Clutch Oil Leak

[KirkV]

My SPF had used a little clutch oil in the past but not a lot, but today she decided not a lot was no fun anymore! I have oil dripping out from the clutch area itself and all lines appear to be tight.
I am assuming I blew a oring in the clutch assembly itself. The pedal has no resistance to it at all and the only leak is at the bottom of the cover over the clutch.

I assume I have to drop the tranny to access all of this work and am considering taking it to a shop to have it done.

Any ideas?

Thx
Kirk

[DanEC]

I take it you have a hydraulic throw out bearing? If so and if not simply a loose hose connection, the transmission will have to come out.

[KirkV]

Yes it is the throw out bearing. Now I have to determine if I tackle it myself or take it somewhere. Anybody take on one here on the site and if so how bad was it?

[KirkV]

Well I pulled the tunnel cover the driveshaft and the transmission then pulled off the hydraulic throw out bearing. The two orings that ride on the shaft were shot! Now to replace them and put it all back together again, really was not that bad to do.

[Tommy]

In the first two year I owned my non-SPF Cobra, I removed the transmission to fix chronic problems with my HTOB four times. It was not a fun job. I finally replaced it with an externally mounted slave cylinder set up for that very reason. Unless your car has enough miles or years to warrant a worn out HTOB, I'd suggest you have a professional fix it. That way he can redo the job if it turns out to be something other than normal wear.

P.S. If any of the oil got on the clutch plate, it will soon need to be replaced too.

[mickmate]

I have seen the new style HTOB use all its stroke, bottom out the seal against the shoulder and chew the seal up. Check the master cylinder is appropriately sized if that is the case. I have had better luck with the early style you set with shims to the right position. I have even better luck with external clutch components. They are accessible and adjustable and you can see them working.

[vatdevil]

Originally Posted by Tommy

In the first two year I owned my non-SPF Cobra, I removed the transmission to fix chronic problems with my HTOB four times. It was not a fun job. I finally replaced it with an externally mounted slave cylinder set up for that very reason. Unless your car has enough miles or years to warrant a worn out HTOB, I'd suggest you have a professional fix it. That way he can redo the job if it turns out to be something other than normal wear.

P.S. If any of the oil got on the clutch plate, it will soon need to be replaced too.

What Tommy said. Convert to external, especially if you plan on keeping it for a while. The age of your car, anything with seals in brake/clutch fluid should be rebuilt or replaced anyway.

[Dominik]

I don't know the last millimeter of room under the SPF, but you may be able to slide the transmission back once the driveshaft is out. That helps if you don't have a second set of hands or transmission jack to assist you.

in the 90s Tilton had huge problems with the hydraulic throwout bearing mounted inside the bellhousing. What a pain it was... Should long be solved and any internal hydraulic throwout bearing should be working.

If you get a kit with slave cylinder to mount it outside, and have eough space, you can do that. Making the slave cylinder bracket yourself can be quite a lenthy exercise.

[KirkV]

Thanks for the input guys! I agree an external might be in my future if this remains a problem. But $1.25 in o rings and it is back together and working like a dream.