Well... Due to needing my father-in-law's car for a long trip, we agreed that he could use my 1993 240 to drive to the train station during the week to get to work. This is where the saga begins.

Part I
after the commute he called to tell me that he'd had some problems with the car, and that he "might" have redlined it and that there was smoke coming out and stinking up the car like burned oil or rubber.

I went to the train station to check the car out and noticed that the clutch was feeling strange - that it wouldn't engage until the pedal was almost entirely let out. Also, the smell of smoke was omnipresent.

But I left on my trip...

Part II
On the night of my return back to NY, I got a call from my father-in-law who said he was stuck and that the car wouldnt go. Upon my arrival to the scene, i put the car in gear and it wouldn't move or stall. The smell of smoke was still very present.

The clutch was only 2 or 3 years old - and I treat it very well - could it be broken already? if so, is it my father-in-law's fault?

Thanks-
-distressed.

Thanks for the advice. Got the clutch replaced, among other breaking parts. $1,200, but still married.

Next time, take the 240 on a long trip. ;-) Just because it isn't
new doesn't mean it won't make it.


-b.

Sounds like the clutch is toast.

Did your father in law break it? <= Best answered by, how much do you love your wife? My $.02 says, eat the repair costs ("...for everything else, there's Master Card...") and next time, one of you rents a car.

FWIW, at the ripe old age of 53 there are a lot of folks of my generation who we gearheads referred to in high school as "automatic babies"... never learned how to drive with a manual trans. In *my* parents' generation, everyone learned how to drive with a stick because only the well-heeled folks could afford cars with HydraMatics. I think it's amusing that my *mother* taught me how to drive her '60 Rambler wagon in our long driveway when my dad was off on a business trip - I think I was in 7th or 8th grade.

Pardon, I digress. My point is that my boys are old enough to make ME a father-in-law, and although I've never selected a car with an automatic for my own use, probably 50% or more of people my age never learned how to use a clutch. Sounds like your F-I-L is one of them. I taught my wife (against her tearful protests) to use a clutch in a couple of afternoons shortly after we were married 30 years ago. Our first Volvo was a '88 245 and she *insisted* on a manual trans. Rumblegutz was retired at 250,000 miles and still had the original clutch!

Good technical advice below so no need to add more...so here's a similar story.

I loaned our 240 to my mother and her second husband years ago for a trip. "Ed" was a self-made guy who seemed to have plenty of nuts-and-bolts know how. My first clue was when he tried to start the car in the garage without checking for trans in neutral or putting the clutch in. Fortunately, the handbrake kept the car from doing more than a little lurch fwd when he hit the starter. Next event was after backing out and attempting to drive off - the high revs followed by a lurching car and loud knocking/rattling noises from the engine as he took off in third instead of first.

Dilemma - run after him and offer to rent a car for them (they had flown to our town)? This would have resulted in a major strain in my relationship with my new stepfather. My hesitation gave him the time to sort things out and get around the corner. A week and 1000mi later the car reappeared and looked and drove OK. But my mother said that Ed didn't like the way the car "sounded" in OD, so had not bothered to use that on their (90% highway) trip. No harm done, I guess, just a few extra revolutions on the engine.

But now when it comes to cars I believe in Polonius' advice to Laertes (in 'Hamlet')..."...neither a borrower nor a lender be."
--
Bob (81-244GL B21F, 83-244DL B23F, 94-944 B230FD; plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, MGB, and numerous old motorcycles)

You might as well try adjusting the clutch. It may be too far worn, but its worth a try. I don't remember which way to turn the adjuster under the car, but its easy to figure out. You want to turn the adjuster so that the distance between the lever and the adjustment point increases. Basicly right now the clutch is engauged and you need to add slack to the cable to disengauge. Maybe you'll at least be able to drive the car home or to the shop and save towing costs. Good Luck

-JonB. '83 245DL M46

You PULL the cable to disengage. When it is engaged the cable should be
slack. If you ride the pedal, it partly disengages the clutch and makes
it slip.
--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Central US

It sounds as if he has burnt out the clutch by slipping it instead of changing gear.

I`ll bet HIS car has an auto transmission or a V8 with masses of torque so that it will just lug in a high gear.

Many years ago the company I worked for (here in the UK) did car and van hire.
An American tourist hired a brand new motor home from us.
The next day we got a call to say that it would not go any more. We collected from a town 150 miles along her route to Scotland with a totally burned out clutch.

When questioned she had never driven a stick shift and had just stuck it in the highest gear and slipped the clutch instead of changing down !!!!!

Given the rarity of manual tranmissions in the US, next time you lend someone your car get them to drive you round the block to make sure they do know how to drive it.

Colin.

1990 740SE B200E/M47, remote C/Locking.

Does it smell like brake smoke? It sounds like he rode the clutch and burned it out. Another possibility is that the rear main seal failed and soaked the disk with oil.

The first phone call and subsequent inspection should have let you know that he couldn't drive the car. You'd have been better off renting a car for your trip.
--
1991 245, 61k miles, looking for a 5 speed 92-93 245 cheap.