New Clutch soft pedal weak engagement???
 

Hey guys,

Firstly I am fairly knowledgeable about the mechanics involved in particularly rotary engines and overall RX8's but i know little to none about the clutch mechanism. That being said I just purchased and had a local speed shop instal the ACT lightweight flywheel and upgraded clutch. in preparation for a stiffer clutch pedal i purchased the rotaryfx reinforcement bracket for the pedal assembly. I picked up the car today and right away noticed and incredible difference in pedal difficulty. I expected a much stiffer pedal but this pedal takes little to no effort to compress. The tranny shifts fine and the car drives and the clutch engages but it feels so soft and engagement is at the bottom of the stroke instead of the top like the stock clutch was. So due to the soft pedal i decided to do a little test while driving. I know i need to wait 500-1000 miles to really go hard on the clutch to allow it to break in so i placed the car in 6th at 40mph and compressed the pedal and held the revs at around 6krpm, i dropped the clutch and expected the car to kick and buckle as the rpm dive towards 2Krpm instead it slow and gradual decrease happen and a could faintly smell the clutch for a minute and it went away.

Please guys any help is appreciated it just doesnt feel right and i dont want to damage the new clutch or the flywheel

Sounds like your clutch line needs to be bled and/or fluid replaced.

Doesn't this get done at the master cylinder?

also due to the different engagement point being at the floor would adjusting this up make a difference, last i checked i believe this is adjusted at the pedal under the dash?

Bleeding often has to be done at both ends of the line, regardless of if it's brakes or clutch. There is another thread about the engagement point adjustment right below this one in trouble shooting. However, air in the line will move the engagement point farther toward the floor, as it compresses the air before it starts to move the disc.

would air in the lines prevent the clutch from engaging fully even when not pushing the clutch hence the weak pedal?

It's possible. Though a weak pedal and clutch engagement are usually two different things. A weak pedal is usually referenced as lower resistance when trying to disengage the clutch disc from the flywheel. Clutch engagement is usually the raw torque capacity.

If it seems that you have limited grabbing, then it could just be due to how new the clutch is, hasn't broken in yet.

Yeah the pedal has some resistance but much less then stock and when fully engaged it does not seem to be strong to grab, the small test i did I could feel the clutch slipping and it took a while for the rpms to go down from 6K to 2K when dropping the pedal

Sounds like something is wrong with the way the pressure plate/disc and flywheel interact :(

Out in the garage right now going to try to adjust the pedal slightly and bleed the line from both ends.
(Fingers Crossed) :)

Also i engaged the e-brake to put some extra stress on the clutch and whenI put the car in gear it engages and keeps the rev's constant and doesn't slip but moves the car. I will admit i am a little paranoid about this just not sure what I should be expecting

Ok so jacked the car up and started looking around noticed a good amount of fluid leaking out of the bellhousing :( i knew something was up. Guess ill be towing the car back to the shop. Brake fluid was full engine and tranny fluid was fine not quite sure what this fluid is.

Coming out of the bellhousing, it is probably engine oil from a failing rear main seal.

engine oil checked good, would this cause clutch problems?

No, it wouldn't cause clutch problems, and the full to low line on the dip stick is a about a full quart of oil. The amount you showed in the pic can be caused by as little as ~1/10th of a quart if it's hot. Since we burn oil, the level fluctuates quite a bit so I'd be surprised if you actually did detect the drop in engine oil due to this.

Very true, another thought if thats leaking out of the bell housing i could only imagine the amount in the housing still, lubricating the clutch that could cause it to slip i would think.

Actually, correction. Yes, it could cause clutch grip problems, since the engine oil could be getting on the friction surfaces of the clutch. It wouldn't affect engagement problems of distance and softness.

Wasn't thinking from that perspective when I wrote the last post.

alright thanks a lot, you defiantly know way more than me about all of this lol, towing the car back right now so ill let them fix there mess. the slip is the only thing i was worried about. I can adjust the engagement point and the pedal i can get use to plus ill bleed it in another week or two anyways once it all reseats. see if it stiffens up again. I get full travel and engagement plus its the first aftermarket clutch i've ever had so i'm not used to it nor have anything to compare it too.

Again thanks for all your help

Looking for info I came across this thread, had a new clutch (same clutch) and flywheel instaled, clutch pedal to the floor and the car will still move,... the smell is horrific and not subtle. Just wondering what the outcome was on your 8

Ehh, wasnt satisfied even after I got it fixed im planning on a new disk when i reassaembly my build (see sig).

My problem was dealer tech failed to properly tighten my oil filter when they did the change and oil was leaking down into the bell housing saturating the disk causing it to slip and burn, put a new disk in but it still didn't feel quite right so ill probably throw another new disk in there and resurface or replace the flywheel and pressure plate as they have noticeable damage from the oil :(

Long story short, only trusting my own hands from now on.

Your problem sounds like bad adjustment or air in the lines.

i would be discussing with the dealer how they were going to pay for my new clutch due to their mechanics error/ineptitude...


just sayin...

Not worth the hassle, lesson learned.

The lessons that cost the most are the ones you will remember.

i hope it works out and you get it sorted....

True that, hopefully ill be able to forget this one.

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