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MG MGB Technical - Transmission/Clutch question

My wife picked up a 80 MGB limited. I noticed when she starts it with the clutch in and in gear it tends to lurch when starting. Almost like the clutch is dragging. Also it struggles to get in or out of gear till it warms up. Once it gets rolling she's fine, just at initial cold startup it hangs in gear or grinds pretty badly if going from neutral to 1st or reverse.

Could this be an issue with the Clutch hydraulics? Is the clutch adjustable?

By the way it has 109k miles.

Thanks
Jim Leo

Jim. First, MGs are started on neutral and the clutch should not be depressed. There is a very good reason for this. The throwout bearing is graphite and will wear more if started with the clutch depressed. For the same reason, you should shift to neutral and let the pedal out when resting at a stop light. No, the clutch system does not have an external adjustment. It is self adjusting. Your problem could be caused by several things. The master of slave cylinders could be in need of a rebuild because they are not holding pressure. The pushrod on the master cylinder or slave cylinder could be badly worn which does not allow full range of motion which can cause the clutch to drag. The throwout bearing wears with use (which is why you do not depress it for longer than about 7 seconds at a time). If it is worn, it may not work properly. Checking out the hydraulic system can be done with few problems. Remove, inspect, rebuild. Checking the condition of the clutch and throwout bearing involves removing the engine and transmission from the car. Whether that is a major undertaking depends on how much automotive experience you have. Les
Les Bengtson

I nominate Les for coolest typo of the year "The master of slave cylinders"
.

Wow,
Les does make mistakes! BUT his advice is always right on
mike hunt

Mike. My only complaint is that the fellow did not sign his name. I would like to congratulate him. "Master of slave cylinder" was caused by being busy. By his catching it, I also got to enjoy the joke, which was an excellent one. Thanks, whomever you are for calling it to my attention. My day is brighter. Les
Les Bengtson

If it engages 1st and reverse OK when hot but not cold it could be the clutch friction material. My V8 does that if I do not use it for a while although the roadster is fine even after several weeks. Once you have confirmed that the clutch slave cylinder travel is 1/2" or thereabouts there is nothing more that can be done apart from engine removal and clutch replacement. If it less than that bleeding may be beneficial, but that can be a pain so I would drain and refill with fresh fluid using a gunsons Eezi-Bleed on very low pressure from the *slave* cylinder bleed nipple. Sounds like she is *having* to start it in gear. I don't do that, sometimes I can get it into 2nd but sometimes I have to engage 3rd just to get it rolling then 1st will go in.
Paul Hunt

Les and Paul,

Thanks for the feedback. I'll take a look at the master cylinder (likely come spring at this point in Ohio). Anything more than that and we'll take it somewhere.

Thanks again

Jim
Jim Leo

This thread was discussed between 12/12/2001 and 13/12/2001

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