[Healeys] Overdrive pressure or clutch slip

[Simon Lachlan]

You may recall the very extended overdrive and clutch saga last year. Long
story short(ish).
OD was slipping in and out depending on oil temperature.
Correctly diagnosed pressure. Checked with gauge.
Attempted rebuild.going only so far as accumulator and related seals.
Stymied as could not get pump out. Turned out to have been "fixed" at some
stage with some form of "chemical metal" which was coming loose/apart.
Took it up to OD Spares who fixed it..new housing etcetc
Why not a new clutch I thought? Sensible while you're in the area looking at
a 30+ yr old item.
New clutch.no good. Noisy, wouldn't engage/disengage/play at all.
Gearbox out again.
Refit clutch. Presumed I'd made some beginner's mistake.
Refit gearbox.no good. Same
Can't recall whether I tried again. Lost count and enthusiasm by now.
Turned out that the new clutch kit was defective. (Thanks Mirek) (Genuine
B&B from AHSpares).
New one did work.
Saga over until yesterday.

Same sort of symptoms...
All's well for first 10 or so miles. Then the dreaded slippage(?) starts.
But it's not quite the same. Reminds me more of a slipping clutch. (But NO
smell)
Symptoms continue if it's in or out of OD.
Symptoms reduce at speed.

Yes, plenty of oil. Over the full mark. Looks very clean. Pretty sure it's
40wt non-detergent topped up with 30wt non-detergent. (Or vice-versa). Am
confident in state of the filter, magnets etc.

No, I have not pressure tested it yet and yes, I dread restarting the whole
bloody process all over again. I'm not sure I can face taking the box out
again once, let alone multiple times.
What I want and experience tells me I'm unlikely to get is a miracle cure!
One initial question...do OD relays either work or not work? ie, can the
relay hover between on and off which might lead to the OD coming in and out?
I think that could happen if the switch is off but the unit still hasn't got
the message to disengage from the bulkhead switch.
And a supplementary..how do I bench test the relay?
Simon

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