Clutch Works but Cannot Get Car Into Gear

I recently completed a 10 yr journey of getting my '85 Cabriolet QV up and running after a complete engine rebuild. For the last few months it was with Carl at Blackhorse Motors in LA for him to make the final adjustments and it worked great! I picked up the car 3 weeks ago and have driven it about 175 miles with no issues. The other day, in heavy stop & go traffic with it about 105 deg outside I had a transmission problem. I was in 2nd gear and was going along about 30 mph and then the car came out of gear.

I could rev the engine but had no forward motion. I brought the car to a stop and the clutch pedal & gearstick felt normal with normal foot pressure. The brakes were solid, no spongy feeling. I could go into all of the gears including reverse, but as I would let the clutch out I could hear a sound like it was trying to engage but wasn't able to do it....maybe like it's trying to spin against the flywheel but not able to fully connect.

After getting the car towed home I checked for fluid leaks and could not find any. I looked at the new master cylinder seals & connections but no leaks there and fluid level looks normal. Pressing the clutch engages the slave cylinder with no apparent fluid leaks, and I can see the lever to the clutch moving as well. I cannot see obvious damage to the rubber hose connecting to the slave unit, and have been watching the lower part of the slave unit to see if there is a seal leaking but I don't see anything significant.

Any suggestions as to what could be causing this? Is it possible I'm not getting full slave clutch travel due to a leaky seal, or is it possible something inside the clutch assembly has failed? Is it possible something associated with the pressure plate or throw out bearing failed suddenly?

 

As part of my engine rebuild I put in a new clutch, pressure plate, pilot & throwout bearing, and also had the flywheel resurfaced. Is it possible one of these failed, or the adjustment for the clutch shifted?

 

I was thinking the slave cylinder might be the reason as well. There are no oil leaks, and I do have some motion of the clutch lever. I can also see a thin coat of oil on the rubber bellows on the lower part of the slave cylinder. Is there a way to measure or confirm if the slave is bad? I know it is original to the car and at 35 yrs old with the last 10 years just sitting it could be possible to have that as the failure....

 

I have seen the slave moving the lever on the clutch housing, but not sure how to tell if it's moving enough or not to work the clutch fully.

If it's a failure in the transmission I assume you are referring to within the gearbox itself. Is there a way to confirm if the problem is definitely within that or do I need to replace the slave or slave seal first?

 

When I push the pedal it feels like it is going into gear, and as I start to let the clutch out it sounds like the pressure plate is trying to press onto the flywheel but doesn't complete all the way - this is in any gear including reverse. When I move it to neutral and release the clutch I dont hear that sound, and the wheels move freely, allowing me to push the car around. I don't hear any grinding noises at all, just the faint sound like a rubbing....if that makes sense.

The motor assembly (including transmission) was removed as a complete unit, the entire back assembly including rear axles was dropped, cylinder heads removed. The lower transmission was never removed from the main engine block (see photos). I had a Ferrari expert set the gear lever adjustments and it worked perfect for the last 2 weeks until if failed. I was in 2nd gear at low rpm, went to shift down to 1st, and then released the clutch as in normal driving. As I pressed on the accelerator I heard the engine revving but no forward motion.... Since it was a sudden failure I'm looking around to find a broken mechanical linkage or hose but so far no luck....
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Follow up on Spicedriver's suggestion - I put the car in 5th gear and tried to push by hand. There was a lot of resistance but I could get some small forward motion while it was making the same rubbing sound I heard earlier when I tried to engage the clutch with the motor running. With it in 5th gear I could also get a little motion pushing it backward as well, but with much more resistance than forward. When I had someone push the clutch pedal in there was no more resistance, no noise, and I could push the car much easier both forward and back.

It does tell me that the clutch is working, but is it working well enough? Do I have it not going enough distance, or is there some item that broke or adjustment that suddenly slipped that would cause me to not get full gear engagement?

I appreciate the suggestion to have Carl do it, and if I am unable to fix it myself that may be the only option, but I don't expect him to do it for free......but I know he is always very fair. I have the car over an accessible work pit, almost like having a lift at home, so I want to see if it's something fairly simple first that I can do before putting it on a flatbed for a 100 mile tow to Carl.

 

Hi, I wanted to give a quick update on this. I did replace the clutch slave cylinder with a brand new unit, and the old one was pretty rough and did confirm some leaking from it. Good news is that I have a brand new clutch master and slave cylinder - bad news is that it did not fix my problem. I still have all the same symptoms and still have not been able to drive the car since last September. I am trying to look for any other ideas other than tearing the whole transmission apart....any other suggestions?

 

I opened the cover (item 2) in the diagram above and to me it looked like things were moving normal. I wanted to confirm if there was anything else I should check before taking the bell housing off as I know how involved that was when I reassembled it before. I know how involved it is and the chance for messing anything else up so just being cautious....

 

Thanks for the help and I will give him a call tomorrow. I can open up the bell housing if needed but wanted to confirm that I wasnt overlooking a potentially simple fix before tearing it apart. Thanks!