Morris Minor Owners Club

H

Clutch plate is rusted to the flywheel - you should have freed it off before fitting! It may com e free if you let the heat from the engine soak through for a while. Also try tow starting in gear with foot HARD down on the clutch pedal - it may come free. Worst case - new clutch plate required.

j

When I say 'tow starting' - I mean with the Ign NOT switched on, so it's not going to start - just drag hard on the clutch in the hope it will come free. Perhaps have the handbrake on too to increase the drag - not so hard it skids the wheels of course........

k

Good morning folks , rite here we go , i had a go at towing the car in 2nd gear ignition off ,took it up down around the farm road with no joy , the car was just jerking with no signes of the clutch wanting to free itself ,even had a go in 1st gear , aplying the hand brake to give more drag .
So my next question is this would it free if i gave it a bump start in 2nd gear with ignition on ? ....
If not then i assume there are no other avenues open to me apart from the removing the gearbox fitting a new clutch ?...
Cam ...

stop and think , if the clutch does NOT free and the car starts ,be prepared for it to try to runaway,switch off the ignition and brake like h*ll ,hand and foot , good luck

You are doing this with your foot HARD down on the clutch release - I hope. But if it's stuck that hard - engine out.

Yep it was with the clutch pedal fully flat down , i will just have to change the complete clutch for a new 1 thanks for the help .
Cam .

let it tick over untill fully warm,then switch off,select top gear, depress the clutch fully down and keep it down,handbrake off,switch on and then turn it over on the starter the car will travel forwards and it should start and then obviously travel because its in gear,so make sure you have plenty of room , pointing down hill and a good battery will help the starter to get it moving.Keep the clutch down and drive it forwards with penty of revs At this point 99.99% of stuck clutches will separate and free off.If still stuck simply switch off to stop,Done it loads of times never failed for me but if it still sticks then yes engine out I'm afraid

Thanks for that i will have a go at that next few days , lets hope it frees off the clutch ..
I will let you know how it goes ..cam .

I did say before that letting the heat from the engine soak through may release it........ But of course - it's possible the fault is NOT a stuck plate - but I think it is.

Yea its def a stuck plate i had the engine running driving in the donar car prior to it being removed , then its gearbox was sold on and the engine then sat idle in the shed for 2 years .
I spoke with a m8 of mine who ownes a rural garage up north , he suggest the following ,put the hand brake on full as tight as it will go ,pin the clutch pedal to the floor place the car in reverse ,undo the coil , then each day turn the engine over just enough to put pressure on the clutch ,he recons this will def free the clutch ,its just a matter of time before it will pop free .
So i have done this today ,i will go out each day turn the engine over to keep the pressure up on the clutch plate .
So lets hope this works if not i will try starting it up on a steep hill in 4th gear as previously described ...
If all else fails then theres only one solution ,replace , replace , replace

I did hear of a 'cure' involving pour Coca Cola in over the clutch.....but have absolutely no experience of it !

Coke is a weak acid ,I suppose it will eat the rust seal Vinegar should do it as well ,but i'd use coke 'cause...drum roll...

Things go better with coka a cola

Hahahahaha

do as I suggested it will free it off.There is more force with the engine running against the drive than towing or turning the engine over,if it fails nothing else will work and engine out. Try it you have absolutly nothing to lose and everything to gain, It can not cause any damage it will either free off or simply drive the car forwards.Don't know how much expirience your garage friend has but take it from mine of 50 years with old cars,try it this morning. The only problem you will have is getting the car to start in gear,get it hot first get someone to push as well,they usually free off within the first few seconds sometime as soon as the engine fire up.

Can't see why it would be any better than either of the suggested methods already put up - but no harm trying. There's no point 'pushing' to help - that's just going to take the force AWAY from the clutch!!!

no ,just a push along with the starter being cranked to get it started,once started and running in gear with the clutch held down then the torque on the plate will be greater than any other method employed,and if that dosent free it nothing but a strip down will. Our old family garage used to also have a breakers yard ,my father used to buy and sell cars for spares and every time he sold an engine he always tried to let the buyer hear the engine or the gears box before taking them out of the car,you can imagine how many were sat with a stuck clutch plate. This method never failed us,if you tow it in gear it will sometimes work but you are then relying on the compression of the engine to break it free.Much more resistance from the weight of the car this way. Suprised you haven't tried this BM .

I've always used the starter motor method, mostly because the cars involved had no brakes ant were generally not in the least street legal.
As Kennatt says using the tow method the only rsistance is what ever compression the engine has.
Using the starter motor the resistance is the weight of the car + brakes.
The starter motor develops plenty of torque for the job.