shiners780

I don't know much about clutches, but I do know when mine went (the rubber center disintegrated) it was as if the car was in neutral. It rolled fine, but none of the gears engaged. I could shift the car into any gear, let the clutch out, and the engine would just free rev as if it were in neutral. Again, just my experience, but it sounds just like what sd944s described.

The only difference was I was going 90mph on the highway and had just passed a bunch of people, then had to pull over embarrassingly as they all repassed me as I limped to the shoulder of the road...

JimV8

Well there you go. Still, I think getting at the inspection cover will tell the tale.

Legoland951

Put it in gear and push. If it moves fairly freely, your clutch is gone.

KuHL 951

I suppose if the rubber center went that fast you would still hear the metal tabs banging long before they sheared completely. My 83 was in limp home mode contacting the tabs for almost 10K of careful driving before I actually fixed it. Are you sure the trans is actually engaging when you shift? If the shift lever at the TA has slipped from the lock bolt wearing out you arent really in gear although the shifter will still feel pretty normal in your hand. Get under the car and make sure the shifter actually moves the shaft when someone moves the lever from inside. Sorry but every failed rubber centered clutch I've heard of bangs a lot before it shears...just my thoughts. The center on this clutch was completely separated and was contacting the tabs for months:

sd944s

Hey all,

Just following up for closure on this thread in case someone with similar symptoms comes across it via searching.

Most of you were right - the problem was the rubber centered clutch. Once I finally got some time to tackle the job and got the starter off last week, I could see little bits of rubber at the bottom of the clutch housing. Then, after I finally got to the clutch (through many, many hours of setbacks and small victories), the rubber center had broken down. The disc itself still had a fair amount of material on it so, if not for the rubber design, it probably would have lasted many more thousands of miles.

At any rate, the whole thing is back together now with a new (non-rubber) clutch and she's back on the road

I guess the only good thing about the experience is that I'm now a member of the fools who actually decide to go through the clutch replacement nightmare. If I'm stupid enough to ever do it again, it'll probably take me half the time because of all the little tricks learned along the way between profanity-laced outbursts.

Thanks for the help everyone!

ibkevin

Good on ya' sd!

Legoland951

Right on. The n/a clutches gets easier as you do more of them. The spring clutch will last you a very long time (I have mine over 100k miles and still going).

gregeast

Congrats and thanks for closing the loop on this.

iamgod

..did the ice cube sound seem like its coming from the back...my car has the same issue and i swear the sound is coming from the back?!?!

sd944s

iamgod - unfortunately it was difficult to tell precisely where the sound was coming from as I sat in the driver seat because it seemed to resonate through the whole drivetrain. Since it was parked on a city street, I couldn't jack it up but I would recommend putting it on a lift or blocks so you could run the car and get underneath it to detect where the sound is coming from. If your problem is the clutch, I can almost guarantee that you'd be able to pinpoint the sound coming from the clutch housing.

KuHL 951

I love it when people post a followup Out of curiosity were your metal tabs sheared off or had enough rubber broken the center section off to prevent the disc from engaging? Good and welcome to the clutch club.

sd944s

Hey Kuhl - the metal tabs were still intact; you're second scenario is correct - I had even lost the "limp home" functionality because the rubber had deteriorated and split into two large chunks, preventing the clutch from engaging. What a weird design. That won't be happening with the new clutch

MM951

good to see you sorted it out!