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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Need to diagnose troublesome shifting on my 1500

I have had my 1500 for about 6 years, and in that time have put 6k miles on it. Recently I have found that I have occasional trouble shifting -- reverse often grinds, it may not go into first the first try (the shifter doesn't budge) especially after driving a while and then stopping , sometimes second or third just "won't go" (shifter won't budge again), then it does...then sometimes I can run through the gears and then downshift back down through them with no trouble at all. Anyway, my trans fluid is new and topped off. My clutch cylinder is full as well, though frankly other than check the fluid level, I have never done step one with it. The clutch itself feels fine. There seem to be no leaks of brake fluid anywhere.

Is there some bit of maintenance that I am missing? Anything that I can do or check to get to the bottom of this?

Thanks much,
Steve
www.1978mgmidget.com
Steven Michelsen

The various pivots in the clutch arm all wear over time giving these sort of symptoms. If I remember right you should be able to change the rod that goes in to the slave cylinder along with its pin and the wavy bush that holds it in place,all without pulling the engine and box. This may help for now and should be an easy inexpensive fix.

Good luck Carl
C Bintcliffe

Thanks Carl. I wish I had a parts catalog - I am having trouble envisioning the parts you are referring to. Is this it? It's a used part but cheap. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120277283960

By the way, does anybody got a pdf parts catalog for the 1500 they can email to me? Thanks!
Steven Michelsen

OR, are you referring to item 25 on this page?
http://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=36484
Steven Michelsen

I think what C Bintcliffe, was trying to say was 2 diffeant things....

1st the pivoit joint on the clutch pedal tends to wear ablong shaped which makes themaster cly push rod operate at differant lengths at differant times....

2nd the push rod on the slave clyinder maybe a bit worn/ the ebay item you showed may have deterioated a bit making the same slave cly rod to short


look to the pivoit arm on the pedal assembly 1st...vary common to do oblong wear and easiest to get to.

prop
Prop

Hi There

I was thinking of parts 65,66,76 and 77 but I have to agree with Prop it may well be the pedal. You could have it welded and re drill it. Parts 65 and 66 can be replaced with the engine ad gearbox in as far as I can remember. The image comes from the Moss Europe website.

Cheers Carl


C Bintcliffe

I pulled off the coil and had a look at the pivot joint at the clutch pedal. Wow. Prop got it! The MC push rod hole was worn to more than 2x it's regular diameter - now oblong. See the image I included here of the wear. It is in fact #25 on that moss motors page (though I selected it incorrectly the first time!). I also found that the clutch pedal had 40-50mm of free travel - that can't be right, and this is probably at least part of the cause.

Lucky for me I live in New Jersey, only 15 minutes from Moss Motors warehouse! (They are moving soon; too bad for me) I will be buying that part.

Question: will that push rod just "pull out" of the MC, or will there be more disassembly involved?

Steve


Steven Michelsen

Uh, oh - I've got more trouble. It seems that the hole on the pivot joint on the clutch pedal itelf has become oblong as well. NOW I either have to hire someone to do some welding, or find a good used clutch pedal, OR rig something up with 2 part epoxy (like JB Weld), and some random bits of metal, to approximate a round hole on all the elements. Not pretty. Any words of encouragement on this?

Here's a picture...
http://www.1978mgmidget.com/photos/clutch_pedal_trouble.jpg

Thanks,
Steve


Steven Michelsen

I'd get the pedal welded and re-drilled. Probably faster and cheaper than finding another pedal. Any welding shop should be able to do it for $10 - $20. Or just get it welded and redo the hole yourself. And since the rod is available, just buy it.

Martin
Martin

This thread was discussed between 01/07/2008 and 02/07/2008

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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