Having lots of issues with clutch adjustment

[young-gunn]

I read over and over again about adjusting the clutch, and I know how to do it, but it seems everytime I adjust my clutch to what I like, once the car gets warm, it goes back to how it was before. it engages at the very top of the throw, and slips above 3000 rpm. everytime I re-adjust it, it goes back to what it was before. I'm at the point where I have completely run out of room to adjust it. What is my problem here? How should I try to fix it? I am completely lost at this point anything would help.

It's a 95 240SX, 5 speed swapped using all S13 5 speed parts and a centerforce stage one clutch and pressure plate along with a new throwout bearing.

[young-gunn]

Okay, I am thinking of adjusting the clutch to somewhere around the middle of the adjustment, then bleeding it, and adjusting it from there. Any thoughts or ideas on this? Could this help my issue?

[martins_240sx]

where are you adjusting the clutch at?both of mine engage at the top of the pedal.for your slipping above 3000, i think you have adjusted the rod to far and the clutch cant engage all the way. it is a very fine line. the rod should not have any tension (it should be able to barely move) in the clutch fork. if it is snug that means that you are still ever so slightly pushing the clutch in and taking pressure off the clutch plate. also in the fsm there is a measurement of how far the pedal is supposed to go before it engages....hope this helps

[young-gunn]

I am completely out of room for adjustment. the rod is pushed against the pedal with the sensor for Nuetral safety switch turned out as far as possible. I have no room left to adjust. Where do I go from here?

[Didderson]

I think martins is on the right track here man. You adjusted your clutch pedal to be too aggressive. It's like constantly pressing the clutch in halfway because you probably threaded the clutch master cylinder adjustment too far.

Move the adjustment rod so there is more thread behind the U shaped metal it threads on to loosen it.

Bleeding it might help you a lot also, don't know if you've done that.

edit wow nevermind i guess. Did you torque down the pressure plate properly?

Maybe your clutch master is different or your slave cylinder is? What are you running as far as those are concerned?

[young-gunn]

My slave got replaced because the idiots I had tearing the parts car apart for me broke the bleeder screw out when they werent even supposed to loosen it. So it's some other company's slave cyl on there. Maybe I should try to find a way to move it back (away from the fork) a bit so I can actually have some room to adjust it. I really dont know why it is working the way it is.

[martins_240sx]

i remember when i first adjusted mine, i got confused as s***. just sit back and think about how all the parts work in conjuction with each other. also dont worry about it being at the top, its they way it was designed i guess, btoh of mine were like that. If your really concerned about it do the white bunny swap, d21 flywheel and 280zx clutch, that moved the engagement a little further down the pedal.

[DustyS13]

I had the same issue. I adjusted my clutch for probably 3 days over and over and over! Finally i broke down and took it to a mechanic. Cost me 31 dollars and now it hasnt slipped at all.

[theengineguy]

sounds like you still have a leak, if you have good pressure then it slowly gets worse, you gotta have a leak, check where the pushrod enters the master and see if there is evidence of leakage, also... check to make sure lines are tight and nothing is leaking at fittings and last pull back slave boot and make sure its dry inside... if all that checks good do a gravity bleed by craking the slave bleeder and letting it drool out, just keep the resivoir full and try to run about a quart of fluid through, this method works absolute best for any air traped in the hydraulic system

[young-gunn]

It cant be a leak, my pressure gets higher (stiffer pedal) as I use it, and my clutch engages later. A leak would have a soft pedal, and slowly engage closer to the floor (I've driven an SR swapped 240 with a clutch master leak). Today I stayed after work, lifted my car up, looked and the slave cyl was pushed hard against the clutch fork, without the clutched pused in. I adjusted my pedal to where I wanted it to be, then went underneath and cracked my bleeder screw, some fluid squirted (with a fair amount of pressure) out. I let it drip for a sec to make sure I had a constant thin stream of fluid coming out. Tightened it up, and tested it out. I drove for about an hour with no issues, it seems to be engaging in the middle middle of the throw. I will be driving it tomorrow and I'll see how it is then.

[94_240sx]

A couple of Qs.

- Dampener removed?- Did you clean up flywheel well?

Also, you close the bleed valve while it shoots out solid stream of clutch fluid. You don't wait for nothing. If you wait, air will get back in.

[n240sxfnatic]

I had to pump my clutch every morning to get enough pressure to get my car to start. Replace the slave and havent had the problem since.

[martins_240sx]

okay you say it was pushed hard against the fork.....if it was pushed hard against the fork it IS PUSHING THE CLUTCH. It should not be pushed hard against the fork. loosen it up a bit. obviously your doing something wrong with your adjustment process, probably making it PUSH HARD AGAINST THE FORK. on a side not i think you should get a new slave, and adjust it so its not pushing hard on the fork....

[young-gunn]

Ugh, this is frustrating. I am adjusting it properly, when I adjust it, it works as it should, and after a little bit of driving it ends up engaging too late, without changing a single adjustment. It doesnt push hard against the fork when I adjust it, but after a bit of driving it is pushing against it with the clutch engeaged. As stated, the slave has maybe 1200 miles on it, If I guessed a little on the high side.

The swap came out of a 91 that had no dampener. I removed the dampener on my 92, but this one did not have a dampener, only some small valve piece on the frame. Not that large, pointless loop.

[young-gunn]

The master is a stock nissan unit. I replaced the slave with a new one, but it's not a factory nissan part. I know I tourqued the flywheel properly. I am honestly out of ideas. I would take it to a dealership, but I doubt they would know either. I've asked a few guys that work at the dealers and they are not familiar with 240's.

Today it wasnt bad. It feels like it is starting to engage later already though. I set it in the middle of the adjustment though, so I can adjust if need be right now as it stands.

[2lua]

We know that you read and adjusted it, but did you adjusted it with FSM? Did you also check to see if the stopper rubber had worn out or missing?

[martins_240sx]

I think you have munchausen syndrom but instead of a baby its a car

[94_240sx]

I don't know if I were you, remove the transmission, inspect, lubricate, clean up propery and install everything back and see what happens.

[TriniTT]

I know this is reviving an old thread, but I have a solution to this problem and I figured since it popped in a google search, I might as well respond so others will have a solution to their search.

I had this same exact problem on my 240, and it took forever to figure it out. I also subscribed to the thought that if it were air in the lines, it would get closer to the floor; not further away. The problem with this thought is that not all the fluid comes before the slave cylinder; some air can slip behind the master cylinder piston, and as it expands it causes pressure against the master cylinder piston and forces the slave to engage more and more the more it leaks.

I suspect if the OP checked the rebuild screw on the underside of the master cylinder (the one you should never touch unless you're rebuilding the unit), there would be fluid leaking from it. It's the last place most people look, and it's hard to see and far from obvious because most people don't even realize the screw is there.

On many of these cheapo replacement clutch master cylinders, they're built per their price, and thus suck balls. If they aren't adjusted perfectly the first time, they immediately begin to wear out the seals and are soon worth slightly less than a paperweight.

I'd recommend not buying a cheap one, as I went through several in order to understand what the problem was. Buy Nissan and be done.

The reason most posters thought to go to the slave cylinder (even though the OP was absolutely correct, no slave cylinder issue could physically cause the fork to engage further; only the opposite) is because that's what was replaced. Often, taking the clutch line off and allowing the seals in the master to dry out will cause them to crack very quickly (usually within a day or a few) and will begin to allow fluid to seep past the seals, thus causing the problem the OP loathed for so long.