing this causes failure of the clutch arm support bracket I'm sure if you search further in the forum you will find more information I will try and reply in more detail if I get time later
 
This problem only affects right hand drive cars as the clutch cable operates in a different position on left hand drive cars
 
Hello Bennie,
I'm no mechanic either, and in my limited experience, four hands are better than two for most jobs R4, especially clutch-cable issues,
N.
 
Hallo there, the mechanic just called me saying that there is a missing piece that connects the clutch and the gearbox..
anybody has an idea of what it could be? i want to buy it and let the mechanic just put it on but not really sure of what i have to buy exactly.

thanks :)
 
Hi Bennie, I'm not sure what version of R4 you have, if you can enlight me I can send you a picture of the pages of the spares manual with the original codes, so you can spot what you need.
 
Hi Bennie, I'm not sure what version of R4 you have, if you can enlight me I can send you a picture of the pages of the spares manual with the original codes, so you can spot what you need.
Ciao Leonardo,

Sooo,
benzina, 845 kw
anno 1986


If you need more info, i can provide, intanto grazie!
 
Ciao Bennie,
today I can't help you, but in the weekend I'll manage to do that ;)

Ci aggiorniamo
 
On the second picture you can see a rod that operates the clutch fork. Its opposite end forms a hook (just visible on the first photo). It's at this point that the rod breaks, and this may be your case.
A good solution that will last much longer is to fit a M6 threaded rod (better still if you can find 8.8 grade) with a M6 ball joint at the end where the hook should be. You can obtain these parts at any industrial supply shop for around 5 euros. The hole on the bellcrank will need to be drilled out to 6mm, and some trial fitting and filing will need to take place, in order to ensure that the ball joint will not foul the bellcrank housing.
 
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