Corsa Design 2007 1.4 litre - Intermittent clutch failure

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Thu 21 Aug 2014 09:20
Corsa Design 2007 1.4 litre - Intermittent clutch failure - towdfella
Clutch failure occurred whilst gear changing. Managed to drive 5 miles home in second. Parked outside garage. Restarted 30minutes later and all was well. Car has done about 17K miles only. Clutch was renewed 4K miles ago. Car driven only by experienced drivers who have never had a similar problem before. No brake fluid shortage and fluid was renewed 3 years ago. Am having fluid renewed again now, even though things appear to be normal 4 days later. Any other comments welcomed.

Edited by towdfella on 21/08/2014 at 09:23

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Thu 21 Aug 2014 11:31
Corsa Design 2007 1.4 litre - Intermittent clutch failure - Quicksilver

Possible failure of Clutch master cylinder.

No leaks but fluid just goes past the seals?

Q.

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Thu 21 Aug 2014 13:45
Corsa Design 2007 1.4 litre - Intermittent clutch failure - Andrew-T

It's recommended to change fluid (I presume you mean clutch, not brake?) every few years, but as many people don't do that, simply changing it again won't solve your problem. It's a little-used car, so maybe one of the hydraulic cylinders tends to stick, or its seals misbehave somehow? Why did the clutch need changing - it should last 50K miles unless abused? Release bearing?

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Thu 21 Aug 2014 23:20
Corsa Design 2007 1.4 litre - Intermittent clutch failure - towdfella
Clutch failure occurred whilst gear changing. Managed to drive 5 miles home in second. Parked outside garage. Restarted 30minutes later and all was well. Car has done about 17K miles only. Clutch was renewed 4K miles ago. Car driven only by experienced drivers who have never had a similar problem before. No brake fluid shortage and fluid was renewed 3 years ago. Am having fluid renewed again now, even though things appear to be normal 4 days later. Any other comments welcomed.


Well I have had the fluid replaced now and all is fine - as indeed it has been ever since I discovered that the fault had gone away as described. I noticed that they really have filled the reservoir now to the brim almost. I do recall that it was not so full when I got it home but certainly nowhere near the low marker. I have compared the reservoir size and take off locations with those on a 2001 Omega that I have. The latter is much larger and the take off pies right at the bottom. In the Corsa the take off pipes are on the side of the reservoir at the back. I believe that this lack of capacity and the take off location imply that if the car is going down a reasonable (1 in 6) incline as it was and there was a coincident brake and clutch fluid demand air could have been sucked into the clutch pipe work and caused malfunction. Leaving the car for a while would give the air bubbles to travel back to the reservoir. I think this is a distinct possibility and consider that it needs some redesign action. Since when the clutch was renewed I asked for all the old bits and thought they should not have caused failure. Hence I wonder if a slight deficiency in fluid level had caused all that trouble 2 years ago! Yes we have usually had 50k plus miles before. I am a Chartered Mechanical engineer by the way.
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Fri 22 Aug 2014 11:32
Corsa Design 2007 1.4 litre - Intermittent clutch failure - Andrew-T

Interesting - looks like a small design fault. Is there any MIN mark ? What does the handbook say?

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Fri 22 Aug 2014 15:14
Corsa Design 2007 1.4 litre - Intermittent clutch failure - towdfella
Yes there is a MIN mark which is about at the level of the take off pipe to the clutch. Find that amazing and the location of the clutch feed take off looks as if it could be very vulnerable to level drop. I do not know what the inside of the reservoir looks like - could be there is a dip section inside?? However on my omega there appears a tame off from the reservoir at high level too. Think I need to check this out with Vauxhalls - I must be missing something!
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Thu 20 Nov 2014 20:36
Corsa Design 2007 1.4 litre - Intermittent clutch failure - towdfella
This is an update on my original message.
The problem has resurfaced twice since my Aug 2014 report. The first time when my wife was driving just 1km from home fortunately and it disappeared in 5 mins when I checked. But that was 3 months ago and I failed to believe her, but did when it happened to me today and I stopped for 10mins and then continued gingerly but using the GB sparingly.
How is the GB Luba arranged in this car? Is that causing my problem and if I do not sort this.......new GB?
Any help welcomed !
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Fri 21 Nov 2014 21:06
Corsa Design 2007 1.4 litre - Intermittent clutch failure - mfarrow

What's a GB Luba?

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Sun 23 Nov 2014 18:21
Corsa Design 2007 1.4 litre - Intermittent clutch failure - towdfella
Apologies. Should have previewed - for GB Luba read GB lubrication - I assume that like all other gearboxes it has its own oil reservoir (different spec to engine oil for different lubrication duty). Correct? So where is the fill point so I can check that all is OK there ? ( even though I have not seen signs of leakage in the garage. Do not expect low lub oil level but it is worth a look).

Edited by towdfella on 23/11/2014 at 18:22

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