The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Having left the clutch non-functional during January, I had another go last night and thought I had cracked it. The slave cylinder was quite a way back in the sleeve, so I moved it forward as far as it would go.

I also checked the release arm pin was still in place. and pushed the rod to check the carrier was moving freely. It moves on the pivot, and there is a metal clank, then you can't move it further. Slave bled off the gearbox in the engine bay.

So success? Nope, the pedal goes down about half way, then it is like someone put a brick under it. It won't go any further. Still can't select gear.

I am beginning to fear I might have to take it all apart and look at the clutch. However as this is an overdrive box and weighs about 6 tonnes, and there is very little space to work with, I would prefer to avoid that if possible.

Partial success, the pedal is no longer stuck and has full travel. Alas clutch still non operational.

Even though I have passed a bottle of dot 4 through, I think there must be air. Maybe the copper pipe was not a good idea, and air is getting trapped in the coiled bit?

As you have not used the car for some time, if you have sorted out the clutch hydraulics it could be that the drive plate has stuck to the flywheel. This is a common problem and Jon Tilson suggested methods to free the plate in an earlier post on clutch woes.

It was posted on July 12, 2015.

It hope it is as simple as that. Good luck.

Richard the old one wrote:As you have not used the car for some time, if you have sorted out the clutch hydraulics it could be that the drive plate has stuck to the flywheel. This is a common problem and Jon Tilson suggested methods to free the plate in an earlier post on clutch woes.

It was posted on July 12, 2015.

It hope it is as simple as that. Good luck.

I think there maybe another possible cause, I could feel the slave cylinder moving backwards as the clutch was operated. Not really a fan of the 1500 slave in sleeve design.

The slave should have a slot down one side where the clamp bolt runs. That would stop anything but tiny movement. But some people enlarge the slot to move the cylinder forward (goodness knows why that works, unless the slave previously ran out of travel)

But if the clamp bolt is tight, there should still be no movement. And indeed, never seen any in 20+ years of driving such equipped cars (heralds/spits/dolomite)

But did you know there are 2 different "brackets"? Geoff at Wins didn't believe us when we had the wrong one (original box was 3 synchro, new box was 4 synchro. Different castings!)

If the clamp bolt is tight the slave cylinder should not move.

cliftyhanger wrote:The slave should have a slot down one side where the clamp bolt runs. That would stop anything but tiny movement. But some people enlarge the slot to move the cylinder forward (goodness knows why that works, unless the slave previously ran out of travel)

But if the clamp bolt is tight, there should still be no movement. And indeed, never seen any in 20+ years of driving such equipped cars (heralds/spits/dolomite)

But did you know there are 2 different "brackets"? Geoff at Wins didn't believe us when we had the wrong one (original box was 3 synchro, new box was 4 synchro. Different castings!)

I can move the slave forward and backward in the sleeve with bolt in, before I tightened the bolt, I wonder if a pervious owner has modded the mount?

I have had six 1500hl's over the years and I have been able to move the slave cylinders about 3/8ths of an inch with the clamp bolt in but not tightened up as all the slave cylinders have had a slot cut in them which allows this movement. It can be difficult to get the clamp bolt in as you have to rotate the slave cylinder so it is in the correct alignment to get the clamp bolt in. As previously stated I always make a point of pushing the slave cylinder as far forward as possible before I tighten the clamp bolt but I also grease the slave cylinder before I put it in so that it will come out again without too much trouble if or when it has to be taken out to replace the seals at some point in the future.

Sympathy...

I've had a few issues with these ohv slaves over the years and in some cases it just seems like the slave and mounting just dont work together.
I had a 1300 which broke its pipe and with a different setup (pinched complete with master and pipe!) even though well bled it just wouldn't fully disengage. With the OE slave and new pipe it worked fine!

The coiled pipe is not your problem. Spits and heralds work fine like this. The plastic pipe is a not your friend as they do break - the coiled one
never will.

So back to basics - bleed solid off car - the cylinder and matching bracket that works with it that you know worked once..slid forward as far as
possible. Then the pedal should feel like it is doing the right thing - no slack and clear operation of release mechanism. If the car still then
wont go into gear then warm engine up. Put car in top gear and clutch down start the engine. Do this a few times and the driven plate should free.

Jonners