Clutch help please!

Sigh... Thursday the clutch on my 74 bug gave it's last shuddering
breath. Friday I pick up a new clutch kit from the only place in town
who sells them and spend Saturday doing my first engine pull (for me I
have found it is harder to raise the car high enough to get the engine
out than it is to actually remove it ). The new disk and pressure
plate don't look the same as the ones I pull out but I guessed that
this was a matter of manufacturer differences (was this a big
mistake?) Everything seems to go well and I got the engine back in
with minimal fuss. I go to adjust the clutch cable and find the clutch
lever on the transmission just flops back and forth. This is where I
notice the return spring is broken (I didn't even know there was one
until this!). The spring looks like it has been broken for years.
Completely caked with gunk. Anyway, I have no resistance on the clutch
lever now and I can;t get the clutch to disengage. Being a car repair
neophyte I turn to you gentlemen and ladies for assistance. Is the
clutch not disengaging caused by this return spring? Could the parts
store have given me the wrong part? Did I possibly install something
wrong? Any help you guys can provide is greatly appreciated!

On Apr 4, 6:07*am, S R > wrote:
> Sigh... *Thursday the clutch on my 74 bug gave it's last shuddering
> breath. Friday I pick up a new clutch kit from the only place in town
> who sells them and spend Saturday doing my first engine pull (for me I
> have found it is harder to raise the car high enough to get the engine
> out than it is to actually remove it ). The new disk and pressure
> plate don't look the same as the ones I pull out but I guessed that
> this was a matter of manufacturer differences (was this a big
> mistake?) Everything seems to go well and I got the engine back in
> with minimal fuss. I go to adjust the clutch cable and find the clutch
> lever on the transmission just flops back and forth. This is where I
> notice the return spring is broken (I didn't even know there was one
> until this!). The spring looks like it has been broken for years.
> Completely caked with gunk. Anyway, I have no resistance on the clutch
> lever now and I can;t get the clutch to disengage. Being a car repair
> neophyte I turn to you gentlemen and ladies for assistance. Is the
> clutch not disengaging caused by this return spring? Could the parts
> store have given me the wrong part? Did I possibly install something
> wrong? Any help you guys can provide is greatly appreciated!

Did your old pressure plate have a "collar" in the center or just the
spring fingers?
Are you sure that any arms/levers for your throughout bearing didn't
get moved out of their mounting position?

I go to adjust the clutch cable and find the clutch
> lever on the transmission just flops back and forth. This is where I
> notice the return spring is broken (I didn't even know there was one
> until this!). The spring looks like it has been broken for years.

Try the easy things first.
Replace the return spring then come back and tell us what happens.

These sites may be useful:

The VW Clutch
http://www.vw-resource.com/vw_clutch.html


Clutch Adjustment
http://www.vw-resource.com/clch-adj.html

Clutch Removal and Installation
http://www.vw-resource.com/clutch.html

In article
>,
Bill > wrote:

> On Apr 4, 6:07*am, S R > wrote:
> > Sigh... *Thursday the clutch on my 74 bug gave it's last shuddering
> > breath. Friday I pick up a new clutch kit from the only place in town
> > who sells them and spend Saturday doing my first engine pull (for me I
> > have found it is harder to raise the car high enough to get the engine
> > out than it is to actually remove it ). The new disk and pressure
> > plate don't look the same as the ones I pull out but I guessed that
> > this was a matter of manufacturer differences (was this a big
> > mistake?) Everything seems to go well and I got the engine back in
> > with minimal fuss. I go to adjust the clutch cable and find the clutch
> > lever on the transmission just flops back and forth. This is where I
> > notice the return spring is broken (I didn't even know there was one
> > until this!). The spring looks like it has been broken for years.
> > Completely caked with gunk. Anyway, I have no resistance on the clutch
> > lever now and I can;t get the clutch to disengage. Being a car repair
> > neophyte I turn to you gentlemen and ladies for assistance. Is the
> > clutch not disengaging caused by this return spring? Could the parts
> > store have given me the wrong part? Did I possibly install something
> > wrong? Any help you guys can provide is greatly appreciated!
>
> Did your old pressure plate have a "collar" in the center or just the
> spring fingers?
> Are you sure that any arms/levers for your throughout bearing didn't
> get moved out of their mounting position?

I would suspect the wrong clutch is involved.
the tube on the tranny around the main shaft indicates the need for
a pressure plate with da fingers. not a collar.
I once found a van where someone had left off the return spring and
the cable bounced on the threaded part till you could not back off the
wing nut. I had to cut the cable to extract it.
BTW. good luck.
g
BTW. always take the old parts in to see if they are the same.
--
Money; What a Concept !

Update.

Thank you all for taking the time to respond!

After fiddling around all morning with my kids I finally got back to
the bug. Since the odds of me getting a return spring on Easter Sunday
are slightly worse than the odds of Meg Ryan showing up naked on my
doorstep to tell me I won the lottery I decided to try a little shade
tree engineering and used a bungy cord on the clutch arm. Not a great
solution but it got the clutch pedal to return. Pressing the clutch
still gives little resistance and the clutch doesn't disengage. The
bright side of this is I am now confident in pulling the engine
(yesterday was my first attempt) and had the "new" pressure plate
removed and in my grease stained lap in 45 minutes. Comparing the two
side by side there is a definite difference. The old pressure plate is
much thicker than the new one. Tomorrow morning it is back to the
parts store to exchange everything. With luck I will get it back in
the car in time for me to go to work.

Pictures of the parts are at http://imgur.com/do9yrl&MA6J6&Uz1Il if
anyone wants to see.

ALWAYS compare new parts to the original ones to see they are generally the
same.
If neither pressure plate had a collar then you should have the correct one.
Some might have many fingers that touch the release bearing and some might
have maybe 3-5 fingers. I have forgotten! lol

It really sounds like you just need to adjust your cable though.

I believe that if the flywheel is worn then it will cause the new clutch
components to need the cable to take up a lot of slack.
I find that only a few shops know how to machine that stepped flywheel
properly since they usually don't see them often. ;-)
--
JMHO
later,
(One out of many daves)

"S R" > wrote in message
...
> Update.
>
> Thank you all for taking the time to respond!
>
> After fiddling around all morning with my kids I finally got back to
> the bug. Since the odds of me getting a return spring on Easter Sunday
> are slightly worse than the odds of Meg Ryan showing up naked on my
> doorstep to tell me I won the lottery I decided to try a little shade
> tree engineering and used a bungy cord on the clutch arm. Not a great
> solution but it got the clutch pedal to return. Pressing the clutch
> still gives little resistance and the clutch doesn't disengage. The
> bright side of this is I am now confident in pulling the engine
> (yesterday was my first attempt) and had the "new" pressure plate
> removed and in my grease stained lap in 45 minutes. Comparing the two
> side by side there is a definite difference. The old pressure plate is
> much thicker than the new one. Tomorrow morning it is back to the
> parts store to exchange everything. With luck I will get it back in
> the car in time for me to go to work.
>
> Pictures of the parts are at http://imgur.com/do9yrl&MA6J6&Uz1Il if
> anyone wants to see.



--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

Tomorrow morning it is back to the
> parts store to exchange everything. With luck I will get it back in
> the car in time for me to go to work.
>
> Pictures of the parts are athttp://imgur.com/do9yrl&MA6J6&Uz1Il*if
> anyone wants to see.

Did you get it going yet?

On Apr 11, 12:14*pm, Jim Ed > wrote:
> *Tomorrow morning it is back to the
>
> > parts store to exchange everything. With luck I will get it back in
> > the car in time for me to go to work.
>
> > Pictures of the parts are athttp://imgur.com/do9yrl&MA6J6&Uz1Il*if
> > anyone wants to see.
>
> *Did you get it going yet?

Do to life interfering with my car time I haven't been able to get
back to the car until today. Got the clutch installed and adjusted and
everything seemed peachy. Until I tried to drive, then it felt like
the clutch was slipping again. I remembered reading about someone else
with a similar issue and what his problem was and sure enough I have
the same issue, the right rear brake drum has no teeth anymore. So it
is once again back to the store for more parts.

The bright side is I have a new clutch and a new sense of pride in
being able to remove and reinstall my engine in an afternoon. I have a
better understanding of how my amazing little piece of German
engineering operates and a very healthy respect for anyone has
installed a clutch return spring without removing the lever. The skin
on my fingers should grow back just fine.

Once again thanks to everyone who offered guidance and encouragement.
A finer group of grease stained people cannot be found!

On Sun, 11 Apr 2010 19:09:20 +0200, S R > wrote:

> On Apr 11, 12:14 pm, Jim Ed > wrote:
>> Tomorrow morning it is back to the
>>
>> > parts store to exchange everything. With luck I will get it back in
>> > the car in time for me to go to work.
>>
>> > Pictures of the parts are athttp://imgur.com/do9yrl&MA6J6&Uz1Il if
>> > anyone wants to see.
>>
>> Did you get it going yet?
>
> Do to life interfering with my car time I haven't been able to get
> back to the car until today. Got the clutch installed and adjusted and
> everything seemed peachy. Until I tried to drive, then it felt like
> the clutch was slipping again. I remembered reading about someone else
> with a similar issue and what his problem was and sure enough I have
> the same issue, the right rear brake drum has no teeth anymore. So it
> is once again back to the store for more parts.
>
> The bright side is I have a new clutch and a new sense of pride in
> being able to remove and reinstall my engine in an afternoon. I have a
> better understanding of how my amazing little piece of German
> engineering operates and a very healthy respect for anyone has
> installed a clutch return spring without removing the lever. The skin
> on my fingers should grow back just fine.
>
> Once again thanks to everyone who offered guidance and encouragement.
> A finer group of grease stained people cannot be found!

All the best, sad thing though is this group is dying..
People getting older, parts harder to find.
For my self it was the lack of storage/work space.
Sold "Felatio"(56 Oval) two years ago, I had that car since I was
eighteen, means I owned it for some 26 years..

J-
--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/

YEP the new clutch probably helped tear up the splines in the drum that did
not have that nut tightened up properly.
PLEASE check the other drum too!

26 years is a long time to own any car, but you sold your '56 Oval huh. :-(
Or maybe the money was right! :-)


"P.J.Berg" > wrote in message
news
> On Sun, 11 Apr 2010 19:09:20 +0200, S R > wrote:
>
>> On Apr 11, 12:14 pm, Jim Ed > wrote:
>>> Tomorrow morning it is back to the
>>>
>>> > parts store to exchange everything. With luck I will get it back in
>>> > the car in time for me to go to work.
>>>
>>> > Pictures of the parts are athttp://imgur.com/do9yrl&MA6J6&Uz1Il if
>>> > anyone wants to see.
>>>
>>> Did you get it going yet?
>>
>> Do to life interfering with my car time I haven't been able to get
>> back to the car until today. Got the clutch installed and adjusted and
>> everything seemed peachy. Until I tried to drive, then it felt like
>> the clutch was slipping again. I remembered reading about someone else
>> with a similar issue and what his problem was and sure enough I have
>> the same issue, the right rear brake drum has no teeth anymore. So it
>> is once again back to the store for more parts.
>>
>> The bright side is I have a new clutch and a new sense of pride in
>> being able to remove and reinstall my engine in an afternoon. I have a
>> better understanding of how my amazing little piece of German
>> engineering operates and a very healthy respect for anyone has
>> installed a clutch return spring without removing the lever. The skin
>> on my fingers should grow back just fine.
>>
>> Once again thanks to everyone who offered guidance and encouragement.
>> A finer group of grease stained people cannot be found!
>
> All the best, sad thing though is this group is dying..
> People getting older, parts harder to find.
> For my self it was the lack of storage/work space.
> Sold "Felatio"(56 Oval) two years ago, I had that car since I was
> eighteen, means I owned it for some 26 years..
>
> J-
> --
> Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/



--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---