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Clutch thrust bearing woes.

 
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eagle3
Alfa 33


Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Posts: 402
Location: France

PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 9:54 am    Post subject: Clutch thrust bearing woes. Reply with quote

I was told my '94 1.3i.e had a new clutch when I bought it last year but I think it was done on the cheap as the seller didn't have a bill for it. So I'm going to have to take the gearbox off.

I should have done it when I was trying to fix the leak in the gearbox but the bearing has only just started screaming. What a pain. I'm not sure whether it was badly done, or just the plate was changed but I have a kit here ready to be fitted. I'm going to try and do it by dropping the rear of the engine/gearbox unit. I can't face taking it all out.

Rolling Eyes
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messybloke
Alfa Arna


Joined: 29 Apr 2008
Posts: 23
Location: essex

PostPosted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 12:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have taken just the gearbox out of 33s and suds, Its not to bad, you have to support the engine (with a bar is best) and cut a slot in the rear engine mount to make it easy to fddle back on. The gearbox is quite heavy so you may want a mate handy. Good luck.
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lee16v
16 Valve


Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 1429
Location: Devon, UK

PostPosted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 5:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yep, It can be done that way. Engine will rock over and the heads will sit on the front chassis members so it wont fall out!! Didn't do any cutting of the engine mount though?!
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eagle3
Alfa 33


Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Posts: 402
Location: France

PostPosted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well all being well the clutch has been replaced correctly. As I suspected the disque had been changed previously but I'm not sure about the thrust bearing and mechanism. As it happens the stud on which the lever pivots had sheared off which caused the disintegration of the thrust bearing and some serious chewing of the mechanism.

The fact that the disque was hardly used and the presence of a thick layer of dust around the flywheel makes me think it was a bit of a cowboy job. Fortunately I have a spare box which supplied the replacement pivot stud.

The job was done over a pit which unfortunately had four inches of oily water in it covering a good layer of pea gravel. A pain when you drop a nut I can tell you. Magnets are handy. Very Happy

No cutting required here either but removal of the central mount was necessary. Easy enough as long as you leave the left side nut on, rotate the mount though 90 degrees and then remove the nut.

Will post some pictures of the knackered mechanism tomorrow. I still have the exhaust to put on before I test it.
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eagle3
Alfa 33


Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Posts: 402
Location: France

PostPosted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 8:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Old cage before removal


Missing pivot


What's left of the thrust bearing


Close-up of chewed-up cage


All back together again and running great! Cool
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ZeNiTh-PbArM
Alfa 33


Joined: 14 Mar 2003
Posts: 388
Location: Paris, France

PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 7:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi, you have to thank valeo for designing such a stupid thrust bearing. SKF bearings never exploded, even when the fork pin sheared (a common failure, replace the pin whenever changing the clutch).
regards,
zp
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eagle3
Alfa 33


Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Posts: 402
Location: France

PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 5:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh well. Fingers crosssed. It was a Valeo kit I fitted and the pin I got from another box and not brand new. Rolling Eyes It looked ok though. But yeah it's a bit of a flimsy design for the pin. You'd think they would have put something a bit stronger there.

Not sure whether it was the pin or the thrust bearing which failed first. I would imagine it was the bearing.

It certainly feels fine on the pedal now. Rolling Eyes
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tvatavuk
Gold Cloverleaf


Joined: 13 Mar 2003
Posts: 673
Location: Split, Croatia

PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

With Valeo lousy bearings it is usualy their cover that touches plate then pin gets bended after that it is kaboom of all parts.
10y ago when I when I bought my P4 I spent serious amount of money on AR original clutch (made by valeo) 10k km later it was strange feeling on clutch, 20k km later it was ruined bearing, plate (like yours), fried clutch disc from all those little particles, bended pin and fork with eclipse hole in it.
Since then I never again used original AR clutch parts and I used only SKF bearings because they had best protection.
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eagle3
Alfa 33


Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Posts: 402
Location: France

PostPosted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 11:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's nice to know. If I'd have known at the time I would have made a special search for SKF parts and even had a more solid pivot made to measure. As it is I'll just keep my fingers crossed. The disc was hardly used so I'm thinking that the disc alone had been replaced in a somewhat slapdash manner.

Thanks for the useful info.
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