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RE: TR3A clutch

To: <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Subject: RE: TR3A clutch
From: "Randall Young" <ryoung@navcomtech.com>
Date: Thu, 1 May 2003 10:32:26 -0700 FILETIME=[A1C91030:01C31007]
> If this is so, then I disagree with the prevailing opinion of the
> list. Why can't there be blowby in the slave or master seals? The
> level in the reservoir would stay the same and the symptoms are
> consistent with a ripped or torn seal.

I've more or less forgotten the origin of this thread ... but the slave
cylinder has only one seal, and if it leaks, the fluid runs out on the
ground.  It is possible for the 'foot' valve in the MC to leak back into the
reservoir, but this isn't a common failure.

> It seem to me that a taper pin, pressure plate or T/O brg failure
> would be catastrophic and NOT tend to deteriorate over time....No?

The taper pin takes all the force at a single point (which is probably why
they're prone to failure), but the other end of the pin will locate the fork
to the shaft to some extent after the pin is broken.  Since it's now loose
and banging around at every shift, the broken end will slowly "go away".

Check out Nelson's photo at :
www.buckeyetriumphs.org/technical/Clutch/ClutchForkPin/image2.jpg
you can see where the tip of the broken pin has started to erode.

I've also had a TOB fail progressively ... basically the balls started
spalling and loosing tiny flakes.  When I finally removed it, there were no
balls at all, just a pile of crumbs.  The outer ring would move over 1/4" on
the inner ring.  The clutch had still worked sorta (and under protest),
until the heat caused the TOB sleeve to seize to the input shaft housing.

I think I mentioned the big spring inside the MC can break, this can also be
a progressive failure.  When the spring first breaks, the broken ends just
press against each other and it's effectively only slightly shorter than
before.  But over time, the two pieces screw into each other and reduce the
length much more.  Mine actually broke 3 different times; it came out
looking like a bundle of snakes that when separated, showed 4 separate
pieces of original spring.

Randall

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