360 - Clutch Issues

[thelostboy]

I have a manual 360 and went to move the car out of the garage last week to find an issue...

Once reversed out of the garage, it then wouldn't come out of reverse gear, as if if the clutch wasn't fully disengaged. I had to turn the car off, then on again, and then I could finally move it out of gear, but it would repeat the same thing in first after moving a few yards. It was pretty alarming, as if i let go of the brake pedal (with clutch foot down), the car was keen to pull away by itself!

Any ideas on whether this is a 'common' problem, and what it may be? The clutch was replaced by the previous owner in 2018, but the car's only done 1,200 miles since! Unfortunately it seems my generosity lending it to a mate to drive to Goodwood recently is going to be an expensive gift...

I'm based in Kent and recently spent about £5,000 on maintenance with Kent High Performance. I don't like jumping between people as I think it looks bad on the history of the car, but open to feedback on others as I'm close to CSP, Barkaways and AV Engineering.

Finally, I guess it would need to be trailered? I'm weighing up going for a drive to see if I can go through the gears.

Edited by thelostboy on Monday 16th September 15:43

[Hoofy]

I wouldn't blame your friend. It may well have happened after your next drive if you hadn't let your friend borrow it. (Not to mention how much it probably means to him to have been able to take it to Goodwood!)

Isn't AV supposed to be the best in the area?

[davek_964]

I owned my manual 360 for about 7 years and it's not an issue I remember hearing about so don't think it's particularly common.

I think KHPC have a very good reputation, but I'd echo the previous comment - I'd be taking it to AV.

[thelostboy]

Thanks guys. Kent High Performance were first to respond to my phone calls and have advised its probably air in the system, and have given me a couple of checks to try myself - nice that they haven't thought of their own pockets first. I've left a message with AV too!

[Hoofy]

thelostboy said:

Thanks guys. Kent High Performance were first to respond to my phone calls and have advised its probably air in the system, and have given me a couple of checks to try myself - nice that they haven't thought of their own pockets first. I've left a message with AV too!

That's good to hear!

[davidexige]

Might be worth checking the clutch block, it's mounted on the righthand side of the gearbox and is about 3" x 2" in size, has a couple of pipes/hoses going to it, if it's original they can suffer from hairline cracks and when they go can cause gear selection problems, but I would perhaps expect to see a bit of clutch fluid under the car if it's gone.

[ex-devonpaul]

First thing I would check is the clutch fluid level. A slight and slow leak would mean when the pedal is pressed a little comes out, and eventually there isn't enough left in the master cylinder to activate the slave cylinder (are we still allowed to use those terms?).

A top up will solve the problem for a while.

[Order66]

davidexige said:

Might be worth checking the clutch block, it's mounted on the righthand side of the gearbox and is about 3" x 2" in size, has a couple of pipes/hoses going to it, if it's original they can suffer from hairline cracks and when they go can cause gear selection problems, but I would perhaps expect to see a bit of clutch fluid under the car if it's gone.

This.

Symptoms sound identical to my old 360 and I believe it was diagnosed to be this. Its kind of a multi-way valve for the fluid and it can let air into the system, leading to the irregular clutch you're experiencing. Wasn't a particularly expensive part to replace, but the mechanic did need to know of the issue to diagnose it.

Edited to say, sure I saw a video on this issue and here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtVN8Ue-fL8

Edit again, I believe this is the part itself: https://www.hillengineering.co.uk/hydraulic-blocks...

Edited by Order66 on Saturday 21st September 10:12

Edited by Order66 on Saturday 21st September 10:14

[davek_964]

Ah, mine did need that replaced.

I didn't have clutch problems - I just noticed it was leaking. I turned up at the Indy I was using about 5pm - he told me he was sure he had one of those somewhere, and it was fixed a few hours later!