What's wrong with my clutch this time?
01-07-2006, 11:07 AM
#1
What's wrong with my clutch this time? Well it's been 8 months since I had the last Spec clutch put in. I might have put 900-1000 miles on it in that time. I last drove the car a few days ago and I don't recall any engagement or pedal problems.
I go to start it today, and the clutch pedal is sort of 'floppy'. If I push down on it, it'll fall to a lower position, then become harder than normal to depress. The car starts OK, but won't go into any gear.
The fluid resevoir is a bit low, maybe 1/4" below the line with the boot removed. I don't see anything on the ground. At least I have another vehicle now.
I don't like to keep thowing money at the car, though. I thought maybe this was the time for a Textralia, but another thread indicates some are needing to shim the slave. I find it ironic that this was what was being done 6 years ago by McLeod and it was considered a hack then. Why is it not a hack now?
I go to start it today, and the clutch pedal is sort of 'floppy'. If I push down on it, it'll fall to a lower position, then become harder than normal to depress. The car starts OK, but won't go into any gear.
The fluid resevoir is a bit low, maybe 1/4" below the line with the boot removed. I don't see anything on the ground. At least I have another vehicle now.
I don't like to keep thowing money at the car, though. I thought maybe this was the time for a Textralia, but another thread indicates some are needing to shim the slave. I find it ironic that this was what was being done 6 years ago by McLeod and it was considered a hack then. Why is it not a hack now?
01-07-2006, 11:31 AM
#2
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The "floppy" pedal suggests a hydraulic problem, but that doesn't explain why the pedal would get harder. You might want to check for broken remains of the pedal return spring hanging up the pedal. It's a weird design 
I just removed the remains of the spring altogether. The PP and MC springs seem to be enough.
I did use the shim with my Spec, and do consider it a hack. I did not use a shim with the Textralia. I do have an adjustable MC, but I now have it set at stock height. The clutch released just fine from the moment it was installed. With the Spec 2, there was a very fine line between not slipping and not releasing, and that got a lot worse a few months ago.
When the Spec came out of the car, it was obvious that the pressure plate was junk. Have you seen the pictures on frrax (in the "Interesting day" thread)?
The Textralia is probably more clutch than I need. From the looks of it coming out, I think the Spec 2 kevlar disc would have been fine with a decent pressure plate, but since I didn't know that at the time I "bought up". The Textralia is getting smoother as it get broken in, though.
BTW, while the LS1 slave is a pain to bleed, I suspect that the reason a lot of people have so much trouble getting the air out is trying to use ramps or jackstands at the front (only). There's no hope of getting all the air out of the slave unless the transmission (and slave) is close to horizontal, or even a little lower at the front. The bleeder is at the back of the slave, so if it is higher at the front, air will be trapped in the cylinder.
I just removed the remains of the spring altogether. The PP and MC springs seem to be enough.I did use the shim with my Spec, and do consider it a hack. I did not use a shim with the Textralia. I do have an adjustable MC, but I now have it set at stock height. The clutch released just fine from the moment it was installed. With the Spec 2, there was a very fine line between not slipping and not releasing, and that got a lot worse a few months ago.
When the Spec came out of the car, it was obvious that the pressure plate was junk. Have you seen the pictures on frrax (in the "Interesting day" thread)?
The Textralia is probably more clutch than I need. From the looks of it coming out, I think the Spec 2 kevlar disc would have been fine with a decent pressure plate, but since I didn't know that at the time I "bought up". The Textralia is getting smoother as it get broken in, though.
BTW, while the LS1 slave is a pain to bleed, I suspect that the reason a lot of people have so much trouble getting the air out is trying to use ramps or jackstands at the front (only). There's no hope of getting all the air out of the slave unless the transmission (and slave) is close to horizontal, or even a little lower at the front. The bleeder is at the back of the slave, so if it is higher at the front, air will be trapped in the cylinder.
01-07-2006, 11:44 AM
#3
I'm in the middle of pulling off the driver side shock to see if I can't coerce the GC setup on today. If I get both sides on without issue, I'll crawl under the dash.
btw, I bought a big pipe wrench but that still wouldn't hold the top hat still. Looking at the threads, it appears the wrench would turn clockwise when the shock is upside down - right?
btw, I bought a big pipe wrench but that still wouldn't hold the top hat still. Looking at the threads, it appears the wrench would turn clockwise when the shock is upside down - right?
01-07-2006, 12:57 PM
#4
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If the shock is upside down, I'm fairly sure the nut would turn clockwise to loosen (like most) but I don't have one handy to refresh my memory. I didn't have any trouble holding the top hat with Channel-Locks. They are directional, though, like the pipe-wrench. THey will only hold in one direction.
01-07-2006, 01:10 PM
#5
I'm having no luck getting that retaining nut off the shock pin. It's loose from the upper mount, but turning the nut only wants to turn the entire shock body. I've been soaking in in PB Blaster, maybe it just needs more applications. I'm going to call around to see if anyone wants to entertain removing it.
01-26-2006, 11:41 AM
#6
I had the car towed to a shop Tuesday night, without having messed with it further since I posted above. They looked at it today and couldn't duplicate the problem
He said they left it on the battery charger all day yesterday. They started the car this morning, and didn't have any problems engaging the forward and reverse gears. The only thing they could suggest was that it was seal-related.
Should I have them tear it down to blindly replace the hydraulics? I'd prefer not incur the cost obviously, nor throwing money at something just to see if it fixes the issue. But if it's less money in the long run to do it now.....
He said they left it on the battery charger all day yesterday. They started the car this morning, and didn't have any problems engaging the forward and reverse gears. The only thing they could suggest was that it was seal-related.
Should I have them tear it down to blindly replace the hydraulics? I'd prefer not incur the cost obviously, nor throwing money at something just to see if it fixes the issue. But if it's less money in the long run to do it now.....
01-26-2006, 02:16 PM
#7
I wouldn't have them replace anything. Especially considering you just had a new clutch put on 1000 miles ago. It's possible with the car sitting that long that there was a little binding of the friction disk to the flywheel/pressure plate (kinda like brakes will do after a while of sitting). Put some miles on it and see if the problem still exists. Keep an eye on the fluid level while you're doing it. Any change in the level indicates a leak.
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01-26-2006, 04:52 PM
#8
I checked it out over lunch. It was indeed engaging fine, but the pedal was still acting odd.... Really light feel for the first 70% of the travel, then really stiff the rest of the way. I didn't like how it felt so I told them to drop it and replace the master/slave and bore out the restriction.