93 Csi Limited Good And Bad

[Calam05]

hey guys, my old man used to drive this car but then it started havign troubles and instead of fixing it, just let it be run into the ground. The gears would change fine but you would have to rev the ring out of it to get it to drive. The car has been sitting in my yard for over a year now withour being started. I went down this morning and pumped the accel a few times and it started frist go. what great cars! but when put into gear it didnt drive, didnt even stall. I revved it real hihg, around 5k and got the car to lurch forward slightly. I have a ke55 so i don't know much about this model and I'm still a novice when it comes to cars. The engine still runs nice and smooth but idles a bit low (easy fix?). My bro wants to get this running again so he can drive. what do you guys think is the problem?

 

my guess is gearbox or clutch?

 

thanks.

[Budowski]

I know you mentioned the word gearbox and clutch and I'm not at all trying to say you don't know what your talking about (internet text can be so impersonal).

 

I just would like to know if you really mean manual gearbox or automatic. A little more info, like do you need to rev it to 5000rpm before depressing the clutch pedal to get it to drop into any gear or do you rev it to 5000rpm once you have selected drive and nothing happens ?

 

If manual there may be no fluid in the master cylinder of the hydraulic clutch circuit or a leaking slave cylinder which is down at the gearbox clutch fork end.

Also the friction material of the clutch may be so worn away that its not creating a conection between the engine and the gearbox.

 

If an auto there may be no fluid in the transmission to activate any of the hydraulic circuits in the valve body, which pretty much drives everything let alone enough fluid to fill the torque converter. Or there is enough fluid but the internals of the trans mission once again are a bunch of clutch discs and plates sandwiched together to form clutch packs are totally burnt out also including the "bands" which grip the outside of various clutch packs to stop them rotating to select an upper or lower gear could be burnt out.

[Calam05]

ill tell you myself i don't know anything lol. I'm very novice. its a manual, and i put it into gear and nothing happens when i take my foot completely off the clutch pedal. then when its just sitting there in first gear it doesnt stall, and i revved it to 5000 and it lurched slightly forward but couldnt get out of the tiny holes the wheels r sitting in. how do i check for those things you suggested it might be?

[Budowski]

Ok here we go :)

 

In the engine bay there is a little reservoir bolted to the right hand side of the firewall, which is next to the brake master reservoir make sure both of these have brake fluid upto their maximum levels. If not and if they are dry then there is your 1st problem they need fluid and if they are empty then there will be air in the system which will also cause the problem your experiencing.

 

Next pump the clutch pedal vigeriously say 20 times and then put your head under the dash with a light to see if there are any brake fluid leaks on the shaft leading to the pedal and fire wall inside. If there are leaks then the clutch master will need replacement. Very easy 1 pin with a clip and 1 clutch pipe fitting and 2 bolts to hold the thing to the firewall. Bleeding the brake fluid will come later.

 

Next if that if all ok pump the pedal another 20 times as mentioned. At the front of the grearbox near the starter motor is the other end of the twisty pipe that runs from the clutch master cylinder pipe end to the clutch slave cylinder end. The clutch slave looks like a cast block with a rubbber boot with ribs that connects to the clutch fork. Pull back the rubber ribbed boot to see if there are any leaks from the shaft. If there are leaks this slave cylinder will also need to be replaced, once again very easy 1 pipe fitting and 2 bolts to hold it to the gear box once removed make sure the new slave has a little grease on the end before it mates back upto the clutch fork.

 

Ok now this is very important never over tighten any of the brake pipes of bleed nipples, they are not a load bearing structure so will not need a huff and a puff and groan to tighten, they only need to be fed on by hand and then tightened a nip or two.

 

The bleed nipple is on the slave end once everything is in position and "tightened" fill the clutch resevior to the max and find a small rubber hose or some vucum line to put over the bleed nipple. Put the hose in a 600ml coke bottle right to the bottom fill the bottom with 50ml of brake fluid.

 

Now once these things have been done you can comence bleeding your clutch system, helps a ton if you have a mate who can sit in the drivers seat to pump the clutch pedal while you monitor clutch reservior level and flow from the slave. Open the bleed nipple with hose attached and in bottle as described.

Initally the clutch pedal may go to the floor and not come back up so may need to bring back by hand untill the fluid is flowing say 20 or so pumps and including topping level up during.(may take more than 20 pumps but is a guide)

 

Watch the fluid entering the bottle once it starts to flow during pumping it may be bubbling that is the air mentioned before need all of the air gone and nothing but fluid, so once the bubbles stop as your helper is pumping the pedal and your watching fluid level does not go past minium you can close the bleed nipple off. id repeat the bleed process 3 times to make sure. Do not over tighten the bleed nipple!!.

 

Once all this has been done you should see the clutch slave and fork moving as your helper is pushing down on the clutch pedal, it should more a good 15mm or more.

 

Try that see how you go and this is pretty much the rule of thumb for most hydraulic clutch and brake systems for bleeding and inspection altho brake inspection is similar but would need another seperated description as not to get the two confused.

[Budowski]

Once you have done these checks and repairs if you want to spend the money,well move on to what else the problem could be.

 

These items need to be in working order to further diagnose.

[redae71]

air in the system will cause disengagement problems... has nothing to do with clutch slip as there is no hydraulic pressure in the system when the clutch is engaged.... basically your clutch is fingered unless you have completely stripped all teeth in the gearbox which i highly doubt

[Budowski]

air in the system will cause disengagement problems... has nothing to do with clutch slip as there is no hydraulic pressure in the system when the clutch is engaged.... basically your clutch is fingered unless you have completely stripped all teeth in the gearbox which i highly doubt

never said it did no harm in covering all the bases, and yes you could be right the next step would be to remove the CV shaftes and gearbox to inspect the pressure plate and fricton plate ect ect. and worse comes to worst teeth have been stripped inside the box.

Edited September 13, 2008 by Budowski

[eviltwin]

clutch has had the cock

[redae71]

never said it did no harm in covering all the bases, and yes you could be right the next step would be to remove the CV shaftes and gearbox to inspect the pressure plate and fricton plate ect ect. and worse comes to worst teeth have been stripped inside the box.

not tryin to discredit you or anything but the odds of that happenin are zero to none, with the conditions he stated the friction material has totally disintegrated leaving the clutch plate useless. he will be up for a clutch kit and depending on the extent of damage the flywheel may have to be replaced but, as you always do when you replace a clutch, will definitely need to be machined. replace the clutch and inspect everything else on reassembly. also with the k's on the car i would definitely look at replacing the throw out bearing and spigot bush/bearing and also rear main seal, regardless of condition. just not worth pullin the box back out again if one of them fails to

[Calam05]

thanks guys. Id like to cover all bases before going on to other things, i think it just saves headaches later. thanks for the indepth info budowski! i really appreciate it! Ill check the things you listed and post up my results. Hopefully its just a clutch plate, but it did get worked mega hard and run into the ground. So more likely than not, other things have broken with it. Bleeding brake fluids is one of the few things ive done before and with ur awesome instructions even i can't screw it up :)

[Budowski]

No worries dude happy motoring best thing about the forum is you get all opinions based on questions asked.

 

Maybe next time i should include the clutch bit before ending my post. Didnt want to leave you with too much to check at one time.

Edited September 13, 2008 by Budowski

[Calam05]

ok i went out and checked everything. theres no fluid leaking and the reseviour cylinders were full and stayed full after pumping heaps of times. rmeoved the boot on the box near the starter and it was dry.

 

where do we go from here? i don't think i have the tools or know how to rip the engine and gearbox out to look at things inside. how much do u rekon a mechanic would charge to get into it and change the clutch plate...or whatever else it could be?

[ae174agze]

so you can rev it to 5k

drop what clutch there is and the car only lurches forward and then stands still

 

with the engine revving in gear

with the clutch out

 

most probably rooted clutch disk or pressure plate, could it be its rusted the flywheel and its just slipping instead of gripping

[Calam05]

lol i drop the clutch and it idles! then i rev it to 5k to lurch forward but not enough power to get out of an indent the tyres made in the grass after sitting still for a year.

[Budowski]

ok i went out and checked everything. theres no fluid leaking and the reseviour cylinders were full and stayed full after pumping heaps of times. rmeoved the boot on the box near the starter and it was dry.

 

where do we go from here? i don't think i have the tools or know how to rip the engine and gearbox out to look at things inside. how much do u rekon a mechanic would charge to get into it and change the clutch plate...or whatever else it could be?

Are ya planning on having the guy come to the house or get it towed to a workshop ? Id say between 180-250 for complete clutch kit might be even cheaper beena while since i bought a clutch. Flywheel machine is a must and depending on the hourly rate ull need to get a quote.