Sounds like the clutch is dragging.
Have you tried bleeding the clutch?

 

Or too much crankshaft end float? (worst case!!)

 

hey guys - thanks for the quick reply.

It is dragging. I can hear it when I have the window down.

And the very first time I step on the clutch it works fine, but after a couple of uses, it starts to drag. the car has 80KMiles on it, so I would hope it is not end float.

It would certainly be a relief if all it is is some bleeding! I was really not looking forward to taking down the box, because I would have to do it myself and it has been raining all week!
as to bleeding, I have a workshop manual, but they seem to use some elaborate tooling - I take it that it is similar to bleeding the brakes?

 

I changed the engine on a Saxo (not my car!) before and that wouldn't go into gear when the engine was running. I started the engine with the car in gear, it chugged forwards on the starter motor, the friction plate broke free and then I put the clutch pedal down to stop the engine cutting out. It was fine after that.

 

Well the car was driving fine the previous day, so it is not like the plate is fused. I can distincltly hear it dragging when I depress the clutch, so it is not disengaging entirely, hence the problems selecting gears.

Well - today, the car is fine again - go figure! Wierd. Am wondering whether it is a bleeding issue then, but |I am not convinced it won't happen again....

Will keep an eye on it and let you know - I still don't feel like rerplacing the clutch assembly!

 

Have you tried bleeding the clutch yet?

 

Car has been fine ever since - just waiting for it to go again though... not sure how to bleed it without that special Pressure equipment they mention in the manual - is it straight forward like the brakes?

 

Exactly the same as bleeding brakes.

 

Iwould really watch how much pressure you use bleeding a clutch on the TS, I used a pressure bleed and had to replace the slave as suspect I blew the seals doing it.
I might also add it might be that I pumped the pedal while forgetting it still had pressure in the pressure bleed kit.

 

I can't engage gears with the engine running. Got fluids and the clutch grabs at the right height, and with the engine off the linkage and selection seems fine. But start the car and thats it for selecting gears - I suspect a faulty friction plate - something I read somewhere. Am hoping to get a better idea and then get cracking in sorting it out!

Anyone else had anything along these lines?

Hi Gentlemen, I am having the same symptoms here on my 2004 2l JTS. When the engine is running, It wont go into any gear. Started yesterday morning but only the R gear was lost. This morning none could be selected, but when the engine is off, I can select all gears nicely... I heard something abot bleeding the cluch. How do I do that? Anything else I could try?

 

Fluid back feeding past the thrust seals/rubbers. Air in, get it out, bleeding as a temporary stop gap as mentioned, but if it happens regularly after a time, Well,.......... fit new?.:

 

Thanks for the swift response . Much appreciated. Will do that over the weekend and let you know...

 

Hello again Zulu, My car (2.0 JTS 156 selespeed ) has been resting in my garage for a good two months now. I just got my alfadiag cable from one guy hong kong (spent roughly 10 pounds). Established a connection and yes got two errors (engine speed & clutch speed), cool! Now, the car has been stuck on reverse and therefore couldn't start the engine. Using afterdiag i ran test on return to neutral, odd gear selection (selects 3) & even gear selection (selects 4) I wondered why 4 & 3, not 1 and 2 . . .

Anyway, the requests for gear change using the gear lever okay (sensors okay I guess),

Haudralic pressure remained between 44 and 48 . . . (thought this and the above point suggest the actuator/accumulator are fine)

Problem 1, the car starts well on neutral but wont when on gear.
Problem 2, when the engine is on, not running (key on mar), I cant select any gear using the lever, only a click comes from underneath, in the engine compactment and it stays on neutral. I am pretty sure the click here is very different from the one you get when the whole gear change system is working fine.

Clutch bleeding? The procedure confuses me here. What is the correct procedure? I believe this may bring back my gears but elearn confuses me badly. Please help. (I am not a mechanic but I am sure with a clear picture I can do the job myself) Pls understand my nearest alfa garage is 800 km away...:wow: So towing the car there is my last resort.

 

Will this (see attached) be the right procedure I should follow for clutch bleeding or? (note; using alfadiag where examiner is mentioned).

 

I need to get my bela on the road. Miss her so much...! Any help/thoughts would be greatly appreciated...

 

that looks like the way to get any air out of the Selespeed system. It looks like you need some jump leads. The battery has to be removed, but power is needed to run the pump, so there has to be some jump leads to connect the battery to the battery leads to make the pump work. Then its jump a matter or undoing the bleed screw while the pump runs and expels the air and any fluid, after 20 secs all should be fine.

HTH

 

Thank you HTH. I managed to run the procedure yesterday. The only way of running the pump for 20 sec was through the alfadiag (testing the pump, which runs for about 5 sec, repeated that continuously five times). Just to update you guys, I still could not get any gear so I checked the clutch actuator position and the Reference position clutch actuator. The readings were 18.77 to 18.86 and 18.69 respectively. I believe this readings should be 28 to 28.5.

Managed to run a search on adjusting the stop pin and got some good data (even pictures, Smacky's post was really helpful, or so I believe. Many thanks Smacky! :thumbs: ). Will give you guys some feedback later.

Thanks everyone:thumbs:

 

I am back and with good news and a big , my bella is on the road and roaring like never before! Managed to adjust the clutch rod to the specified length. Still watching her though.

 

Hi, I'm having a similar problem. It manifested after some dope pulled out on me at a junction. I braked hard but didn't get my foot on the clutch quick enough and stalled. After that the clutch drags and I have difficulty changing gear. Have to stop the engine to get reverse. There is no noise, it feels normal apart from this and it bites in the same place as before.

I can't really see how this was caused by what happened.

Any ideas, quotes for clutch replacement are £500-800 depending on whether they think the flywheel will need replacing. I bet they do!!!

 

I managed to get it sorted out. As it turns out the clutch plate had started coming apart. There are damper springs holding the plate together, and several of these had actually broken into pieces which normally would lie in the bottom of the bell housing minding their own problems, until you hit a bump at the right moment, and then they would get caught up in the works and cause the dragging.

It was a big job, but it was quite satisfying, I changed out the clutch and pressure plate assembly. All good now. Saved myself the money of getting it done, the parts still cost me around £150, so I saved perhaps £300. I am typically pretty good with this kinda thing and it still took me 2 weekends to do, and at one point I was completely stuck with having to loosen things. I had more problems getting the box out than back up again! The Alfa was defo not as straight forward as other clutches that I have done, and I have pulled out at least 5 different clutches before.

 

Striker hi, as you have probably read above, alfadiag was really helpful in pointing me to the right direction. Since you mention "getting your foot on the clutch" I assume your car is does not have a selespeed... or? Try searching for other threads to help with your problem or start a new thread. Hope you solve the problem without creating a bad hole in ur pockect...