I'm having an odd clutch issue, and I can't seem to find other posts addressing quite the same thing.

Just recently, I can feel an occasional "catch" while pushing in the clutch pedal, and it seems the engagement point itself is getting smaller.

The pedal always returns to the top of it's position, so it's not sinking to the floor. There does seem to be a bit of "dead" travel at the top of the throw before the clutch engages.

The end result is it's gettting harder to engage the clutch smoothly. I've had clutches wear out before and this doesn't seem to be similar. I'm thinking this may be more of an issue with the master or slave cylinders? I'm going to take a look at things under the car tonight in case there is something obvious.

Any thoughts are welcome. I'm doing an AutoX tomorrow, so I may know the answer to my question by the end of the day...

 

How did the AutoX go? Did you have the same clutch "catch"?

It could be a worn TO bearing Guide tube. Cracked or worn on the sides may cause the problem.

The other idea I have is the clutch fork "fingers" that contact the TO bearing have worn down causing the engagement point to change.

John

 

I had what felt like a '2 stage' clutch pedal... until the slave puked in the driveway. After that, smooth (with replacement of master and slave and hard line for insurance). =) clutch was fine.

 

The clutch survived the AutoX just fine, and it feels about the same as it did before. I did go "easy" on it and didn't shift as much as I normally would. Luckily it was pretty much a 2nd gear course...

It doesn't seem to be any worse for the wear, but at one point I put in the clutch while the car was stationary and it seemed to hang at the bottom for just a moment. I came back up fine and was no problem the rest of the day other than the catch point I've described earlier.

A quick look under the dash showed just a bit of dampness on the firewall behind the brake/clutch pedals, so I'm thinking further investigation of the master cylinder is in line. The brake fluid level is not down, so if there is a leak it is currently minor. I hope to have some time over the holiday weekend to look into this more.

Also, a check on the clutch inspection port does show the clutch may be near the end of it's life, though I haven't measured the distance yet. I was hoping I'd get more than a year out of the clutch when I bought the car (I knew it wasn't a new clutch), but it's seen track time and a couple of AX's now so it is what it is...

 

Well it's been a while since my last post, but this issue still exists following some parts replacement.

To recap: This issue began after I had owned the car about 1 year, during which time the clutch had operated flawlessly. The clutch still operates fine, but within a small range of motion. There is now an issue with the feel of the pedal as it travels. About half way through dwon the full range of motion for the pedal there is a change in feel and the resistance drops noticably. It is easy to put the pedal to the floor once past this point.

The pedal returns to the top of range on it's own but there is a bit of a delay in doing so. As long as I do not push the pedal past this point all is well - the pedal has good resistance, engages smoothly (only in this first half of the travel), and does not slip. If the pedal goes past this point it is very hard to shift smoothly and the car will jerk as it take a split second for the pedal to return and the clutch to engage.

Both the master and slave clutch cylinders have been replaced, as well as the line between them. The fluid is new and has been flushed several times. The clutch itself was replaced by PO, and if the wear guide visible through the clutch view port applies to aftermarket clutch parts it is within spec. (Contrary to my previous post before I measured it.) I think 18 mm to 33 mm is spec, and it measures 25 mm.

Any thoughts are welcome!

 

Worn clutch fork?

 

My money would be on bad clutch fork bearings/shaft, worn fork, bad guide tube, etc. Either way, you need to pull the bellhousing and check it out.

 

Have you checked the fire wall around the master cylinder for cracks? It helps to have two people do the inspection check unless the damage is obvious.

 

This sounds like a reasonable, if not pleasant, explanation. I hope I can put it off a while, but I feel like something along these lines will be the answer.

The firewall has been checked, but will look again. It's certainly something I could have missed on my own.