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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - clutch will not dis-engage

I am helping a friend with his 1979 midget 1500. When the engine is running you can put the transmission in all 4 gears without depressing the clutch pedal. The clutch pedal flops up and down with no resistance. I opened the slave cylinder bleed screw and a thimble full of fluid drained out. The clutch master cylinder is half full, there are no leaks. What could be keeping the pressure plate from putting pressure on the clutch disc up against the flywheel? I thought that there may be a flex line that had swollen shut, but there is only a solid metal line. What could cause the pressure plate to remain dis-engaged so that the clutch will not engage the flywheel?
K. A. Anderson

Sounds like either the pressure plate is seized in the disengage position, or the clutch slave is seized with the piston fully extended. Try disconnecting the slave pushrod from the release fork and engage gears, if it's still the same, the fault is with the clutch pressure/driven plates. If it baulks or crunches, it's in the hydraulics. It doesn't sound like gear selector problem because you say the pedal flops up and down.

Bernie.
b higginson

This thread was discussed on 25/10/2012

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.