[Spridgets] NMC - PT Cruiser No Go

[corvallis at peoplepc.com]

You could ask the local Dealer. You might also google six or eight words of
the symptoms and see what pops up. I broke the spider gears in the diff in a
VW once and it acted like this. ...bill in oregon
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-----Original Message-----
From: spridgets-bounces at autox.team.net
[mailto:spridgets-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of David Lieb
Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2009 5:59 PM
To: GUY DAY; S pridgets
Subject: Re: [Spridgets] NMC - PT Cruiser No Go

> If you have drive to one wheel it cannot be the clutch.  That provides the

> connection between engine and gearbox and MUST be working if you are 
> getting drive to any of the wheels.

I guess I wasn't clear there. No, the engine makes NO attempt to move either

wheel. I tried rotating the wheels by hand to see whether the opposite wheel

would counter-rotate, but it didn't. It appears to have lost all connection 
between the engine and the diff. The axles look great, but that does not 
mean much. I was not driving it at the time, but the story was that there 
was no drama at all. They backed it out of the driveway, drove down to the 
stop sign a block away, put it in first, let out the clutch and nothing 
happened. No violence, nothing. Sounds like a broken halfshaft on a Spridget

;-) Or two broken halfshafts on a Spridget ;-) There is just enough 
difference in the resistance turning it by hand in gear vs in neutral that I

would like to think the diff is ok and the fairly new clutch-pack is dead. 
Not looking forward to that.

Weird clutches they have in these things... There is a flexplate on the end 
of the crank as if it was an automatic trans, but the clutch assembly bolts 
to it insead of a torque convertor. It is one chunk consisting of the metal 
mass for the flywheel effect and the clutch surface, the clutch disk, the 
pressure plate and the throwout bearing all riveted together. OTOH, you 
don't have to pull the trans out of the car to replace it. Just separate the

trans from the engine, undo the four bolts, slide the assembly out, and 
reverse the procedure. I still like the Spridget clutch better.
David Lieb 
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