clutch stuck

[Deleted User]
[Deleted User]
edited November -1 in HUDSON
what is the best way to un stick a clutch on a 50 commadore 8 do i need to clean or can i put it in gear and pull it with the clutch engadged?

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  • hudsonsplasher1
    hudsonsplasher1 Senior Contributor
    You can jack up the rear end, start the engine and push the clutch in and out several times. While the clutch is in, goose the engine to try and brake it lose. This worked for a Terraplane of mine. You can also fill the clutch with kerosene and let it set a few days before you try this. Other option is taking every thing apart and prying the plate off. Hope it doesn't come to this. Good luck. Let us know what works.
    Gene.
  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    The traditional way is to drain what's left of the clutch oil and then refill the clutch with a solvent made of 4 parts tri-chloral-ethane and one part acetone. (I"m not sure if the trichloroethane is still available. Possibly it causes your liver to drop out or your ear to fall off, or something...)

    Anyway, the idea is to then let it sit in there for awhile, then rotate the engine a bit and let it sit some more, and so on, so that the entire cork clutch gets soaked. All the while, keep pumping the clutch pedal up and down to try to release it.

    I would save the "busting loose" operation until you've soaked the corks with this solvent. I would not advise doing it first, because I have heard of some nasty results (where something besides the corks busted loose). When the corks have soaked, that is the best time to try brute force to break the clutch loose.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    Everyone with a wet clutch should do like we did back in the old days, and no clutch stuck problem. When you put the car away for a month or longer, make a stick to hold the clutch pedal right to the floor. Pedal to seat bottom. Clutch problems over. Walt.
  • Uncle Josh
    Uncle Josh Senior Contributor
    edited January 2012
    Hard to find the tri-chlor any more but Sunnyside sells a replacement as 'Carbochlor' in Tru Value and other hardware stores. Kind of a mix of Carbon Tet and Tri Chlor. Mix it with Acetone and it'll clean your clutch as well as your clock.

    I have freed up the old Jeep Truck by running it into a tree, but I wouldn't recommend it with a Hudson.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    Put the trans in high gear, push in the clutch, and bump the starter. . If it isnt stuck too badly, sometimes this will work..When you get it "loose", do as Walt says and use a stick to hold the clutch pedal down, when not in use.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    How long has the car been setting, months or years? I have used straight carb. cleaner filling it up from the top until completely full. Let it soak for weeks and work the clutch daily. It eventally broke loose. This is a pretty sever case and I did not keep the car so dont know the after effects.
  • wano1949
    wano1949 Senior Contributor
    It doesn't matter what kind of car, a standard shift clutch will stick if left sitting for a long period of time.

    The Hudson seems to be more prone, than other vehicles, to this problem.

    The clutch and pressure plate is a sealed unit with a half pint or so of light oil in it which keeps the clutch cork material soaked and pliable. This is what makes the Hudson clutch system so smooth.

    When the car is left sitting and the clutch isn't rotated or disengaged the oil pools in the lower part of the housing and the corks dry out and the oil residue tends to stick the clutch, flywheel and pressure plate together. The constant pressure on the clutch corks by the pressure plate squeezes out the oil and over time it wont let go.

    There is less than a coffee cup of oil in there when it's at required level. All the oil does is splash/sling around and keep the corks wet and pliable.

    Jack up the car and put at least the rear wheels, preferably all four off the ground on jack stands.

    Use a piece of wood to depress the clutch to the floor. Rotate the engine to where the drain in the clutch housing is at the bottom. Drain out the old oil replace the plug and then rotate the engine until the fill plug is visible in the timing opening above the starter.

    Remove the fill plug and pour in about a pint of Acetone and replace the plug. A tin can with a 3'long 1/4 copper tube soldered to the bottom works really good.

    Start rotating the engine every few days. This is where patience comes in. LOl.

    What you're trying to do is let all the corks get soaked up with the acetone. This will also cut and soften any oil which has become hardened and sticky.

    Every couple of days work the clutch pedal while you're cranking the engine, and have the transmission in third gear.

    Remember; Car on jack stands with rear wheels off ground, preferably all four wheels off ground.

    Eventually it will become unstuck. Drain acetone and fill with Hudson clutch oil or high temp (Ford) ATF fluid if you can't find clutch oil.

    Leave the car in the air for two or three days while you repeat the crank engine, depress clutch procedure. This will force a lot of the Acetone/old oil out of the corks.

    Drain and fill again.

    What you want to do is when it comes unstuck is to get all of the old oil/Acetone residue out of the housing before you fill with fresh oil and begin using the car.

    Try not to "jerk" the car and drive train while the corks are hard and dry. You can literally claw the corks out of a dried clutch with your fingernails if you wanted to.

    Don't get in a hurry, sit back and have a few beverages while you enjoy the Hudson life.

    Enjoy resurrecting the dead.

    WH
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