Clutch action at the bottom of the pedal

[Tincho]

Hi guys,

I've already posted a few threads concerning my annoying clutch. I got it replace about a year ago and I've had a few problems with it. It didn't have much grip, my car would shake when I'd drop the clutch going up hills, the pedal wouldn't return as usual on cold days (I'm from Montreal, so temperatures of the order of -68F are quite normal here) and the pedal was way too soft for my taste. However, the action on the clutch was at the top of the pedal (the linkage would move without having to press to much on the pedal). Last week, the pedal started feeling even softer than before, but the friction point was still at the same location. Two days ago, the friction point moved to the bottom of the pedal, leaving a lot of free pedal before any action. Furthemore, the pedal is not returning as usual. How could this be explained? Should I drive my car? Is there any way of adjusting the clutch back to its position? Any help is highly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Martin

[Tincho]

BTW, I drive a 1993 240sx

[drjohn]

Sounds as if you have been gradually loosing hyd pressure from your clutch master cyl. I would suggest that you have it check or replace the clutch master and slave cylinders. The pedal not returning is a classic symptom of clutch hyd. failure.

[Rownan]

Yep, the culprit is your hydraulic system, not the clutch itself. Open up the master cylinder resevoir, is there any fluid in there? If not, fill it up and see how it feels then. Might need to bleed the system.

Chances are you will need to rebuild either the clutch master cylinder or the clutch slave cylinder. You can get the rebuild kits from the local auto store (Autozone) for $20 each.

http://www.projectaspec.com

[Tincho]

Thanks guys. A mechanic is going to take a look tomorrow. I'll keep you informed.

[Tincho]

More news. The guy was supposed to replace my slace cylinder (I don't know if he did though). The action on my pedal was back to reasonnable point for about a day and it moved down again (too muchj free pedal). I spoke to the guy and he told me that he hadn't bleed the slave (which makes me believe that he didn't replace it). Anyway. he'll take it again on Thursday. More news to come....

[Cloudedone]

if you let the master cylinder go completely dry, you can have problems with air bubbles inside of the master cylnder, even if you bleed the system on the car sometimes air can still stay trapped in it. Bench bleeding the master cylnder would solve this problem, and also make sure the master cylinder rod is connected tightly to the clutch pedal. (as in the nut is tighted securly)

Galen