Clutch stuck/broken?

[benw82]

seems like every week brings new disasters. this week, its my clutch. i recently installed a new clutch cable and it has been driving great for about a week. today it has decided to never go in to gear unless the engine is off. the clutch lever moves freely when the clutch is depressed. i tried adjusting the wing nut past where it should be to see if i could get it into gear. no luck. is it possible for the something inside the clutch to break to cause the clutch to be inoperable. need help!
i'm thinking i need to pull my engine to see whats going on but i have no garage and a gravel driveway... and its now winter
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76' Westy

[VDubTech]

Why did you install a new cable? Were you trying to fix a problem or was it just maintenance? How much freeplay do you have at the pedal? Does the clutch feel normal at the pedal?
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First Trip in the RustyBus:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=279077&highlight=

[benw82]

the old clutch cable broke right at the clevis pin. i cant tell if the pedal feels any different than before so i guess its about the same.
not sure what you mean freeplay at the pedal.
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76' Westy

[SGKent]

[benw82]

"the clutch lever moves freely when the clutch is depressed"
when i'm under the bus and my wife presses the clutch, i can watch the clutch lever move freely. sorry that was a little confusing
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76' Westy

[csa000]

Free play is the first part of the pedal movement before you feel it come against resistance of the pressure plate. How far does the clutch pedal move before you feel it get tight. Depending on your year I think it should roughly travel about 3/4 of an inch before it gets tight. Can't remember for certain though. When you push the clutch pedal how does it feel? Is it light through the whole stroke? Light then tight towards the bottom? Light all the way through? Compare how the pressing of the pedal feels now to how it felt before your old cable broke, does it feel similar? When you watch the actuation from underneath can you push the lever any further with your hand? If all you have changed is the clutch cable and this problem started right afterwards I would say your clutch cable isn't adjusted right. Did you remove the engine?

[Joey]

My guess the cable adjustment is too loose. If the wing nut can be easily turned chances are it not tight enough. When I adjust my cable I can barely turn the wing nut the last few turns when adjusted correctly. If you can easily push the pedal to the floor BY HAND is too loose. As csa000 said, you need approximately 3/4" free play before more resistance is felt. Again, check this with your hand not your foot.

SGkent describes it better in this thread - 6th post down:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=335544&highlight=clutch+cable+adjustment
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Joey

‘60 Kombi - '74 Bus - '79 Panel - '65 Beetle

[aeromech]

What the guys are getting at is you either have a clutch cable not adjusted correctly or you have issues inside the bell housing like a broken fork. The wing nut on the clutch cable end is self locking so it should be pretty hard to turn. I usually have to hold the cable end with vise grips while I tighten the wing nut. If it isn't like I described maybe the nut is getting stripped out. If you can watch the cable doing its job while your wife presses down on the clutch pedal then you probably need to pull the engine and check for broken parts in the bell housing.
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[RocketRod]

Or he just lost the pins off the throw-out bearing. Any unusual noise when its running? Pretty much looks like a motor pull to me, or anyway that's what I'd do.
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[benw82]

i also think there is a problem within the bell housing and i need to pull the engine to see whats broken. but theres a few problems with pulling the engine for me: i have never pulled one, i have a gravel driveway and i'll have to work on the engine/tranny in the gravel.
the engine has some oil leaks and i would like to get them fixed while the engine is out. i know the pushrod tubes are leaking.
i also dont have an engine stand... not sure what i should do
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76' Westy

[RocketRod]

Use cardboard boxes as your floor over the gravel. Replacing the push rod yube seals requires the rockers be taken off. Just get your motor at TDC first and replace with good seals and no sealant. Just use motor oil to lube them up a bit. lots of folks never pulled a motor at one time and were sucessfull so don't let that stop you. There are some threads on what to do while you motor is out, and then ratwell.com has lots of information too.
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Why Yes it is a Magic bus!
Common Sense isn't so common.

[Tom Powell]

[RussellK]

Lots of people here have pulled their engines on gravel driveways. It might not be as easy as a solid surface but its doable. Take your time and make the plunge. You can do it!
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-Russ
'77 Westphalia
'68 Standard

[aeromech]

"keep the transmission supported and don't let it hang by the CV's "

He's got a 1976

One idea might be to get something like a 4X8 sheet of plywood to have under the bus/engine that your floor jack can slide on.

Another might be to build a tent like enclosure around the rear of the bus to protect you from the Colorado winter.
_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[Desertbusman]

[SGKent]

Rent a space in a garage for $100 for a month and do everything needed.
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"Most people don't know what they're doing, and a lot of them are really good at it." - George Carlin

[Wildthings]

You can easily just use an 8 or 10 foot long 2x10 or 2 x 12 to pull an engine. When doing it this way the surface hardly matters, doesn't even need to be very flat. Lay the board under the engine right behind the rear wheel and stick two piles of 2x6 blocks under it, one just inside the line of each rear wheel. Force it up until you have the weight of the engine on it and then pull the mounting bolts for the engine and tranny. Then just remove the 2x6 blocks from under it one at a time alternating sides.

Drop the mated engine and tranny down about 5 inches or so and then support the tranny and separate the engine from it. You can just keep the engine on the board once it is out, either at ground level, or you can set it on saw horses or some other solid support.

[benw82]

update... i pulled the engine. i ran into a few problems getting it out but removing the oil filler tube made life easier.
BUT i found nothing wrong with the clutch fork, throw out bearing or clutch. when my wife presses the pedal i can now watch the throw out bearing move as it should. the clutch looks newish and not oily. clueless on why i cant shift.

i did find a few things wrong but not sure what need to be replaced. here is a few pictures of my findings:

what seals should i replace?
and how do replace that bad bearing in there?
is the fly wheel have to much of a worn groove to be reused?
how do you punch the oil/freeze plugs?
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76' Westy

[SGKent]

where are the three bolts, tube and TO? You don't need to remove the tube to pull the TO.

Your pilot bearing is junk. It has to be replaced. Worse, what the heack has been banging around beating the bolts and flywheel up? I wonder if the transmission has been replaced and the replacement has too short a input shaft on it? I can see in a the photo of the input shaft where it looks like the end is blackened and chewed up.

Strange groove. That is on the flywheel out past where the seal rides on it. I've seen them on the crankshaft but not there.

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"Most people don't know what they're doing, and a lot of them are really good at it." - George Carlin

[Wildthings]

Your pilot bearing is obviously shot and is probably a big part of what is wrong, but it also looks like you have some other strange issue. It looks like your pilot shaft is too short, maybe you have the one for a T1 engine in there???

You should probably replace all of the following.

Clutch disc
Pilot bearing
Throwout bearing
Flywheel seal
Tranny input shaft seal
Check input shaft length and swap for correct length if necessary

I would guess that the slinger inside your tranny is going to be messed up. Best to do a search here and find out how to correct the situation.

That groove is on some flywheels and not others. So long as the flywheel seal doesn't run on the bad area you are probably okay.