Chaps, J-Lo, my gorgeous 86 Single mirrored Testarossa appears to be developing a clutch problem. Few months ago when it was very cold (yea, like England is ever warm )the clutch pedal hit the floor and then regained pressure. This continued for a whille and then was okay. Took the car out a few weeks ago and there appears to be a some noise from the gearbox housing area. When I engaged the clutch and change gear, the car will stall. In your valued experienced, is this new clutch time or thrust/release bearing, or both? There is also sometimes a slight "crunch" when changing gear, but not often. It also seems like there are no "double clutches" available anywhere in the UK or Europe for that matter-really handy. Thanks guys..and girls! Peter
First I would check for fluid leaks... Then I would bleed the clutch.. If problem still persists then I would move to the clutch housing to inspect the thro bearing and clutch. Sounds to me that you have a thro bearing that is bad or a worn clutch pressure plate. Double disc clutches are available from Recambi. They are in the UK. Let us know how you make out.\ R
Ditto Mr Chairman. Check for fluid leaks. Your instance when the pedal went to the floor would get my attention. A clutch will usually start to slip on hard acceleration if it was starting to go bad. I dont know if this is possible, but try to look in the bell housing for any signs of fluid leaking (use mirror or borescope???). Also inspect the clutch master cylinder for any signs of leaking
Guys, thank you for your replies so far. No obvious leaks from what I can see-assuming a puddle on the floor would be a giveaway? If so I haven't seen any evidence of that. The fact that there is some noise and when I engage the clutch it cuts out, it would lead me to believe it is the thrust bearing at least.
If you are hearing noise when you put pressure on the clutch pedal, it sounds like the release bearing is going bad
A hydraulic leak may not initially leave fluid on the floor. It will usually start out with fluid acumulating in the bell housing and getting soaked up by the clutch dust. If you see fluid on the ground the failure is normally catastrophic
Peter - You mention that the car stalls...is this when you are starting from a rest position, or when you are driving, as when shifting from 1st to 2nd, or 2nd to 3rd? Is your shift lever in the middle of the gate when in neutral? May sound strange, but my Boxer once had a similar situation, not related to the clutch. The shift rod had slipped, and when shifting from 1st to 2nd, it was actually going into reverse. Reverse is synchronized (and a quite good synchronizer at that as it is rarely used). This allowed the gearbox to go into reverse while travelling forward. As I let the clutch out (slowly), the engine would stall. Took me a while to figure out why, and was easily corrected. No damage. Amazing experience. Jim S.
Dear Ferraristi, Oh Oh Oh...I know, I know ! This JUST happened to me. In my case, the seals on the clutch actuator had basically worn out and when the clutch was depressed, there was not enough pressure from the clutch fluid to push the TO bearing to release the clutch. I really don't think you have a clutch problem but the actuator ( slave cylinder ) seals. Check again for missing fluid. Mine started dripping out of the bell housing when pushing the clutch as a test. The sticking to the floor issue is the dust seal on the actuator. The dust seal goes bad, gets hard and makes the actuator stick on the shaft spline. I had this issue at the same time. The senior tech at Ferrari of central Florida (Tampa branch ) Gabe explained it to me. Ferrari CF doesn't even sell the dust seal as it's been a recurring issue for them. It really acts as a double seal but since the main fluid seal is there, he said that is more than fine. These are Gabe's words....not mine. Look at the bottom of the bell housing at the open port. While the car is in the garage, engine off, pump the clutch a few times. ( topped off master cylinder ) see if you see a few drops of clutch fluid drip out....I'll bet you do. ENGINE off....you don't want the test to be compromised by fluid being soaked up by clutch dust. Shamile Freeze...Miami Vice !
There is noise for sure, not horrificly noisy, but noisy -if that makes sense Jim thanks! Actually come to think of it it does stall when starting and when changing gear as well....mmmm Shamille, thanks. No fluid anywhere at all, not even a little drip. I'll try the test at the weekend if its dry-yea right as I look out of my office window in London and its pouring down I have located a clutch though...3000 swiss francs!!! I have also found someone who say that they can supply and fit for £1500 UKGBP...I am not convinced I need a complete clutch though.
Becareful with that lower quote. Make sure the clutch is new and not remanufactured. I am o.k. with remanufacturing but... I would want them to reman my clutch not someone elses clutch. Reason being is that atleast you can count how many times your existing clutch has been rebuilt. I am just a little fusy in that dept. You may receive a clutch that has been done 3 or 4 times... not good.. You also want to have some input on who does the ramanufacturing and what type of material is being used etc.. Just my $.02 R
Greetings Jay.. How are you? I agree.. I went with a new clutch pack but I am sure there are some reputable companies out there that can refurb the clutch pack.. The longevity would probably be the only issue.. R
I think you would have to change the flywheel if your going to fo with the 512TR single disk set up.. Not 100% on all that is necessary. I opted for the dual disk / original set up R
Anyone know where I can buy a clutch kit for my TR? Looking for the dual disk type for the 86. I think I've found one at McCann's for like $1800 and I was wondering if there's anything else out there? Any help at all would be greatly appriciated thnx Ski
If your existing clutch/flywheel is not totally fried, have it rebuilt/relined. For my boxer I sent the flywheel and complete clutch to Thrustmasters for a rebuild. They surfaced the flywheel, intermediate plate and pressure plate, and relined both clutch discs for about $900. I have about 1000 miles on the clutch now with no problems. See the thread below for pics and discription of how to do it. The TR has a different throw-out bearing setup, but the clutch job would be basically the same. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=168509&highlight=Clutch+Replacement John
Got my clutch out on the TR and I followed your previous post to the T. Everything is same and now I'm waiting for the new clutch kit to come in. The job was simple and it took us ( me and my 17 year old son) only 4 yours to remove the muffler/exhaust and the clutch housing along with the clutch. WOW! I am so proud of myself Again, thank you for such a great info Ski The car has 31,000 miles on it and I could've probably squeezed another 2,000 miles but believe it or not the T/O bearing was seized and was making noise! Good thing the car was parked after maybe 5 miles of this mis-hap
Vegascop, Hey, what could be more rewarding than working on your Ferrari with your son! And glad to hear my fix-it post was of some help to you. When you get it put back together, start a new thread and show us some pics of your car! John PS, Sorry for the small thread hijack.
Here is my kid taking the clutch off with an electric impact. wow, this sucker works like a champ! I do have air tools but this electric one really cooks. Ski Image Unavailable, Please Login
