Clutch problems?

[bejbis]

Tonight i was driving home, exiting the freeway. Was in 5th, pushed in the clutch pedal. Pedal pressed like normal, then i hear/feel a pop from the clutch pedal, and the pedal presses in a little further.

I can press the pedal in, and i can feel a heavy vibration through the clutch pedal. When i engage a gear, the clutch is disengaged enough to not cause the tranny to grind, but when i start to release the clutch pedal, the car will shudder.

My thoughts are maybe i bent/broke the clutch fork, if there is a clutch fork on the car, maybe the throw out bearing failed, or i popped a band on a pressure plate. Im unsure what the problem is exactly, but im relatively sure its flywheel/pressure plate/clutch related.

Any help or insight is greatly appreciated.
Car: 89 325i

[industrialsized]

sounds like a broken clutch spring to me, just my 2 cents tho
dp

[beybedba]

master clutch cylinder maybe?

[Hallen]

The pedal shouldn't have gone in any further if you already had it depressed all of the way. There should be a stop under the pedal so it physically can't go any further.

I would start with bleeding the system and see if that helps. If that doesn't help, then maybe pull the slave cylinder and see if it is OK. But that is a royal pain to do with the transmission in the car.

If the throw out bearing were bad, you would be hearing a nasty grinding like sound when the clutch pedal is depressed. (Clutch disengaged)

Other than that, you are in for a lot of work to drop the tranny and see what you have.

[Knockenwelle]

Clutch forks do break sometimes, but will almost always cause the clutch to not fully release. I doubt you have a hydraulic issue. I'd put my $ on a broken diaphragm (clutch) spring. And Dan, don't let Hallen scare you. Dropping the trans should only take about 2.5 hours (maybe less if you're an experienced wrench) with all the proper tools.

[jlevie]

in this case, I think that the transmission is going to have to come out to assess what has failed. The symptoms most closely match a problem within the bell housing.