Lost all gears , clutch slave maybe?

[JB21]

I've been having gear selection problems for a while now. Had an issue were I couldn't get gears at high revs on track, so adjusted the master cylinder pin out on the pedal and that worked for a while.

Now when stationery at idle I can't get any gears. I can turn the car off, lift off the clutch, get first, clutch back in and start. Once on the move I can get all gears, but they do feel a bit crunchy.

I'm also getting a clicking noise in the engine bay when pressing the clutch in.

I have no leaks, fluid just changed, and just re-bled the system again. No difference.

Thinking its a failed clutch slave cylinder?

[Carolyn]

Does sound like a leaky slave cylinder. Had that issue on Scotte's car and a new cylinder cured it.  Look for oily dampness under the cylinder.

Failing gear shift cable (fraying and going floppy at the gear box end) also a possibility.  Seen it twice.

[1979scotte]

Agree with Carolyn sounds very similar to mine.
Different box but they all work the same.

[toyoda]

I've been having gear selection problems for a while now. Had an issue were I couldn't get gears at high revs on track, so adjusted the master cylinder pin out on the pedal and that worked for a while.

Now when stationery at idle I can't get any gears. I can turn the car off, lift off the clutch, get first, clutch back in and start. Once on the move I can get all gears, but they do feel a bit crunchy.

I'm also getting a clicking noise in the engine bay when pressing the clutch in.

I have no leaks, fluid just changed, and just re-bled the system again. No difference.

Thinking its a failed clutch slave cylinder?

I sounds like there is something wrong with release bearing or clutch pressure plate, why does it make a noise when you press the clutch?
If you have bled the clutch correctly and the cylinder is not leaking, I would put the clutch push rod back to where it should be and check the pedal distance is as spec in the manual.
If you dont know these values I can dig them out for you.
After that if you cannot engage gears when the engine is running, and as long as the gear selection cables and bushes are all as they should be, then it must be a clutch fault like release bearing failure or lost fingers on the pressure plate.
If it goes into gear ok but is still crunchy it is the baulk (synchro) rings.

[Dev]

I've been having gear selection problems for a while now. Had an issue were I couldn't get gears at high revs on track, so adjusted the master cylinder pin out on the pedal and that worked for a while.

Now when stationery at idle I can't get any gears. I can turn the car off, lift off the clutch, get first, clutch back in and start. Once on the move I can get all gears, but they do feel a bit crunchy.

I'm also getting a clicking noise in the engine bay when pressing the clutch in.

I have no leaks, fluid just changed, and just re-bled the system again. No difference.

Thinking its a failed clutch slave cylinder?

I sounds like there is something wrong with release bearing or clutch pressure plate, why does it make a noise when you press the clutch?
If you have bled the clutch correctly and the cylinder is not leaking, I would put the clutch push rod back to where it should be and check the pedal distance is as spec in the manual.
If you dont know these values I can dig them out for you.
After that if you cannot engage gears when the engine is running, and as long as the gear selection cables and bushes are all as they should be, then it must be a clutch fault like release bearing failure or lost fingers on the pressure plate.
If it goes into gear ok but is still crunchy it is the baulk (synchro) rings.

 I think you are on to something.  It could also be a damaged clutch disk. Sometimes with aftermarket clutches that use springs the housing can get damaged and have some of the shrapnel stuck between the clutch and pressure plate which will reduce the throw of the disengagement causing the grinding of gears and inconsistent behavior. 

 I had this happen to me long ago and I was able to shift with slight grinding of gears until I could no longer get into gear at all.   Fortunately I was a 3 miles from my house and started the car in 2nd gear while I gave it gas and made it home.

[AdamR28]

The other thing I have seen before is the clutch disengaging too much, then the fingers on the pressure plate touch the friction material and it snags, so try pushing the pedal only 75% of the way down and see if that improves things.

[JB21]

Right, bled the clutch again as well as the slave and no difference. So I lifted the MC pin out even further and that worked.

Now the issue is my pedal is long and bite is really high and I know this is not good for the life of the clutch.

Got a new slave arriving tomorrow so I'll give that a go to see if it makes a difference.

Oulton park on Friday so hopefully can get one more day out of the car before pulling the box if the slave doesn't solve the issue 🤞

[toyoda]

Sounds like a fauly or worn out pressure plate, thats why when you adjust the push rod it gets better, mine was like this, and i tried adjusting the rod which made it better but made the pedal position incorrect, amd the bite point high. Hope i'm wrong. When they took the clutch out they said it was ok and didn't need changing, but they had not driven it before, the new Luk full kit fixed it.

[JB21]

Well the new slave cylinder didn't work. No difference at all.

Looks like @toyoda is right with the worn pressure plate.

I've now wound the pin all the way out just before it comes out of the holder on the pedal then wound it back in 4 turns. It still struggles to find first and reverse at idle but drives OK once on the move.

I either have to turn the car off to find 1st or whilst coming to a stop blip the revs.

I've left myself some room on the pin so I can get to Oulton Friday and then hopefully back home again 🙏

[thetyrant]

Personally having been stranded with a failed pressure plate in the past on another car i wouldnt risk running it again especially on track at high revs, it could well start to break up more and damage other things which is what happened to me, basically the metal sleeve protruding from the gbox that release bearing slides on got damaged as it was under stress from failed pressure plate and release bearing damaged due to it, this turned into a full gbox rebuild and trying to source the sleeve part which was thankfully available as a seperate part on that car, although i had to privately import it from japan as Mitsubishi had never supplied one in uk as it was a JDM Evo2.

Also it could lock up the transmission sending you spinning off track so ask yourself if its worth the risk, get that big BM on track instead