drifting clutch engagement point when car is hot vs warm vs cold
 

Hey folks,

I had my clutch replaced, everything is dandy, engages, holds power, etc. I noticed, however, that the free play and the clutch engagement point move with, what seems to be, the heat of the tranny/system.

In the morning, the clutch grabs pretty quickly off the floor (like .2-.4") and there's a lot of free play (like 1"-1.5"). Then once I drive around for a few minutes, it stiffens up some (less free play) and the grab is somewhere 0.7"-1.5" from the floor. However, once I do a lot of city driving or esp. sit in traffic for a while, there is no free play and the clutch grabs almost 2-3" from the floor (i.e. way higher).

I had the brake fluid flushed through all the brakes and the clutch, and the brake pedal is nice and stiff (and stayed stiff and consistent through two track days). However, the clutch engagement point is still drifting with heat.

Before flushing/bleeding the clutch, in the morning I had to pump the clutch pedal a few times to be able to engage the gears.

The clutch pedal is adjusted for to-spec travel (5", I know spec is 5.1", but close enough), and I adjusted for "warm tranny engagement point" free-play (.5" or so of free play.

Before the clutch replacement, the engagement was more consistent, so I don't think that my slave cylinder is bad or anything (it was fine for 70K).

So I am still wondering whether there's air in the clutch line or something. Maybe the master cylinder needs to be bled, but if so, wouldn't that make brakes not stiff? Maybe the order of bleeding was not right?

I don't think the slave cylinder "clutch is hard to disengage" TSB applies, because what's happening is the exact opposite of what was described in the TSB (in the TSB, the engagement point kept being moved lower and free play kept increasing with the heat).

Hey.

I think the next step for you to try is a steel braided clutch line; after perhaps look into the updated slave cylinder.

Also, please note the numerous threads on the poor design of the clutch pedal bracket, and the fixes from BHR and mazsport (I think). You could be having symptoms of a soon-to be broken pedal assembly.


I had (have?) a similar problem that after sitting in creeping traffic for a loooong time, the clutch would get softer and softer. The TSB fix seems to have helped a lot; but it still isn't perfect. I realize that this is the opposite of your problem, but heat does strange things.

good luck.

is there solution to this problem??
cuz i am having the same problem,....

The problem was air in the clutch line. I had to bleed it several times. Maybe a pressure bleeder would've done the job the first time.

Bleed, see if it improves, if not, bleed again.