Clutch Fork?

[Sailor96]

Hello my fellow legends

Driving the other day and it was nearly impossible to get into gear. Clutch pedal suddenly got soft with a slight click towards the end of the pedal range.

Checked the fluid reservoir, it was still full. Checked that the slave cylinder is moving it's full travel length. The fork itself seems to be firmly in place, not tons of play.

I'm thinking the clutch Fork pivot ball either snapped or push through the fork itself, since I've read a few posts of it happening on this forum.

Thoughts or suggestions?

 

[Smo]

As you said, could be the fork itself - this happened to my previous Pulsar;

It's a bastard but there are options out there to make sure it never happens again.

Could also be the clutch pedal box where it attaches to the bulkhead. I've seen failures there with stiffer clutches.

 

[Sailor96]

Thanks @Smo forgot about that, I do have the support bracket installed but I will double check the pedal support didn't break.
I do have a billet clutch fork from alien speed parts waiting around for the spare motor I've been working on in the background. I can use that for the current gearbox. Ordered some mt90, fork retaining spring and a new clutch throw out bearing just in case.
I'll have to review taking the box off in the car or get my hands on a hoist

 

[Sailor96]

Removed the boot over the slave cylinder this morning. Checked out the clutch fork with a borescope



A semi confusing photo, top left is the silverish pressure plate and you can see the throw out bearing mated to it. Bottom right is the clutch fork. As you can probably tell the clutch fork has infact split right on the ball pivot. This is causing the pedal to feel light or loose as it hasn't broken off completely yet. Just enough to not allow gear changes.

I'm glad I went ahead and ordered parks. The clutch fork I already have but the mt90 and throw out bearing are already here. Waiting on a new retaining spring

In the meantime taking the mounts off to see if I can attempt removing the gearbox with the engine in place

 

[Smo]

A pain to resolve, but at least you know the culprit!

 

[Sailor96]

A pain to resolve, but at least you know the culprit!

A pain indeed! I took a look at your build thread @Smo, you've taken just the gearbox out right? I'm unsure of the diff removal portion. I have all of the bolts from the bell housing and transfer case removed, including the bastard bolt and rear brace bracket. Scratching my head as to why the thing wouldn't budge and I read you must also remove the passenger driveshaft and differential

 

[Sailor96]

By the looks of it the pinion has to be removed out towards the tail shaft. And the differential/ connecting shaft out the passenger side.

Or drop the entire thing if possible?

 

[MarkTurbo]

Remove both driveshafts then take the end casing off the transfer box and pull the front diff out, the gearbox can be removed like a front wheel drive box then.

 

[Sailor96]

I see, so as long as I take of the gusset that holds the end of the transfer case and the front cover of the transfer case the differential will pull straight out @MarkTurbo ? I did already take the other driveshaft off (d/s)

 

[MarkTurbo]

If you are referring to the gusset in the picture above no you leave the transfer box bolted up in situ, when you remove the drivers side end casing off the transfer box and pull the front diff out you'll see why it has to come out as there's a really long shaft attached to it which slides through into the gearbox.

 

[Sailor96]

So the gusset does have to be removed before you can pull out the diff as I found out. Then the access cover for the diff can be removed

 

[Sailor96]

Update: the bastard bolt was not the one I expected, and now have the trans out.


Cleaned up the bell housing, and in went the parts.

I found Eric's performance parts had a new throw out bearing, got a nismo ball pivot from eBay, Nissan parts had the spring retainer, and the clutch fork from alien speed parts. Anyway installed them with some high temp urea grease on the moving components.


Do people tend to leave the lower starter bolt and bastard bolt out and do you have to take out the speed sensor if you do?

Also the new ball pivot had a thick washer, while the one I pulled out was a lock washer. I used some blue locktight on the new one. But I'm wondering, does it normally have a lock washer?