billthe3

Bah. Its been so long since I've driven the car I've forgotten how the clutch pedal is supposed to feel.

Should there be a small amount of resistance-free travel in the pedal (maybe an inch) before you can feel the cylinders moving, or is the pedal supposed to be solid right away like the brake pedal?

I rebled the clutch system three times today and was never able to get rid of the inch or so of free travel in the pedal, so I'm wondering if that is supposed to be there. Or could it be a mis-adjusted linkage from when I installed the new master cylinder?

hosrom_951

I believe the pedal to clutch cylinder free play is 0.5mm

silverBean

Correct me if I am mistaken, but underneath the fuse box on late cars, isn't there a way to manually adjust the play or "softness/stiffnes" of the clutch pedal? If so, you could try adjusting it to your liking.

Keithr726

Yes there is a way to adjust the pedal's feel. I think there is a write up on both at clarks.

Tay-Tay

Ya, Clark’s has a good write-up. The manual says 3mm.

When I was at 3mm I think I still had some air in the system, after warming up the freeplay would go away, and under hard driving the clutch would slip. So make sure all air is out (sounds like you have) and be certain you have some freeplay when warm. My experience anyway.

billthe3

From the way the linkage is currently is seems that the clutch will be engaging correctly, but I am not able to disengauge it completely as it feel like the slave cylinder isn't extending its full length.

Anyway, I'll check the linkage. Thanks for the suggestion - I had forgotten that it was adjustable.

billthe3

I adjusted the pedal and seemed to get rid of all play, but I had to extend the linkage out a lot compared to how it had been adjusted with the old cylinder.

I also noticed that it looks like there may be some fluid leaking from somewhere on that area of the firewall. There is some oil on the boot to the brand new cylinder () and then there is a lot of looks to be some sort of fluid on the padding around the steering column. I was thinking about it and realized that I could have gotten some overspray of wd-40 on that area when I was using it to pull wires through the grommit beneath the fuse box, but the area does not feel greasy like wd-40 would make it feel like.

Does this look like fluid leaking from the master cylinder?



In the second picture the red circle shows the fluid on the master cylinder boot, the green circle shows the area around the steering column that looks like it might have gotten fluid on it.

KuHL 951

From your earlier description w/ 1" of pedal freeplay it just might be hydraulic fluid. It's always a bad idea to make the piston overtravel farther than it's designed for from excess freeplay. If it's a rebuilt clutch MC the old parts of the bore where there was never seal travel can be pitted. When you extend the new cup seal into this area it can leak or scratch the seal. Since you have now readjusted it, clean up the boot and see if it leaks again. The slave can be ruined in one accidental push of the clutch pedal before it's securely mounted, it can tear the seal. How does it work otherwise?

billthe3

Aside from the 1" of play, it works fine. No issues now that I have adjusted the inch of play out. I had to extend the piston away from the pedal, because the play was an inch or less on travel the piston made before there was the normal pressure. Extending the piston away from the pedal has apparently gotten rid of this travel, but I supposed it could be close to making the clutch slip (when we were bleeding the system, even though the 1" of travel didn't accomplish anything of note I could still see the slave cylinder moving a slight amount as the pedal was going through the 1" of freeplay).

Both the slave and master are brand new, unless paragon (or zims? I forget...) screwed up and sent me a rebuilt.

KuHL 951

Then that wasn't freeplay...freeplay is the gap between the MC rod and the cup in the MC plus a small bit of piston travel to build initial pressure. You should start to see the slave rod move just 'after' your 1/8" of pedal freeplay is taken up. It really is a fine line and the 'resistance' feel is pretty subjective.

billthe3

I had a feeling that was the case. So there is most likely still an air pocket somewhere in the system?


Man these things are a pita to bleed...

CarbonRevo

What about if you have an other then stock clutch? I have a Spec Stage II in my S2 and the pedal is stiff. No freeplay in the pedal at all. You have to actually push on it to move it. Can't tap it with your foot and move the pedal even an 1/8".

Any ideas? Also, what difference does it make if there isn't freeplay?

billthe3

If there is no freeplay I would think it could potentially mean the clutch might be partially engauged all the time. You should be able to adjust the linkage so there is the 1/8" of freeplay. After you loosen the 13mm nut on the shaft you should be able to spin the piston shaft by hand to adjust the position.

porscheEH!

my clutch pedal has 1.5-2" of free play and it's been that way for years, Never had a problem

Stiletto

Same here... I should stop reading Rennlist forums, or I'll end up thinking I have more problems than I do