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Old 09-20-2007, 03:16 PM   #4 (permalink)
consejero
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Join Date: Dec 1969
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 8
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BEFORE YOU SPEND MONEY CHECK THE OBVIOUS FIRST!

I think everyone here is right when they recommend inspecting the clutch but there are other things that need to be inspected first.
Check the clutch slave cylinder. Make sure it depresses fully if not, bleed and or replace worn parts. Check the clutch master cylinder as well. Clutch and brake fluids can and will absorb water/air just by sitting around and chances are pretty good that unless you've had your car religiously serviced at the dealer since inception, it's probably running on the original oil. Also check the rubber hose for cracks and swelling when the clutch is depressed. Excessive swealling of the rubber hose will cause the slave cylinder to not depress fully as well as worn rubber seals on both the slave cylinder and the master cylinder.

Clutch issues normally cause grinding in first gear. Grinding in the other gears may infact be worn or missalignment of parts and worst case scenerio, worn synchros.

Try re-adjusting or at least inspecting the linkage underneath the car. There's an exposed portion of linkage between the body and the transmition, it's possible that the linkage could have hit something and bent. Also check for wear and loose bolts inside the car below the shifter. Ferrari shifting is significantly precise. Remove the shift gate/bracket (shiny part) and try shifting without it. If it stops grinding then it's out of adjustment somewhere.

The more you drive it with the gears grinding however the more damage you will do. Even if your problem is just the clutch, the continued grinding may infact cause the synchros to wear out and maybe even break a tooth or teeth on the gears.

I removed and overhauled my transmition when I rebuilt my engine a couple of years back. The procedures are easy however, getting parts is an expensive pain. Removing the transmition is pretty difficult. I haven't heard of a way to remove it without pulling the engine but I guess it's possible. For me, I had to remove the engine since it bolts directly on top of the tranny. You will need the Ferrari manuals though. Last I checked Nick of Forza Ferrari sells copies of them. My manual not only shows how to but also all the necessary specs etc. for rebuilding or reconditioning. Becarefull when dissasembling. There's these little ball bearings that are held in place by springs and in my case just grease. These can come loose and go all over the place.

Once you have the tranny out, it's easy to overhaul but time consuming. If you're removing the engine might as well overhaul everything. Trying to get new synchros will be extremely difficult/expensive however a clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing are not that difficult to find and relatively inexpensive by Ferrari standards. It's pretty typical to find stress cracks on the flywheel when replacing the pressure plate so be prepared to have it resurfaced as well when putting everything back together.

Good luck and hope this helps. If you have to rebuild your tranny email me and I'll try to help.
JR
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