heavy clutch and squeak on start up

[frazeb]

both these problems just happened this morning, i drove up to my new house got back in the car a hour later to go back home and it made a loud squeak when starting and the clutch is now heavy. are these related? what could it be?

[jon-ovlov]

Loose alternator drive belt would probably be the squeak. Check that for tension. Otherwise it's the engine rotating with no oil with in the bearings as it starts. Which is very bad.

The clutch on mine is a bit heavy but loosens up when warmer. But you might just need to swap the clutch cable for a new one. Check for play and adjust accordingly.

[Ride_on]

A heavy clutch will be either the cable, release bearing, plate stuck on the shaft or hinge point for release forks.

Considering a squeak during startup I'd go for the release bearing first.

[bogbasic]

In my case, heaviness of the clutch was caused by the diaphragm springs being stiff due to their age but, of course, that wasn't something that happened suddenly. For the shriek on start-up I would go for a belt, possibly even power-steering if the wheels weren't straight ahead on parking.... and don't them water pumps get a bit stiff too??