The MGF Register Forums

My wife complained that she was unable to select any gears with the engine running. A cursory check suggests that the shaft of the clutch operating lever is seized in the gearbox casing. My local MG Rover repairman has told me that this is a common problem and research through this forum confirms this to be the case. He said that the gearbox would need to come out to effect a repair and that this would cost very much more than the car is worth.

In all honesty, this car has dreadful paintwork (the clear lacquer top coat is blistering all over) but we recently fitted new brake discs and pads all round with new callipers at the rear and it passed its MOT last month, so I am reluctant to scrap it. Any ideas?

Yes Graham, common problem. Russell Walsh would be your man then. He can do the job on your drive, replacing the clutch is £395, I’d expect a little extra for freeing up the clutch arm.
http://mgroversolutions.com

The good news is that, having taken the engine cover off and examined the slave cylinder (which was fitted new in 2014 with a new master cylinder) the lever moves freely and sufficiently to disengage the clutch. The problem appears to have been excessive free movement of the clutch pedal before anything happened. I tried bleeding the system but there were no significant air bubbles. Nevertheless, after pumping out much of the fluid and replacing with new, the clutch action is sufficiently improved to enable the car to be driven again. There is still about an inch or so of free movement on the pedal and, while bleeding the system (I used the two person method this time), the clutch pedal often stuck in the fully depressed position and had to be pulled back which I thought a bit odd. Still (fingers crossed) it may not yet be at the 'end of the road'!