Clutch fork pivot broken? Or something else?

[Def]

More bad news from my newly acquired beater.

So the clutch would not disengage, and there was barely any resistance on the clutch pedal, with the pedal not even really coming up from the floor. It would not shift into gear while the engine was running, since obviously the clutch is engaged.

Last night I put in a Stainless steel braided line and bypassed the clutch damper box thinking that it is was alot of air in the lines. Bled the lines, and not really much change.

What I've found is that the lever/fork going into the transmission that is moved by the slave cylinder is offering basically no resistance. It doesn't have any vertical movement(i.e. it doesn't move in the direction it's not supposed to), but I could pretty much keep the lever all the way depressed after my friend pressed down the clutch pedal and the slave accuated it.

To me this looks like a problem in the mechanisms that release the clutch. The hydraulics are fine, all bled. The slave seems fine, and it along with the master cylinder are supposedly new(guy did work on it before I bought the car). There is supposedly a new clutch kit installed as well, but no idea how good of a job he did.

Someone else was driving the car when it first broke down, and he said it got progressively harder and harder to shift. So that kinda points away from it being the fork pivot since I'd think that'd be a catastrophic failure.

What about the throwout bearing? Is it possible it fell off the fork, or seized up or something to that effect?

I'm not currently debating whether or not to pull the transmission and try to fix it myself with limited hand tools, or taking it to a mechanic. I'm 99% sure I'm going to do it myself, but I've never actually pulled a transmission before by myself, and I'm not all that familar with this car so far.

Bleh, the car didn't even run for 3 weeks after I bought it...

[themadscientist]

pull the boot off the fork and look in there. If the pivot is in fact broken you can yank the fork off the throwout bearing when the slave cylinder is removed. It's not that outlandish I've seen two with the heads sheared off.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

yeah this happened to me almost every time i blew my slave cyl. check to see if you have fluid in the resivoir, just to rule out any hydraulic problems. after that, you can usually drop the slave, and screw around with the fork until you get it in the right spot so it engages the throwout bearing, or whatever it hits. good luck

[Def]

I replaced the clutch damper box with a SS clutch line and thoroughly bled the system. So there is not a hydraulic problem.

I don't recall the lever/fork going into the transmission having a boot over it, but it seemed well secured inside the transmission as far as pulling it in and out. So I guess that rules out the fork pivot breaking?

The only other thing I can think of is the throwout bearing. Is it possible it fell off the fork, as I think I remember reading about that?

Guess this means it's time to try to drop this transmission with just a small amount of handtools. Bleh!

[extheflow]

the release bearing rides the input shaft like a donut.the fork goes around that,so no it's not possible unless the clutchfork is able to move out away from the input shaft. a freind of mine with an ACT clutch did have a bearing break though.like the stamped outer part of it broke off.pretty much making it do what you just described. looks like you're gonna be droppin the transmission.

[Def]

Yep - I just went today to get $65 of tools from Harbor Freight. I got about 2.5 feet of extensions and some wobble extensions that should make the top two bolts easier... I hope. The bottom of my car is NASTY though, like 1/4" of greasy crud on everything. So I'm not expecting anything to go well.

I've read some threads about dropping the transmission by searching, but are there any specific tips besides the LONG extensions when doing this on simple jackstands? I've got my M3 to drive in the meantime, so I'm giving myself at least a few days to get it down and figure out what the problem is(hey... life is tough... ). Honestly, if it is really screwed I'm going to look into an SR swap. Wasn't planning on it for a long time(or possibly going KA-T), but this engine/transmission is a piece in my mind now.

Wish me luck guys!