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Broken clutch?

Hello All,
I was on a 15-20 mile run in the qpod this afternoon and kept stopping to look at the view.
After a few miles I noticed a different 'feel' to the power take up a couple of times when I had stopped for a few seconds then started off again. There was a slight delay in starting to move and a little clunk. This only happened intermittantly, until the last time I moved off when the Qpod moved at only about 1/2 mph and it was accompanied by a clattering and judderring from the back end. The engine seemed to be revving o.k., and I got the impression something in the clutch/drive belt department was broken!
I had to abandon it and return later to tow it home.
I will have to take it into our nearest Barras agent 50 miles away who has almost no experience of working on Qpods (except mine last time it broke down), and I wondered if anybody else has had a similar problem and could offer and suggestions or advice?
(It is 18 months old and has done about 3200km)

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Permalink Reply by Kev Cunningham on October 30, 2008 at 21:28

Hello there, Kevin Cunningham here. If you would like to give me a call on 01508 499232 in the morning, I will talk through the problem and see if I can be of any assistance.

Regards

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Permalink Reply by John Nichols on October 30, 2008 at 21:57

Thanks Kev that would be good.

Kev Cunningham said:

Hello there, Kevin Cunningham here. If you would like to give me a call on 01508 499232 in the morning, I will talk through the problem and see if I can be of any assistance.

Regards

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Permalink Reply by John Nichols on November 3, 2008 at 15:09

I heard from the garage today. It's not the clutch, it's the drive shaft again.
I had this replaced together with a faulty hub five months ago, and apparently the same drive shaft has gone again - teeth stripped off or something.
What can be causing this? Last time it took them 9 weeks to get and fit the new parts!

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Permalink Reply by Richard Gerrard on November 3, 2008 at 16:37

I have problems with the drive shaft coming of the splined bits that come out of the engine. Is this where yours are causing problems?
The first time it happened both me and the chap who looks after my daughters old VW's thought we needed to replace the whole joint as the teeth on the joint looked worn so we bought and fitted a new joint. Since then both side have come off and I have realised the joints are not that worn and so I just put new bolts in and that seems to hold it until eventualy the bolts get cut up by the splines and it slips off again.
I have put the problem down to the strain put on the wheels by towing as it tends to happen most after long tows.
If that is the problem you are having, and if its not to late, I would try to get them to refit new bolts rather than the whole joint and see what happens.

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Permalink Reply by John Nichols on November 4, 2008 at 19:47

As the garage is 45 miles away I have not seen it and only know what they told me on the phone, but I think he said something about teeth stripped!
I have only towed it a few times - mostly when taking it back and forth to the garage, so I would be suprised if that had caused it.
A couple of weeks ago I took the photos I posted on this site and I noticed on the rear view the wheel concerned seems to be at a slightly different angle to the other wheel (which is splayed in towards the bottem a little), but I decided it must be due to being on uneven ground. Now I'm not so sure.
Last time it happened was at Easter and they found that the hub was distorted and was rubbing. They replaced the hub and drive shaft (it took them 9 weeks to get the correct parts from Secma).
I have only done a few hundred miles since then.

Richard Gerrard said:

I have problems with the drive shaft coming of the splined bits that come out of the engine. Is this where yours are causing problems?
The first time it happened both me and the chap who looks after my daughters old VW's thought we needed to replace the whole joint as the teeth on the joint looked worn so we bought and fitted a new joint. Since then both side have come off and I have realised the joints are not that worn and so I just put new bolts in and that seems to hold it until eventualy the bolts get cut up by the splines and it slips off again.
I have put the problem down to the strain put on the wheels by towing as it tends to happen most after long tows.
If that is the problem you are having, and if its not to late, I would try to get them to refit new bolts rather than the whole joint and see what happens.