Time for a new clutch

The clutch on this car had been contaminated by the oil leaking from the oil seal on the primary gear. There's a post about that here. At the time I didn't change the clutch plate. I'd hoped the clutch slip would be over soon as I'd stopped the oil leak.. no such luck! As it turned out the damage had already been done. So my Saturday afternoon task (a mere three months after my last post - oops) was a clutch change!

The trouble with changing the clutch isn't the clutch itself - it's all the other bits of machinery and whatnot in the way that have to be removed first. And as charming as the Mini is, the engine bay isn't exactly spacious. Bruised knuckles, fatigued finger tips and grime-covered forearms are pretty much guaranteed every time there's a job to do in the under the bonnet. But.. a little while later and after a few expletives the clutch and flywheel assembly was out.

Even though having the clutch and flywheel assembly out again made me think deeply about the beauty of hindsight, it did allow me to check the oil seal work I'd done. Every cloud has a silver lining.. I suppose.

With the pressure plate removed the clutch plate itself is revealed. Oily and slick. As the job of the clutch is to provide friction these are two pretty bad qualities to have.

A smear of leftover oil can be seen on the friction surface below. Oil where there shouldn't be oil is about as useful as a calculator in a Spanish exam in this setting.

So for a lovely, grippy and friction-filled time a new clutch plate saved the day.

 

A few more words of wisdom you wouldn't want your grandma to hear and a bit of struggling later and it was all back together. 

With the test drive complete having experienced no discernible clutch slippage I think the day could be declared successful! 

I'll get around to painting those arches sometime..

The waiting game with a slipping clutch...

Clutch slipping. Losing oil. Waiting for parts. A necessary part of any build/repair/car procedure.

But when your car is just sat in the garage it seems like forever.

The arrival of the primary gear/clutch oil seal tool, flywheel puller and new seal!

Not an overly simple task by any means but doable. It involves having the clutch and flywheel assembly out...

...and removing the primary gear...

When the clutch is slipping in these cars it's apparently most often caused by this little red seal pictured above. It's supposed to keep oil inside the engine and away from the clutch and flywheel assembly. If it fails (which it had on my car) it sprays the clutch and flywheel with oil and causes the loss of friction resulting in a slipping clutch. Although time consuming and requiring a few special tools (all around the £20 mark) it wasn't too difficult. 

The time consuming bit is the disassembly and reassembly..

All back together again now. The clutch is still slipping but I suspect that's residual oil left on the flywheel and clutch assembly which should burn itself off after a few miles. I hope. Time will tell!

Next up.. Wheels and arches!