Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 11:48:24 -0500
Reply-To: "Carrington, Tom" <TCarrington@RELITECH.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "Carrington, Tom" <TCarrington@RELITECH.COM>
Subject: Re: Clutch Question
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
The "half-moon" that he is talking about is most likely the eccentric on the
clutch shaft. The throwout bearing rides against this section of the shaft.
The eccentrics do wear slowly, but I don't know about failing suddenly. I'd
keep the money in your wallet. A picture of the shaft and throwout bearing
can be seen at
http://volksweb.relitech.com/tech/clutch/t-outbrg.jpg
What the mechanic may have been thinking of is that on the air-cooled VW
Bugs, if you install a heavier clutch, you should also upgrade to a heavier
(fully welded/complete circle) throwout shaft. Those *do* have a history of
breaking under extra load. But once again, I have never heard about it
happening in a Vanagon.
TomC
tcarrington@relitech.com
http://volksweb.relitech.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Russell Talbot [mailto:Russell_Talbot@MONITOR.COM]
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2000 10:56 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Clutch Question
When I bought it, I took it to the only local mechanic (that I've been able
to
find) who specializes in Vanagons to check it out. He agreed that it was in
beautiful shape (part of the reason why I ended up buying it!) but
recommended
that I replace the clutch even though it wasn't slipping. The clutch is
slightly heavy (nothing compared to my '87 Mustang GT, but probably heavier
than
most other cars that I've driven). Since I was low on cash at the time and
since the vehicle was driving well, I didn't do anything about it.
Over new years I'll be going on a bit of a road trip, and figure I should
make
sure the van is in good health, so I brought it by the mechanic again and
asked
more about why he thought the clutch needed replacing. Hopefully I can pass
on
the jist of what he was saying even though I don't know if I fully
understand or
buy it. He said that when the clutch pedal is pressed, that force pushes
against the driveshaft which is held in place inside the engine block with a
half moon. This spot is not particularly strong, so the more pressure that
is
placed on it, the more likely it is to give out. and wreck all sorts of
havoc in
the engine. The logic, then, is that a very light clutch would put much
less
pressure on the driveshaft. if a clutch is heavy, you have to push harder
on
it, and therefore more force is pushing the driveshaft against this half
moon
that keeps the driveshaft in the engine block. So he recommends that I get
a
new clutch. I told him that I would have to think about it.
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