Rav 4 Clutch not disengaging

[Conrod]

Had a look at a few used RAV4 gearboxes on google images and they don't have a spigot bearing so you can cross that off the list .

 Also looked at the possibility that the transfer box has to come off first as it could be fowling the engine casing but no mention of that on any YouTube clips of gearbox removels.

   So that leaves dowels or splines stuck to centre plate....second one could also explained clutch not disengaging !

[Conrod]

The gearbox photo's here help a little to see no spigot bearing and that there is loads of space around the transfer case......

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOYOTA-RAV-4-5-SPEED-MANUAL-80-000-MILES-GEARBOX-TRANSFER-BOX-A3E1R1-03-05-/261481138796?hash=item3ce17d8a6c:g:GrIAAMXQtUxTdODQ

also were you maybe able to cut a hole to free clutch cover /DMF bolts.

[TomdeGuerre]

56 minutes ago, Conrod said:

Had a look at a few used RAV4 gearboxes on google images and they don't have a spigot bearing so you can cross that off the list .

 Also looked at the possibility that the transfer box has to come off first as it could be fowling the engine casing but no mention of that on any YouTube clips of gearbox removels.

   So that leaves dowels or splines stuck to centre plate....second one could also explained clutch not disengaging !

They don't have a spigot bearing? Really? So what supports the primary shaft at the engine end? It would seem wrong to me that the clutch would drive the primary shaft totally unsupported at one end so the primary shaft bearing at the gearbox end would have to take all the strain. I've had a car before where someone forgot to put the spigot bearing in the flywheel and the primary shaft bearing didn't last long without the support.  

As I've said before, never worked on the RAV 4 but I understand James will have the E57F5 transaxle (see attachment) and wouldn't be surprised if the transfer box has to come off first. But there's something runs through my mind from a post I read a while ago aith Anchorman in it where somebody was struggling to remove a RAV 4 box and found there was some kind of attachment lever or housing that had to be removed first. I'll see if I can find it.

I'm not entirely convinced that the driven plate is seized on the splines, if it had been then the clutch would never have released even before James started his heroic task.

    

[TomdeGuerre]

So I posted not knowing you'd put up a second post Conrod. Great photos, can see a lot more detail now. Looking at the gearbox primary shaft it looks to me there's an annular mark or groove around the tapered (spigot) end where I'd say it must have been up against a bush or bearing in the end of the crankshaft to leave a mark like that.   

[Conrod]

12 minutes ago, TomdeGuerre said:

So I posted not knowing you'd put up a second post Conrod. Great photos, can see a lot more detail now. Looking at the gearbox primary shaft it looks to me there's an annular mark or groove around the tapered (spigot) end where I'd say it must have been up against a bush or bearing in the end of the crankshaft to leave a mark like that.   

I was also looking for dowel location but not easy to see .

[SZ00]

Gents, the machine is now fixed! :)

 

The gearbox came off really difficult but apart from this the rest of exercise went pretty smoothly... 

 

The problem as you can see on the photos was in the friction disk itself or whatever it was left from it! Also there were couple of bent fingers on the pressure disk! Fortunately the flywheel was OK :) 

 

Anyway I replaced the lot (clutch plate, pressure disk and trust bearing) together with the master and the slave cylinders (i did this first) and the clutch now is spot on - hopefully it wouldn't cause any issues in the near future! 

 

Just couple of points if anyone is interested or needs to change the clutch on his Rav 4 and doesn't have an access to a vehicle hoist (and doesn't want to pay stupid amount of labour money!!!):

 

1) You CAN change the clutch with the car only supported on axle stands  

 

2) You DON NOT need to take any of the exhaust off neither the driveshafts - just slide them off the hubs... (obviously you need to remove the prop shaft for the four wheel drive models - very easy to do - only six bolts)

 

3) You do NOT need to lower the engine at all

 

4) The gearbox and the transfer box can be moved to the right (looking from the front) enough so that it gives you access to the clutch! The only tricky bit is manipulating the lot out as it is heavy but I managed so you WILL! 

 

5) No pilot bearing so you would need to align the clutch plate to the pressure plate (or at least this is what I did and it worked fine) you can buy an alignment tool (see photos) for less than £15!

 

Thanks again for the help! :) 

 

I hope that this topic might be useful to other people too as I was trying to find all of this info on the net before and I couldn't!   

 

 

 

[Conrod]

Looks like the old clutch centre plate was totally shot.....glad you got it all sorted 😊

[TomdeGuerre]

Well done James. glad you got there. Couple of questions though:

Is your car a 2 WD or 4WD? if 4WD i take it you'd have to remove the transfer box.

Did you happen to notice what the linear travel of the slave cylinder was after it all went back together.

re the primary shaft bearing (or lack of) - isn't there even a bush in the centre of the crankshaft for that tapered end of the primary shaft? Must be something there for it to rest against / be supported by. In the picture of the flywheel I can't see clearly enough.

Thanks for the pix

[SZ00]

It is a 4WD- I didn't remove the transfer box from the gearbox but simply moved the whole lot as one unit out of the way (there is plenty of space to this and as I mentioned it before I didn't even have to remove the exhaust!!!)

I forgot to measure the slave's linear travel but I am 99.99% sure that it does NOT need to move 25mm to disengage the clutch as now I am bearly pressing the pedal and it disengages with no issues at all! I'll measure it at some point just for future reference.

As for the lack of pilot bearing I found this pretty strange too but there is nothing there - no bearing nor bush!!!  The toyota's driveline engineering team must have proved that it is OK not to have anything on that end! 

Again the whole surgery is actually relatively simple just time consuming - in terms of hours it has probably taken me about 16 hours but i think that I could easily half this if I have to do it again :) 

 

 

 

[Nwuvic]

I know this thread is old, but I stumbled upon it and find it is very informative.

I am about to embark on the same task of renewing the clutch on my 2003 RAV4 similar to the OP's and though I have done quite some research on this car (my first ever Toyota) and even purchased a copy of the Factory Service and Repair Manuals, i find this thread provide invaluable insights to the task.

I thank you all who persevered and took the time to contribute and help the OP,  and I especially commend you SZOO, for your sheer determination and success.

I will let you know how I get on either in this thread or a different one, whichever is appropriate.

[Dartmoor Dave]

I've come to this very late but I've got a mint Mk 1 from a school classroom and couldn't get a clutch pedal. Pedal had to be in the carpet when bled fully and still dragged the syncro..

EASY SOLUTION to all MK1 pedal travel issues. Fit a pattern Landcruiser master cylinder, CMT 136, about £30 from fleabay.  The LC cylinder is 3/4 bore so moves more fluid, has the same mounts, you dont need to mod the bulkhead or pipe,  just swap the pushrod over. Don't tighten the pushrod locknut just yet.

The pedal now fully releases the clutch, no syncro drag, and it bites about 1/3 of the way up. JOB DONE

Don't forget to set the pedal/pushrod clearance, then tighten the locknut.