I've got a square transmission mount on my 84's M46. Everywhere I look, it's supposed to be round like the replacement I bought. It looks old and squishy. I also have issues with shifting into 1/2/R that amount to the clutch still making contact with the pressure plate.

I thought it was a clutch cable issue a couple times, but since I've adjusted that way way out, I can feel the clutch fork bottom out before the pedal does.

The next two things to cross my mind are that somehow the mount being the wrong one (square is for autos) and old are causing the issue, but I am pretty sure I can still feel the fork hit the limit of its travel when I'm having the issues.

What about pressure plate fingers that have weakened over time? Does this happen?

Cheers!

1 thing i've seen is that the firewall will break, which means the cable doesn't get ALL it's pull and that made the pedal feel funny. maybe the bottoming out you're getting? but, i've only seen it once on a volvo 240. as far as the rest, yes, you should have the round mount-1221967-and yes, the pressure plate springs can soften or break. i seriously doubt the mount is the problem you're getting. good luck, chuck.

I have been trying to follow your problem with the clutch adjustment.

The shaft collar I mentioned is in most good hardware stores. They vary in gouging prices. The cheapest place I use is use-enco.com. It is a machine shop/industrial kind of site. They are about 4 bucks.

As far as the clutch plate springs becoming weaker, yes, it can happen just as much as the disc can wear.
The pilot bearing could be sticky and dragging/turning the input shaft no matter how much you adjust it.
A rusty spline on the input shaft under the disc can hold the clutch disc to the flywheel despite the pressure plate releasing it.

If I leave my '78 outside too much or do not drive it every couple of weeks that condition raises it ugly head. It has been about 25 years since I have had that clutch out for any servicing. I am sure that is happening on mine due to things dry out including pilot bearings.

As far as you getting a "bottoming out" feel from the throw out lever hitting the transmission housing would indicate something is not set up right on the inside. It is possible there are wrong parts or worn parts cobbled together on PO cars.

Are you smashing the rubber boot on the throw out arm? That would be tricky, IMHO. Just as tricky as having a disc shock absorbing spring to come out of the clutch disc, but that did happen to my ’78, some 25 years ago.

They have changed the pockets that hold the springs in that disc now.

I do not think that it should be possible that the pedal throw distance can be longer than the throw of the clutch arm. The distances the pressure plate fingers actually move are not that much to operate the pressure plate.

Are you sure that the clutch pedal is not hitting at the top up under the dash? It might be, that something has fallen down from up higher to stop the throw. Could be a connector or relay? The foot portion of the pedal moves far more than the top part. Your foot is on the longest portion of that stick.

Does your car have cruise control or the remnants of anything like that under there?

I think I raised more questions than answers!

Phil

Awesome!

I'm always glad to have more things to check! I appreciate you trying to follow it. You can always email me.

I am fairly convinced that it is related to the mount. It happens exclusively on non-level surfaces and is very consistent. "It" being that I can have the clutch down as far as possible, but I can't get it into 1st or 2nd (and can only get it into R if I slam it into gear and head skzCHUNK).

I tightened the clutch cable to where there is almost 0 slack between the pedal starting to move and the fork moving.

I might be squishing the rubber thing, or something at the top of the clutch pedal. That's something I hadn't thought of and that would be easy to check. I know the wiring harness has been replaced, so I will take a look. No Cruise control that I know of. If so, I'll do my best to resurrect it. I miss cruise control SO MUCH.

Super sleepy right now. I'll post more when I know what's going on. Do you think the tiny screw-type band-clamp that's on the cable is doing anything to keep the cable from moving around? I still can't quite visualize the collar you're describing, but now I have a place to go find photos of one.
One of these?



A thought just occurred to me - there is a rubber bushing between the adjusting collar and the bracket that holds the adjusting collar. There's only about the top 1/3 of it present. If the transmission is shifting up and down on hills and sudden stops, it could be acting as a lever. Or I may have an overactive imagination :D

More when time allows! Cheers!

"It" being that I can have the clutch down as far as possible, but I can't get it into 1st or 2nd (and can only get it into R if I slam it into gear and head skzCHUNK)."

I don't know the answer to your problem but I can make a suggestion that will make your transmission happy--stop slamming it into gear. Hold the clutch down and momentarily slip the shifter into 3rd or 4th before engaging 1st or reverse - My beat around '80 245 has been doing that 1st-Reverse crunch for nearly 100k miles - a little kindness can go a long way. -- Dave

Well, yeah. Generally that's a bad thing. I was just illustrating my point.
My solution is to shut off the car, put it in gear, and restart it. I usually shift into 1st or 2nd before putting it into R. I do my best to not abuse the transmission or car like that. When this is happening to me, I can get it into 3rd or 4th, but not 1,2,R even after putting it into 3 and/or 4.

No transmission should crunch going into any gear. I strongly suspect my 1st gear synchro ring was ground to bits by the PO downshifting through every gear as he approached a stop. I do my best to be kind, despite the frustration of sitting at a stop and spending 3-30 seconds to try to get into 1st gear unless I shift into it as I'm stopping at about 5mph.

Cheers

I recently had trouble getting my clutch to disengage, despite adjusting the cable.
The ball pivot on the inside end of the release arm (opposite where the cable connects) had punched through its attachment to the release arm. Apparently the pivot gradually pushed through the soft metal of the release arm, certainly causing my clutch adjustment problem and high pedal effort.

Fix was to pull the trans and replace the release arm and pivot. Lots of labor. Also replaced throwout bearing, clutch kit, seals. No more crunching.

Also, confirm that the clutch and brake pedal mounting bracket is not loose or broken.

Ken
1984 245, 254k
near Sacramento, CA
--
'84 245 NA 225k

Uh.... this sounds plausible. I hate to say it.

I am pretty sure the wrong transmission mount is installed, but I don't think that would account for all this.

Did you experience the clutch moving to X distance sometimes and bottoming out, then other times moving to X+y distance? For example, sometimes you could hit the firewall, others it would stop two inches from the floor. Most of the time, the clutch works fine, sometimes it just won't engage. If it gets to where it's 2" off the firewall, it can be pushed farther with a lot of force. I try not to do that.

I'll check the bracket. Thanks