R34 GTR Clutch Feels Like It Is Not Disengaging

[te37]

I just purchased a R34 GTR and drove it 2000 miles back home (once in a life time opportunity - best drive of my life) but around 500 miles in something happened with the clutch where the car would not go into first or reverse when stopped. So I currently have to start the car in 1st or reverse and then "release" the clutch like normal and the shift like normal once I am moving. And If I try to put the car in first or reverse when stopped I can feel some vibration on the shifter like something is still connected between he engine and the transmission. Nothing is wet around the master or slave cylinder and I seem to get full travel from the slave cylinder - I am thinking the hydraulics are good since I can have the car in first gear with the clutch depressed and engine running and not stall out. And when the engine is off everything shifts as it should.

 

Video of slave cylinder movement

[GTSBoy]

Is this a question?

Just take it apart and fix whatever it is that broke. Could be the clutch pivot, could be the clutch itself. Could be the hydraulics despite what you think you can see.

[Duncan]

Firstly, great to hear you are enjoying the new car!

I'm not a gearbox expert but I agree the hydraulics look OK. As you have a pull clutch it is possible the release bearing or fork are disconnected from the pressure plate, but you should be able to see/correct that through the gap in the bellhousing. If that is the problem you should be able to reconnect it through the bellhousing gap as you would when putting the gearbox back in. This is the easier problem but less likely as you would also have issues changing gears on the move unless you are rev matching (and you didn't mention you were).

Is the issue definitely only 1st and reverse? can you choose second while stationary with engine running and clutch pedal down? That would imply it is some sort of selector/linkage issue which is going to need gearbox off to fix

[The Bogan]

Disclaimer: totally different car

My Honda's shifts were a "little" notchy at high RPM and the clutches engaged pretty high, no amount of bleeding fixed it, I thought it might have been the syncros, turns out the old girls clutch, pressure plate, fork and thrust bearing were worn, after replacing those OEM parts with new OEM parts the clutch engagement was much lower, was lighter, and shifted at high RPM like butter

I'm not saying this is your issue, but there are alot of moving parts that are considered consumable items hidden in there

[GTSBoy]

^^Bogan's story is probably valid. Gearbox was recently out of my car for clutch problems. My clutch fork was considerably worn, after 10ish years of being locked inside the bellhousing and driven in traffic every day.

[te37]

Well no one would have guessed - including me. I removed the clutch to find that one side of the clutch completely ripped off the plate. So I drove about 1500 miles with one side of a clutch lol. I guess the ripped off clutch material was still kind of connected causing the transmission to not stop completely thus making first gear hard to get in.

 

p.s. don't replace your clutch on the floor of your garage unless you have a great therapist  

[Duncan]

6 hours ago, te37 said:

p.s. don't replace your clutch on the floor of your garage unless you have a great therapist  

yeah aint that the truth!

I would still double check all of the heights and fork operation, and replace the throw out bearing while it is all apart.....depending how long the car sat without use it might be an age problem (if that is even a thing with clutches!) but it could also have been slipping a little for a long time

[Predator1]

11 hours ago, te37 said:

p.s. don't replace your clutch on the floor of your garage unless you have a great therapist  

Me and me friend did this on his 33R in his basement carpark only using the torch from our phones. That top starter bolt musta taken us about an hour alone. Needless to say I am now an expert in removing R boxes in a basement carpark with iphone torch and limited number of tools