Dead clutch in subbasement garage; experts: opine!

why tow the car out of the parking garage?
have a look first at the brake fluid reservoir if there is missing brake fluid. if so then fill up and bleed the hydraulic system for the clutch. if no brake fluid is missing then try to bleed anyway the hydraulik clutch system. then you see what could be wrong: the master or the slave cylinder. both you can change where the car is stored. so no need to take the car out by towing.

 

to bleed the hydraulic system for the clutch is no magic. every one with a little technical knowledge can do this. and if only so good that you can drive the car out of the storage.
your occupation is technology managment as your profile says. so managment is theoretical. try to put your theoretical knowledge into practice and bleed by yourself with a friend. alone without bleeding tool it is not possible.

 

In answer to question 1. In the top secret document known as "The Owners Manual" oddly enough under the heading "Towing" It pictures the tow hook and where to install it.

 

The pressure plate might have rusted to the flywheel. When you pushed in the clutch pedal, the seals let go.

Get it in neutral, see if it rolls first. Wheel bearings and rotors can fight your efforts to relocate. After that, it depends how close a vehicle with a winch can get. You just need a hook and someone to steer it when being winched.

 

A pressure plate cannot possibly rust to the flywheel. There are discs and a floater plate separating them. The discs themselves get rusted to the various surfaces but that in no way interferes with compression of the clutch springs or the movement of the throw out bearing. It is a very common occurrence I have experienced many times. He evidently has a simple hydraulic failure.

The time for internet guesswork is behind us and the time to get it out of the garage to have it fixed is before us.

 

Good day Buzz,

It is possible that debris/crud is present in the receptacle and so preventing the tow hook from threading. You could try to "chase"/clean the threads with an appropriate threaded "tap"... however, you would need a suitable tap and wrench, but this should be easy to get from Amazon.

Cheers,

Sam

 

If the clutch is in the clamped state it may be possible to drive it out. About 10 years ago I drove my 928 home from work (30 mi) after the slave cylinder seal failed just as I was pulling into the parking garage. I did wait until mid-day for lightest traffic conditions. Are the turns in your garage too tight to navigate in 1st gear at engine idle speed? The pay-gate would probably be the real challenge but maybe it is flat there and could be pushed.

 

Not uncommon, on TR's also, that the toolkit tow hook is the wrong size.

Apparently, the correct part number is the same as the TR - 119047 which is superseeded by 125522.

Those are not available but if it's like the TR one, the 360 tow hook should fit - that's 155838

https://www.ricambiamerica.com/155838-tow-hook.html

Size should be M16 x 1.5


If you want to save a few bucks I have a spare used one.

 

See these threads also - yours might be a 12mm in which case the 360 wouldn't work.

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/testarossa-short-tow-hook-solution.506800/
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/tow-hook-testarosa-360.353043/

 

maybe you can find someone with something like this:

https://cartowdolly.com/

just to get it out of the garage. you might even be able to hook that up behind a small tractor/utility vehicle. we once towed my brother-in-law's RX7 up the large hill of our 1/2 mi driveway several times with a quad, after trying to clutch start it downhill, before giving up and deciding the scrapers were toast (low compression).

 

Good day Buzz,

If you know the bolt diameter and thread, you could simply buy a suitable Eyelet bolt for now... McMaster Carr sells a number of them in Metric Sizes:

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/eyebolts/system-of-measurement~metric/eyebolts~/

On the plus side, you can retain this bolt until you find the original factory one if you wish.

Cheers,

Sam

 

Yours looks like 12mm (x 1.75)

Here's a cheap one

https://www.ebay.com/itm/275691022918

 

Hey Buzz,
Hope you are in good health. I have a receipt from the previous owner of my BBI (you know him Richard A) this happened to him while he owned the car in NY. They did a clutch removal at the time to free it. If the clutch hydraulics are ok, I have heard from others you may be able to "bump" the clutch free once you have the car in safe place to do so. Ive never had that happen while in storage so Im not exactly clear on the specifics or proceedure how bumping is done to free a stuck clutch....Dave

 

the problem is not the clutch, it is the hydraulic system for the clutch
please read the first post here

 

Thank you for correcting my post Joe, and yes I did read that the issue in the first post, which is why I stated "If the clutch hydraulics are ok" however, Richard A's receipt does state the clutch cylinder was replaced and blead prior to bringing the car in for tear down of a stuck clutch. The NY Boxer group is really tight with each other so Buzz may want to contact Richard A. seeking his experience and details.
Again, thanks for being ultra quick and ready to correct other posters.
Dave

 

you are absolutely right with this, but the problem is with the hydraulics. so first have to fix this. may be later other things.