In reply to AxeHealey :
Since the tail lamps are on the problem is not the switch, as the same terminal does both front and rear. Those switches always feel poor after the unknowing fail to do the little rotate between park and head, but I have seen very few failures.
In reply to TurnerX19 :
That's a good point but this one still has a positive feel through the little rotate as you say. What I do know is that when I pulled out of the garage, the parking lights were working and when I parked there the taillights weren't working. I rotated the switch slightly to make the brake lights work but clearly the parking lights didn't come on.
Maybe it's those stupid push connectors that I don't have the tool for...
Those push connectors are the worst part of Lucas. They even named them "Lucar", and had a patent. Replace them where ever you can, every other type is an improvement.
Memory trigger during sleep time. I had consistent trouble with my Healey snagging the front parking lamp wires on the tires. This was compounded by width and offset, and I think you have the offset with the Minilites. Also remembered the name of the best connectors, Weatherpak (spelling?) a General Motors creation, now available at the FLAPS.
TurnerX19 said:Memory trigger during sleep time. I had consistent trouble with my Healey snagging the front parking lamp wires on the tires. This was compounded by width and offset, and I think you have the offset with the Minilites. Also remembered the name of the best connectors, Weatherpak (spelling?) a General Motors creation, now available at the FLAPS.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that hates those connectors.
Great thought about the tire catching the wiring. (Although I'm responding to a forum post at the moment) I've got a jam-packed morning. I'll go check at lunch.
EDIT: Just went out and checked during lunch. Everything works as expected, no connections are loose. Now that I'm thinking about it, I took the front picture first, then walked around the back and realized the taillights weren't on and rotated the switch. All's well.
Things have been going great. Drove it multiple times this week ending with a quick nighttime blast on Friday.
Yesterday: Great ride early afternoon. My dad drove it the furthest he has yet and seems to be getting more comfortable.
Today: I took it for the absolute best ride. About 45 straight minutes of fun driving roads. It performed flawlessly. Then trouble. I pulled into the driveway and hopped out to open the fence. As I was coming back to the car I thought, hm, I wonder what the seating position would be like without the bottom cushion (thinking foamectomy to sit a bit lower). I pull the cushion, hop in, push the clutch and realize it's stuck all the way down. Shoot, maybe it's stuck on the carpet. No, pull it back up with my foot and the pedal is rock solid. Literally no movement whatsoever.
First troubleshooting attempt - crack the bleeder and go depress the clutch pedal with my hand. My thinking was that I pressed the master too far and introduced some air somehow. There's travel. Good. Close the bleeder, come back, rock solid.
Crawl back under and realize the slave cylinder is all the way out. Hm. Manually press it in with one thumb and crack the bleeder with my other hand. Close bleeder, release thumb, plunger gradually comes out. This is with no pressure on the clutch pedal.
Had someone help as if we're bleeding the clutch, no change.
The slave static state now is to be all the way out as if the clutch pedal is fully depressed, I can manually press it in with the arm and it feels fine but after I release it slowly comes back out. If the clutch pedal is depressed it stays in place.
Something must have physically let go between the slave and the clutch, right? If I can force myself to do so, I'll get it back on jack stands tonight and do some more poking around but I'm thinking the trans is coming out...
Update.
I looked at diagrams while cooking and forced myself back out there after dinner. There was no pressure on the clutch fork, I could move it back and forth freely. Being the hack that I am, I started to move it back and forth quickly to bang things around in there thinking that maybe something was just stuck, not broken. After a couple whacks, it all sprung back to normal and I have a clutch pedal again.
Bad throw out bearing? I didn't replace it because it didn't look bad (stupid of me) but it also hasn't shown any signs of going bad, just all of a sudden stuck apparently.
Early on in my TR6 ownership, I had a clutch throw out bearing that would stick when hot. After it cooled, it returned to normal. A combination of being a little tight and some scoring was the problem. Honing out the bearing carrier fixed it.
Is it possible the bearing got pushed so far out that it cocked and stuck? That would explain how you freed it up.
In reply to JoeTR6 (Forum Supporter) :
The Healey throw out bearing moves in an arc with the fork, it does not have a guide tube like a Triumph. It is not a ball bearing either, just a flat carbon face. I think this car must still have a spring & lever pressure plate which can produce this symptom if it is over travelled. If the clutch is the later diaphragm type I am stumped.
This is the pressure plate.
This is the clutch.
Both are brand new and both *seemed* identical to what came out of the car.
When the clutch pedal stuck to the floor, was the clutch engaged or disengaged? Did you try to move the car while broken? I am trying to figure out what jammed it. The rock hard part happens when the slave cylinder piston reaches the snap ring at the end of the bore. The fact that it felt rock hard proves there is no air in the system. Does it slip now? Go drive and report results please.
When the clutch pedal stuck to the floor, was the clutch engaged or disengaged? - I can't say for certain because I immediately pulled it back up but I'd bet disengaged as that's the state it stayed in.
Did you try to move the car while broken? - Yes, it would roll freely. I also put it into gear and rocked it back and forth a few times and it behaved as you'd expect.
The rock hard happens when the slave reaches the snap ring. - Right. That's exactly what I found. In trying to figure out the problem it didn't occur to me that it meant no air in the system but that makes sense.
I just took it for a 20 minute test drive with no issues. I did a few hill starts and it certainly doesn't seem to be slipping. Clutch engagement seems a bit less smooth than before but in all honesty, if I was really being pressed, I'd say it's the same as before and I was just being extra cautious with shifts.
I've now driven it twice since the issue. No clutch slipping that I can detect. Last night, I was doing a three point turn and going into reverse I pushed the clutch pedal way down and I felt it try to stick but it didn't.
I can't find any solid info on the interwebs - should there be a physical clutch stop? I don't think there was one on this car before but it was just a cobbled together mess I have no idea what's right and wrong. I'm thinking I may weld a nut to the clutch pedal and thread a bolt in from the back side so it contacts the footwell just after full clutch disengagement.
In reply to AxeHealey :
There was no stop originally. I wonder if you have an oversize master cylinder?. Or under size slave? In any case, if it disengages thoroughly before the pedal reaches it's travel limit you should make a stop. Over travel will dramatically shorten the life of the diaphragm spring on the pressure plate.
In reply to TurnerX19 :
I'm fairly certain the MC and slave are exactly what they're supposed to be. From part numbers on Moss, they used the same master and slave cylinders from part-way through the BN4s all the way through the BJ8s. I suppose manufacturing tolerances could make them over/undersized but I doubt it could be enough to cause an issue.
In reply to AxeHealey :
I have ,regrettably, to say you should measure them. It is not a manufacturing tolerance issue, but it might be a packaging/labeling issue if you purchased them new. The identical outside and bolt pattern for the Girling master exists in 4 sizes, and the slave in at least two. The Moss catalogs do not list the bore sizes on anything. Shop manual does, but I no longer have a copy, I sold almost all of them in 1986.
In reply to TurnerX19 :
Yeah, I don't want to hear that. They are slightly different in appearance from the outside but I assumed that was due to maybe having different providers who are making them. The masters are listed as 5/8" bore and the slaves are 7/8" according to Moss. I just skimmed my shop manual and didn't see a measurement listed for either. Doesn't mean it's not there and it doesn't mean that the parts were labelled correctly from Moss as you point out.
I can tell you, however, that I definitely will not be pulling the MC or slave before it goes into storage for the winter.
40-45 minute drive in the Healey today. No issues.
That dribble underneath the front end is coolant but the interesting thing is that it's cold coolant. So I'm guessing that the radiator is just a little overfilled but the fact that it's completely cold baffles me. The car was running at 175 ish when I parked in the driveway after the trip. Maybe by the time it hits the driveway it has had time to shed any heat?
As I was giving it a wipe down, I noticed this on the passenger door.
Sure as E36 M3 looks to me like rust bubbling up. The painter did work to this door to reinforce it on the inside as I guess it was too flimsy for a coat of filler, etc. This would be the fastest rust bubble I've ever seen in my life and there was no rust on the door there before, but I can't really imagine what else that texture would be from. I sent him a picture, we'll see what he says. I badly don't want to drag this thing back out to his shop. It's definitely a flaw in the paint/prep as the car literally has not seen any water. I wipe it down with one of those dusters and then use quick detailer.
After the drive I put the plate bracket on. No more zip ties.
The tonneau came in the mail Friday but the Tenax fasteners that were on the car before don't work with the new hardware. Imagine that.
Maybe a little contamination under the paint?
Does the new tonneau cover have fasteners already installed? I have installed several tops and covers on various cars, and all had no fasteners installed, and all had instructions that said the locations varied too much to install them before fitting. Tenax are really the best, and are readily available new.
In reply to TurnerX19 :
No fasteners installed and no instructions it just came with a bag of new hardware.
Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:Maybe a little contamination under the paint?
Could be, yeah. I guess either way the door likely needs repainted.
It seems official that the SCCA will be back at Nelsons for an actual race this fall. I'd really like to support the local region and also actually race my race car. I posted in the general forum about what I may need to change about the car get it SCCA eligible again. Turns out I need a 5lb fire bottle (no problem) and two tubes added to the cage between the front downtubes and the firewall.
Problem is, I don't see a way to weld them around fully. It's so tight, and hard to tell in the pics, but I would almost have to notch the a-pillar to weld the outside. Is there some cage welding trick that I'm missing?
Most of the downtube is in front of the door opening, even with that weatherstripping removed. If I could take it from the knee bar to the firewall, that would be no problem but I don't think that's allowed.
AxeHealey said:
quoted because the world needs more of this. a beautiful car, beautifully brought back to life. internet high five to you.
In reply to AxeHealey :
The official technique would be to remove the fender, cut a hole in the inner structure, weld the cage, patch the inner, and reinstall the fender
If you cant see it, how does tech see it? I am certain there are quite a few not fully welded cage connections for this very reason. Especially on upgrades, as opposed to new builds. I would weld as much as you can see and add some serious gussets that would also reduce the possible sight lines to the hidden.
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