This weekend, when I went to leave the sand drags at Gecko rd., my car wouldn't move. It seems the slave cylinder is working but the shaft it pushes and pulls against is stuck. My buddy used a breaker bar to push the shaft back and pushed my car while I started it in 2nd gear, allowing a return to camp. The slave cylinder appears to be working, although it is leaking at the threads, probably due to excess pressure from the stuck shifter shaft. The master cylinder has fluid in it. My car was left out in the rain last week while I took another broken car in and out of my trailer. The shaft penetrating the bell housing is stiff and has no movement evident when pushing and pulling by hand.
My car is a Suspensions Unlimited SP2.
Does anybody have any ideas as to what kind of problem I am facing? Any chance the rain could have froze anything up? Should I just pull the tranny and take it to Mendi to get repaired?
Any help appreciated.
Amper

sounds like the throw out bearing may be rusted to the shaft it slides on in the bell housing. That is why a lot of guys say not to use water to clean a car or leave it in the rain.. simple fix, but you gotta pull the motor.

Did you try spraying WD40 around the shaft on both sides of the bellhousing sounds as though it needs some lubricant.

Yes, I gave the shaft a heavy dose of WD-40. It may have helped but only slightly if at all.

I only sprayed the shaft where accessible from the outside.

Those throwout bearings are usually heavily greased so I doubt it would rust to the shaft with what little rain it saw.
Can you move the shaft the cylinder push/pulls manually? And if so does it stay in the position you move it to or does it spring back into the normal position?

If you can move this shaft, how much resistance does it take to move it?

Did it seem to be engaged normally when you started in 2nd and drove back to camp? ie did the clutch feel like it was fully engaged or was there any slipping when you got on the gas?

1. It is possible to move the shaft but nowhere near the movement of a similar tranny parked right next to my car. Definitely frozen some how. It does not return to its normal position as a working tranny does.
2. The effort required to move the shaft is large. Estimate 50lbs or more. The one parked next to mine moved with ease. I can move the shaft on the working tranny with my hand but need a pry bar to move mine.
3. When driving back to camp, with the shaft pushed all the way back, no slippage was evident but I didn't touch the clutch even to get moving. I started the car in gear and limped back to camp as if I had no clutch. However when I tried to use the clutch, the pedal was real stiff, the shaft would seem to stick and I would experience slippage.

So with normal use the clutch is slipping, but the arm the slave cylinder pulls on is not returning to its normal position without external assistance.

Very odd. You're going to have to pull the motor and have a look.
Let me know if you need help.

Not to bash a product and I know I said WD40 but there is a much better penetrating oil out there. If you can get your hands on ZEP preserve or ZEP 45 they both are better at loosening up a rusted or partially frozen shaft or bolt. I have used ZEP on badly rusted exhaust bolts and after spraying them and breaking loose you can remove them with very little resistance. If you can get some try this first if you don't want to pull the motor yet. In either way both products require some movement of the shaft to penetrate.

Cool idea although I am starting to doubt this issue will be resolved that easy. I have some other slickem products that I will try out.

Turns out the Mendeola cross shaft bound up. The brass bushing stuck to the metal shaft. New shaft purchased at Rancho for $79. Also replaced the output shaft oils seals, bought new seal for nose cone, tranny fluid, pressure plate, clutch, and throw out bearing.
Thanks go out for the suggestions from everybody.

Cya at the dunes next weekend and at Easter.

Amper

Thats wild. Thanks for the pic.

When purchasing a gear box with an aftermarket or stock clutch shaft either use the stock VW bushing or a brass oil-lite bushing.
This above unit is not a Mendeola supplied cross shaft.
our cross shaft is a cro-molly heat treated shaft & arm, with a brass oil-lite bushing.
the external arm is completely splined for indexing and is used with a hiem.

Any pics on what a Mendi cross shaft looks like?

Click to view attachment