Clutch failure within a few days of being installed (Holden 202 engine)

The release bearing should be up against the fingers of the pressure plate, or at least very close. This would not prevent you from being able to release the clutch. I don't think I have ever looked at that view, but it looks pretty normal to me except for an excess of grease. It seems from reports to date that something is stopping the mechanism, the slave cylinder piston, the pushrod and the fork from moving.

Before taking the gearbox out again, I think the things to look at are "has the pushrod become dislodged from the forkand up against an immovable part of the bell housing?" or "has the slave cylinder piston seized?". The first of these you may be able to see through this D hole, but both should be able to be checked by removing the slave cylinder, which is a lot easier than removing the gearbox.

Hope this helps.

A long time since ive played with a series but here goes. Did you remove clutch plate and pressure plate ? If yes did you put the clutch plate in the right way. I seem to recall that some clutch plates can be fitted the wrong way around. Baz

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Originally Posted by Harro_9

That was a great idea, can't believe I hadn't thought of it!

I had a look and it appears that the release bearing is relatively tight up against the pressure plate (see pic) and it moves in maybe 5-10mm when i push the pedal down (pedal is able to go in a small amount, maybe 5cm). after the 5 or so cm the pedal wont go in any further and the clutch is still not disengaged. Checked by trying to spin the rear propshaft whilst in gear. I think that all this means that the clutch/pressure plate are faulty and need replacing?
Attachment 177748

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I've never worked on one of these specific units, but every clutch I've ever worked on has had the fingers protrude out the hole when disengaged except once on a Volvo where the disc had de-laminated and it jammed against the pressure plate and held it in what would normally be the "dis-engaged" position. If that photo is in the idle position it looks like the fingers are already depressed.

Edit : On checking images on the web for Holden 202 clutches, some look like that so maybe that's normal.

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Originally Posted by Bazzle218

A long time since ive played with a series but here goes. Did you remove clutch plate and pressure plate ? If yes did you put the clutch plate in the right way. I seem to recall that some clutch plates can be fitted the wrong way around. Baz

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I thought of that, but it is incompatible with it initially working normally.

But a damaged driven plate is a possibility.

Many many years ago I had the same problem with a Holden powered series 111. In my case it was the slave cylinder ( fluid bypassing the internal seal I think ) but not sure.

I remember the pedal would go hard and not release the clutch, I would then release the pressure by the bleed screw and get a few releases before it went hard again

On mine, this is the exact description of what happened when my flexible line had collapsed internally, acting like a valve that was just strong enough to keep the bearing against the springs.
Fluid would flow easily to the slave but not back - so bleeding was easy. Another symptom would be the pedal coming up a bit slower.
Although- the clutch would disengage if this was the case…
Cheers,
Dave

It seems there is not enough clearance between the master cylinder piston actuating rod and the piston itself.
The following paragraph was copied directly from an online article.

As the piston is pushed back inside the slave cylinder, the hydraulic circuit compensates by pushing fluid from the slave cylinder back into the master cylinder. This also means that when the clutch master cylinder is installed, a very minor amount of clearance is required between the clutch pedal actuation rod and the back of the piston.

This clearance ensures that the master cylinder piston fully retracts when the clutch pedal is released. With the piston fully retracted in the master cylinder bore, this uncovers a transfer port so that hydraulic fluid can return from the circuit back into the reservoir. This allows the slave cylinder to compensate for clutch wear. While simple in operation, you can see how important it is to set the proper piston actuator rod clearance when installing the system.

Yes, that is important - and easily checked - but the symptoms do not seem to fit it.

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

Yes, that is important - and easily checked - but the symptoms do not seem to fit it.

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Agreed - it was working at least at the beginning was the statement…