Bad clutch? Transmission will not go into gear

[dhjelm]

Once again I have to bow my head and ask for advice.

In the mornings, when the car is cold. It works as a dream! No issues at all.
However, after 20-30 minutes driving, I have trouble engaging reverse, 1st and 3nd gear. If I park the car for an hour or so, it is nearly impossible to accsess theese gears unless I stop the engine.

My mecanic want to change the clutch. But he did no fault finding on the car.

There is no smell of burnt clutch, pedal is as hard as it was when I bought it in 2013. Though in engages and disengages almost at floor level.

I am begging that someone have seen this before! I do need some advice in case I can avoid changing the clutch.

[neilpaku]

I've seen it before but not in this car. In tractors I've worked with, the pilot bearing has seized after a while of use. The clutch pedal and mechanism works as it should, but since the pilot is seized, the engine continues to drive the transmission input shaft. If this is your problem, you should have it inspected immediately because it is a safety issue.
Even if that is not the problem, I'd encourage you to at least have the mechanic remove the transmission and inspect the clutch mechanism and pilot bearing anyway.

[Lucca M]

Pressure plate ?

[q_dubz]

Yep I had my pilot seize up and no more shifting for me

[dhjelm]

If pilot bearing is seized, is it the normal that it loosens up over night? Because that is partly whats going on. In the morning when I start driving, everything works perfectly well. Oly after some driving my troubles start.

[dhjelm]

How about a bad throw out bearing? Would that give the same issues as mentiond?

[neilpaku]

I've seen them partially seize - meaning when they heat up a bit and expand it seizes. Tend to see it more with plain bearings rather than rollers. The bearing could also just be tight enough that when the transmission is cold (and the oil is cold), there is enough drag to stall the bearing, but when it's hot, the bearing can't be stalled so the gears keep spinning. You should have the mechanic disassemble it - it's what you're going to have to do anyway so you might as well get started : )