Ok. I'm drivin my car and all at once the engine boggs down as if it
going to stop, then it runs fine for about a quarter mile then boggs
down again and dies. As I'm pulling off the x-way, I push in the clutch
and it goes to the floor with no resistant at all. Car wont start. I
assume that the cluch isnt engaged and the transmission is in gear and
that the safety switch wont let it start. Tow the thing home and find
that the clutch master cylinder is compleatly out of fluid. Replace
fluid. Upon further inspection I find a crack that is completely around
the bellhouse. The starter is hanging on only with the wiring. On the
two bolts bracket on the starter, one of those are broken. When this
clutch went out all that happened was the car died and when I pushed in
the clutch in it went directly to the floor. No loud bang or grinding.
How could I have drove the car to where it broke down without a clutch?
I wasnt with the car when it was towed home. My question is, do you
think that the clutch may have broken the bellhousing? I feel that the
tow truck may have dropped the car some way to cause this kind of
breakage. This is a major crack in the b/h. ...Many thx ... Don
=AB Paul =BB - 31 Dec 2005 18:19 GMT
> Ok. I'm drivin my car and all at once the engine boggs down as if it
> going to stop, then it runs fine for about a quarter mile then boggs
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> tow truck may have dropped the car some way to cause this kind of
> breakage. This is a major crack in the b/h. ...Many thx ... Don
There could be several reasons why the bell housing on your
1995 Grand Am broke.
Before blaming someone else, I would look at:
motor mounts
half shafts
abuse
loose bolts
John S. - 31 Dec 2005 19:01 GMT
> Ok. I'm drivin my car and all at once the engine boggs down as if it
> going to stop, then it runs fine for about a quarter mile then boggs
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> tow truck may have dropped the car some way to cause this kind of
> breakage. This is a major crack in the b/h. ...Many thx ... Don
Was the car towed directly to your house or was it taken to the towing
lot. I can't imagine how a car could be been dropped hard and far
enough to cause only the bell housing to crack. I suspect that the car
was worked on by someone with less than the requisite skills and tools
to do the job properly and a few bolts were not tightened down.
plainoldmechanic - 01 Jan 2006 04:32 GMT
I
assume that the cluch isnt engaged and the transmission is in gear and
that the safety switch wont let it start
o.k. the safety switch that you refer to is worked by the clutch pedal
located INSIDE the car.
The starter is hanging on only with the wiring. On the
two bolts bracket on the starter, one of those are broken.
sounds like the starter bolts have been loose for a while and one of
them finally fell out leaving your starter to twist under torque and
that propably broke the bracket you are referring to and possibly what
cracked the bell housing.
How could I have drove the car to where it broke down without a clutch?
well, you were driving down the freeway, and your car was already in
high gear so it wasn't a problem until you were slowing down and
"bogged" the engine down, if you had pulled the tranny out of gear and
reved up the engine until such time as you could drop it into a lower
hole (the same way you down-shift a diesel) you would have been o.k.
until you had to stop, which creates a whole new set of problems .
. My question is, do you
think that the clutch may have broken the bellhousing?
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
I feel that the
tow truck may have dropped the car some way to cause this kind of
breakage
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
do yourself a favor and quit worrying about how, when, where and why
this happened and focus on getting it fixed and perhaps not by the same
guy that has been doing the repair or maintenance on this car.
oh, and by the way:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!