Club 80-90 Forums

My name is Joe, and I'm a 45 year old sound engineer living in Edinburgh. My ex and I drove a t2 round Australia a few years ago, where I learned how to adjust the valve clearances, how to fix a carburettor vacuum problem and replace an ignition (and also how to hot wire the ignition). My wife agreed to buy a t25 from a friend (bad idea) for £2k on a pay it up basis. I advised she walk away but she thinks this is an investment. Personally I think it's a money pit. It's only redeeming feature is a recon'd 2.1 112bhp petrol engine with 32k miles on it.

After much time getting it started I got 5 miles down the road and couldn't get into gear. Got it home in 1st year eventually. Had to drop fuel tank and replace clutch pipe. Test drive was ok at first, then after about 10 mins I pulled up to a junction and depressed the clutch. After a few seconds a humming noise appeared which didn't sound good. Put it in for MOT to see what it would fail on, surprised it was only 2 tyres, some welding, new blades and a couple of LEDS for the dash.

When leaving the garage however, the humming noise reappeared with the clutch depressed, and trying to push it into first the humming gets a lot louder. Managed to get it into gear, but clutch appeared to be slipping as the revs increased. Sounded like a jet airplane taking off. Driving round yesterday getting quotes for welding it's happened again, only this time I couldn't get into gear. The noise appears when trying to select all of the gears at idle. I then have to turn the engine off and on again in order to engage gears.

Sometimes when I try engage gears I either hear like a humming noise, sometimes the selection is stiff with the occasional grinding noise. With the handbrake applied and trying to take off in first, there is no apparent slippage.

There are other mechanical issues, but the plan is to get it through MOT and get if off of my friends driveway so I can investigate further.

Hi
Welcome to the forum
If there is any chance of a answer, you will find it here!
You need to be posting in the technical forum, and it will save plenty time if you add the details of your van to your profile, that way anyone reading your posts knows at a glance what you are driving, and maybe how to answer!

From reading your above introduction, my first thought is have you still got air in the clutch hydrolics, is the slave cylinder moving enough to allow gears to be selected ??

Diagnostics via the forum is difficult, it depends entirely on your descriptions, and how you put it in writing .
However a person I in the know maybe able to look at it and know what happening in a few short minutes .

^^^ What Mocki says. Sounds suspiciously like not enough throw on the clutch slave cylinder so not fully disengaging. Could the whirring noise be down to noisy bearings in the gear box spinning due to the clutch drag??

It could be the spigot bearing seizing. That would cause a noise and make it hard to select gears I think the box will have to come out to investigate.

Whirring noise when clutch depressed suggests release bearing to me.

Stepping back a bit, would it be impertinent to suggest that you're only in serious trouble if you see this t25 as either an investment or a vehicle. In a few years time it might be appropriate to see it as both, when all it's issues are fixed (it probably has more issues than you can imagine...). In the meantime it's an opportunity to develop new skills.

In my case my opportunity to develop new skills arrived 4 yrs ago, and cost 5k, and if my father-in-law had t died last week I'd be away on holiday with it this week, telling my wife and kids that No it hasn't broken down again, it just needs me to give it a little more TLC. As it is i might be able to get it almost fixed next weekend, before I sign up for a welding course and develop even more new skills.

Reframe, that's the solution.

Hmm..Just read the OP wondering when we'll get to the serious trouble bit - it never arrived!
My first thought was "sounds spigot bearingy". Box out to have a look is not a long job, but check for full travel at slave cylinder, and no air in hydraulics first.

Welcome.

xx

Agree with Campershack. Get the box out. Chances are the release bearing has gone or clutch fingers worn away. It won't get better on its own. Clutches never do.

Which reminds me. I must come up and say hello Andy. In all the years you've posted I've never once disagreed with you and vice versa I think. Obviously we've travelled a similar road with v-dubs.

CovKid wrote: Which reminds me. I must come up and say hello Andy

A Campershack open day?

ghost123uk wrote:

CovKid wrote: Which reminds me. I must come up and say hello Andy

A Campershack open day?

hmm...now there's a thought.

Biggest problem there is space. We barely have room to park our own vehicles outside now all the units are let - everything is crammed into the workshop, stuff, my vans, more stuff, and various changing customer vans, and more stuff...
Oh, and we already work 7 days a week so would have to be scheduled on an 8 day week.

Maybe one day, eh?

I can see a 'Bromance' developing here...Ralph and Andy swapping tails around a fire pit lol. I'm not sure what Anna would have to say about it though Ralph..lol.

Sounds spigot shaft bearing to me also which the need to carefully examine the clutch and release mechanism at the same time.
Martin

California Dreamin wrote:Ralph and Andy swapping tails around a fire pit lol.