308 - 1979 -clutch stuck

[mark boyle]

Won't disengage. It was fine when it was put away 2 years ago. Peddle motion and effort seems the same. I took off the inner fender and watched as my son depressed the clutch. Levers work, not much slack in the cable. I could even see movement on the pressure plate through the inspection hole. BUT I can drive it up a hill in 1st with the clutch peddle depressed and it won't come loose. Any ideas? thanks mark

[Bob M]

The same has happened to my 1978 308GTS
Condensation has rusted the clutch to the fly wheel.
I now keep the clutch disengaged when the car is to be left for more than 2 weeks.
The way I fixed the problem was to drive the car in 1st gear with the clutch pedal down.
Get the drive train nice and warm, keep revving the engine and let off the gas. This should break the clutch free from the fly wheel.
Or you might have several friends rock the car while in first or reverse and the clutch pedal down.
Good Luck
Bob

[CPTRuotolo]

I agree with Bob. My father's V12 XKE had the same issue, and we rocked it back-and-forth until it broke free. On my 1950 Plymouth, I also had the same problem, and we put a big tire (no rim) in between my Plymouth's rear bumper and a friend's truck, and he gently rocked my Plymouth with his truck until the clutch broke free. It works and won't damage anything, so long as you're "as gentle as you can be."

[mark boyle]

Clutch stuck - UPDATE august 2011
I talked with the an englishman who looks after my old rolls royce. He trained the local (senior) ferrari mechanic -way back when - and gave this advice, advice that worked.

Flush/Soak the friction plate with BRAKE CLEANER. Just remove what you need to remove to spray the cleaner onto the friction plate. ( between the spring tanges ) Be sure you get it on the FRICTION plate. Turn the engine a bit and spray again - because the cleaner runs down and you need to soak all of it. Wait - longer that I did - say 10 minutes and then drive it.

Start it in gear ( with the clutch pedal down ) and then nicely punishing it with accleration and deceleration. It will soon come loose. Thanks to my old friend - for a cheap and fairly easy solution.

BTW my clutch was really stuck - you could spin the tires and not free it.