Stock clutch
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 49
Likes: 0
Stock clutch Hello all,
First I have no experience on manuals except for a old neon but never did any maintenence on it. I have never owned a "real car" before and now i have a 02 z28. All maintenence on my cars have always been done by a dealer (warrenties). So my background is very limited to say the least.
So all that being said my question is to you all:
Is the stock clutch pretty soft to press for the most part? I mean I have only one other car to compare to but it was a neon 4 banger and its clutch was much stiffer. When shifting its almost so easy as if it was some kind of assisted type of deal (which I know it isnt). I have read all the sticky's and what not but was jsut wondering how others clutch's feel.
Perhaps I need to bleed it or whatever but although it might sound dumb to most of you I am a little intemidated about working on my car (atleast I admitted it lol).
Thanks
First I have no experience on manuals except for a old neon but never did any maintenence on it. I have never owned a "real car" before and now i have a 02 z28. All maintenence on my cars have always been done by a dealer (warrenties). So my background is very limited to say the least.
So all that being said my question is to you all:
Is the stock clutch pretty soft to press for the most part? I mean I have only one other car to compare to but it was a neon 4 banger and its clutch was much stiffer. When shifting its almost so easy as if it was some kind of assisted type of deal (which I know it isnt). I have read all the sticky's and what not but was jsut wondering how others clutch's feel.
Perhaps I need to bleed it or whatever but although it might sound dumb to most of you I am a little intemidated about working on my car (atleast I admitted it lol).
Thanks
That is a very understandable feeling and may be a good thing if you don't know what you're doing. It's pretty easy to screw up these clutch systems unless you've worked on them before (always good to have a friend who knows something help you out), but on the other hand, the only way to learn is to read up and then try it out for yourself.
The clutches are soft, but probably shouldn't be any softer than a stock manual Neon. If the car shifts very smoothly, while driving regularly and ALSO at high RPMs when racing (5500-6000 RPM shifts), then I wouldn't worry about a thing. If you are having issues shifting at high RPMs and it's not your driving, then you may need to start troubleshooting.
One test you can do to see if the clutch is fully disengaging is to come to a dead stop on a level surface with nothing in front of you, push the clutch pedal all the way to the floor, put the car in first gear, and then rev it up to just under redline (over 5000-5500). If the car starts lurching forward, it's not disengaging properly. If it doesn't and your shifting has no issues, I'd say you're good to go.
The clutches are soft, but probably shouldn't be any softer than a stock manual Neon. If the car shifts very smoothly, while driving regularly and ALSO at high RPMs when racing (5500-6000 RPM shifts), then I wouldn't worry about a thing. If you are having issues shifting at high RPMs and it's not your driving, then you may need to start troubleshooting.
One test you can do to see if the clutch is fully disengaging is to come to a dead stop on a level surface with nothing in front of you, push the clutch pedal all the way to the floor, put the car in first gear, and then rev it up to just under redline (over 5000-5500). If the car starts lurching forward, it's not disengaging properly. If it doesn't and your shifting has no issues, I'd say you're good to go.
Oh yeah, and the clutch pedal return springs on these cars, which assists in pushing the clutch pedal all the way back up and helps make it feel solid, tends to break on a fairly regular basis (some last forever, some last a few weeks when you put a new one in). If it is broken, the pedal will feel a little soft/loose up top as there is nothing holding it tight in the fully returned position. Just another bit of info for you.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 49
Likes: 0
Thanks for the reply and the info. I have only took it to 4000 rpms once and that was from a roll from 1st to 2nd then 3rd but thats about it always been a little affraid of hittin the wrong gear at high revs and it all going to hell lol. Only prob because I have read alot of people shifting to 5th and hit 3rd. I will have to make a note to test it out to have more info.
