a Autohomes Camelot ar ESE Our clute wt conundrum is tthe amount of play in the Cc Now that our project van's engine is table, we tid rotating the purring again, Simon Goldsworthy pie tama oo circlip had been released, it decided that it was time for our Autohomes' became ear hat hea troublesome clutch pedal to be mended eee ca es oe showed how Nick Dane | at rest any of these items, the gearbox at Motorvation, near Next, we removed the had to be taken out. So, as our Stamford, replaced the | actuation lever from its shaft _ | picture sequence shows, that is. outer boots on our Camelot’s | on the gearbox to see if this | exactly what we did. The riveshafts. While the shafts | could be rotated by one spline, | pictures do not provide an were off the ‘van, we also thus requiring less pedal exhaustive step-by-step guide, asked him to have a look at | travel for the clutch to but they do highlight some the clutch. The problem was | disengage. But this plan was _| tips which are specific to this that with the clutch pedal thwarted because the shaf motorhome, along with others adjusted to rest at the same _| contained one extra-wide that will apply to any vehicle height as the brake pedal, locating spline, meaning that | And what did we find? Well it only freed the gearbox in its | the actuation lever would only | there are three components in a You can then lower the last few millimetres of travel _| fit in the one position clutch kit: the friction plate, the nearside end of the engine before hitting the floor. This left us with three clutch cover that incorporates |} far enough to release the First of all, we decided to try | worrying, possibilities: either | the springs, and the release forked mounting, Take care the easy options. Adjusting the | the friction plate was bearing that pushes against not to lower the unit too far, actuation cable did make the _ | excessively worn, the spring _| these springs when you step on | | though, as itis very easy to clutch bite earlier but as there | fingers on the clutch cover had | the clutch pedal. Curiously, the | } strain and break one of the had been no slack to start gone weak or the release friction plate and clutch cover | | heater hoses. with, it also left the pedal bearing was grinding its way | were relatively new. It was possible that the springs were weak, but the only way to verify this was to fit a replacement, Disappointingly, once we had implemented all this, the improvement in the pedal’s operation was marginal. It is possible that the bracket which holds the cable end in place had been bent, but the metal didn’t look strong enough to risk bending again. Instead, we \ put spacing washers between a the cereale andthe bracket | ig Haart ces eve the same result and any oil from the clutch drove home, safe in the cover, left over from the knowledge that nothing was | | manufacturing process. Take festering away inside the this opportunity to clean the transmission, about to go bang, | | flywheel, too, by using an and leave us stranded. emery cloth on a flat bar to @ See page 112 for more clean off any surface rust. The gearbox was removed to discover the cause of the clutch problem | improvements on our Camelot M0 May 2007 wyw.practicalmatorhome con_ - ‘The speedo drive is accessed from below the motorhome, at the rear of the transmission. Its fixing bolt sits in a locating ‘groove which means it cannot just be loosened ~ it has to ‘come out entirely before you can remove the cable. With the starter motor and bottom dust cover removed, you can remove the bell-housing bolts: there are only three of ‘them, all with 10mm Allen key hheads; one is positioned at the top and two are at the bottom, ‘going in opposite directions. Strangely, our clutch cover and friction plate had recently been replaced, yet the original release bearing remained. As a result, ours was feeling very rough, and had started to eat into the diaphragm spring fingers. ‘The gear linkage has to be disconnected by flicking ‘back the spring clip and levering off the ball joints. The ‘van has had selection problems in the past, as both of the gearbox arms are new, as is the rod that runs across the bulkhead. ww rw ee ‘You can now go ahead and slide the transmission away from the engine (although you ‘might need to lever it away to break the initial grip). Just be ‘sure to move it away without letting it sag and hang off the gearbox input shaft. ‘When you fit the new release bearing, check ‘that the bushes on the release ‘arm haverrt seized and that the ‘bearing moves forwards and backwards to the extreme of ‘the arm's travel (make sure you lubricate it with copper grease). ECHNICAL PROJECT MOTORHOME Drain the oll from the transmission and check the plug for any accumulated metal ‘that could indicate problems elsewhere, then replace it tightly ~ leaving it until later is a great way to accidentally ‘drain the gearbox a second time. detail differences without affecting its use, but to save yourself hours of head scratching, check the critical dimensions carefully. First, check that the friction plate fits on the gearbox splines. 14 Tis essential that the friction plate is mounted centrally. You can purchase a special tool to locate the plate while tightening up the cover bolts evenly, or you can use a straight shaft and check it very carefully by eye. Remember to support the gearbox with a trolley jack before releasing the forked ‘mounting from the end. Then support the engine with another trolley jack before undoing the central mounting at the rear of the unit. oo clutch cover fixing holes are on the same radius. Ours weren't, as we had been given ‘one for a diesel engine by mistake. It was never going to fit and so we had to send it back and order another. You can then refill the transmission with 1.25 litres of oil. To check that it is up to level, use the mini dipstick hidden away near tthe speedometer. @ For Autohomes Highlander gearboxes, see Feb ‘05 issue.