New Clutch! Pedal soft & clutch not engaging fully?

[Santoku240]

Hello, I have just finished replacing my clutch and flywheel (with oem replacement clutch kit and flywheel. ordered from schucks)

First thing first: 1991 Nissan 240sx SE fastback.

Upon driving it, it first appeared that everything was in working order. So i packed up shop and drove it to my girlfriends... First thing first, when driving it, ive noticed the clutch pedal is only putting forth maybe HALF the resistance it used to, and the very bottom like.. 1/2 inch or so seems like it needs no effort. It certainly feels signifigantly less springy and stiff than before.

The odd thing being, I did the clutch dampner removal trick(bend hardline to connect straight to the soft line, instead of connect to the dampner box) posted all over the 240sx forums here, and from what ive heard that stiffens the clutch a small bit, not to mention i have a brand-new pressure plate, disk, and flywheel!

I'm pretty sure i bled the system well. So theres only small room for air being the potential culprit.

However, when i drove to my girlfreinds house tonight... i noticed a slight burning smell (i havent replaced the center console yet, so i have a gaping hole in my interior leading right down to the transmission :P)

And when i was idling in front of her house, i put it in neutral and let out the clutch... i heard a very slight hissing type sound....

This, coupled with the burning smell , made my heart drop... I think the clutch isnt fully engaging.

This sound was coming from a no-load situation!

the pedal is extremely soft, it almost feels like ONLY the spring is giving resistance... but it does still come back up fully just fine...

There is a burning smell... very likely the clutch disc

There is a hissing sound... very likely the sound of the clutch rubbing and burning.

There doesnt appear to be any leaks in the hydraulics...

Any ideas what to do?

I'm thinking i may not have adjusted the clutch pedal on the master cylinder properly (i replaced both master and slave cylinders as well)

If this is the case... how exactly can I tell beforehand when ive finally adjusted it properly? how should it feel when pushed by hand? a slight give with little effort before having to push against the force of the pressure plate?

In this slight give... should the master cylinder rod be pressing against the piston? or should it be kind of pulled off of the piston by the clutch pedal spring?

aside from the little nut on the pushrod on the master cylinder, is there any other way to adjust the pedal? any way to adjust stiffness?

Thanks in advance for the help!

[Santoku240]

Update:

I was driving around today, playing with the pedal freeplay, heres what happened:

I get in my car and turn it on to warm it up before i go.

I notice the "hissing" sound when the clutch is fully pressed down at first, goes away when i let off the clutch pedal completely.

So i think "okay.... too much free-play?" so i get down and start turning the rod with a pair of pliers, and get it down a few threads.

Now i notice the hissing when the clutch is fully let up, but not when fully pressed down.

so i play with it some more, unable to reverse it again.

I had to goto an eye appt. so i left it as is and drove there and back. Checking the situation at each stoplight... same

then when the appt. was done, i crawled back under the car to fiddle with it some more.

i give it GENEROUS free-play and STILL i hear the hissing when the clutch is let go all the way.

Just to check that i wasnt loony, i push the pedal all the way down, NO hissing, i slowly let it up to about half-engaged, and from the moment the disc is on the flywheel i hear the hissing, and as i slowly let off the pedal, the sound doesnt cease.

it drives just fine, no sign of slipping.. but this hissing noise leads me to believe otherwise...

PLEASE HELP!