I always assumed the valve was progressive. That is, when the car was fully
laden with rear passengers and a full boot it was 'off ' and when braking
very hard unladen was 'on' to prevent rear lock up. So under light braking
with no extra load it was about half on (or half off) and this was why the
rear disks rust, as most of the time there is no extra weight on the rear
and so rear braking effort is always partly restricted. I therefore assumed
it could only seize in the off position if the rear of the car was left up
on axel stands with the rear axel hanging. But then I have never dismantled
one. I remember the problems my father and I had with our Citroen GS`s as
you may know the braking and suspension systems are part of the same
hydraulic system and rear braking effort on those cars is defiantly variable
depending on the weight at the rear. We used to load up the boots for the
MOT to make sure the rear callipers were doing some work. The rear disks
would rust even more quickly than those on a Sud. In fact we had a very
heavy industrial jack which we would leave in the boot for a week or two,
every now and then, to clean the rust off the rear disks which was only
partly effective but better than nothing. I will give the brakes a good test
next time I am out in the Sud and do a few emergency stops going down hill
to see if the rears lock.
As for my method of freeing up the clutch. I must admit I was quite pleased
with myself for coming up with that solution. But as there are several of
you reading my words of wisdom. I feel I should point out you can of course
put a lot of force on various components with a long enough lever and the
seized clutch may not be the weakest link. So don`t send me the bill if you
break the engine, gearbox, CV joint driveshaft ect !!
Martin

----- Original Message -----
From: "Graham&Joan Hilder" <graham.joan@...>
To: <sprintformation@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2006 6:26 AM
Subject: Re: [sprintformation] Stuck limiters and clutches


> G'day Martin,
> Hopefully you have got away with it and avoided a seized limiter, but the
> MoT test won't tell you! As per my earlier email, I suggest that if a
stored
> limiter is going to seize, it will naturally do this in its relaxed
> (non-activated & non-limiting) position, in which you get the full measure
> of rear braking, and the roller test will always be passed with flying
> colours. You won't know if it's stuck until you brake in anger at some
speed
> out on the road...
>
> Re stuck clutches, that's a great idea of yours for releasing them. I've
> used other methods but yours sounds pretty good.
>
> Best rgds,
> G
>
> >>>>>>
> As part of our annual MOT test they test the braking effort by sitting
the
> car on powered rollers and the rear limiter works perfectly despite the
fact
> the car it came off has been off the road for over ten years.
> ...
> As for my seized clutch on the Sprint. Last time I had this problem, when
I
> was restoring my now roadworthy Ti. I jacked up one front wheel kept the
> clutch pedal depressed with some wooden blocks. Put it in gear and put a
> large 1" socket on the hub nut and with the help of a scaffolding tube ,
> got enough leverage to turn the hub and the clutch freed itself with a
> bang...
>
>
>
> Sprintformation - The Number 1 Alfa Romeo Boxer Fanzine
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>