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Clutch/pedal adjustments needed ?

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dgdsm

10+ Year Contributor
173
4
Aug 24, 2008
Tarzana, California
So I ran into a funny symptom this morning: With the engine cold and just starting it up, the shifter would not go into any gear, and some grinding when I try to go into 1st or reverse. After warming it up and revving a few times it shifts fine. I haven't seen it quite like this before. It's shifting smoothly with no resistance once everything's rolling. I think maybe the shift bushings need replacing, but it's mainly some clutch adjustment problem.

I just checked the clutch pedal height: 6 ins. Not within specs. The P/O was taller and bigger than myself, too big I think for a Spyder. I'm wondering why it causes a problem when starting up and then shifts normally afterwards.
 
I would start by warming up the car and transmission by normal driving then adjust clutch pedal to where it should be. 2-3inchs from the floor (unless you non oem setup in which the geometry is totally different like a triple disk or something or you know for sure something is off in step height.)=disengagement then do clutch drag test. Rev in 1st gear on a flat surface to 7000rpm (disengage studder step if you have it) and see if car creeps forward.
 
2-3inchs from the floor (unless you non oem setup in which the geometry is totally different like a triple disk or something or you know for sure something is off in step height.)

My alldatadiy says 7in (175-180mm) pedal height and 2.8in (70mm) with clutch disengaged. That's the oem setup. Looks like about 2.2in (55mm) when disengaged in mine. Also, what's the difference between clutch pedal play and clutch pedal free play? I can't quite tell from the descriptions.
 
Ah... I just found out that the problem goes away by pumping the clutch pedal and the clutch fluid reservoir was dry. The cap isn't in great shape either. I poured in some DOT3 brake fluid I had around.

But to answer your question, no, I'm pretty sure there's air bubbles in the system and I haven't bled the lines.
 
Update:

Well I don't quite get it entirely, but it went into gear this morning without any pumping of the clutch pedal, and is now shifting as if the problem never happened. But that clutch fluid reservoir was dry for a while.
 
Update:

Well I don't quite get it entirely, but it went into gear this morning without any pumping of the clutch pedal, and is now shifting as if the problem never happened. But that clutch fluid reservoir was dry for a while.

Have you checked for or found leaks?
 
Have you checked for or found leaks?

I don't see any obvious leaks. I have some UV dye around that I guess I could put in there to be sure, if it won't hurt anything. It's the one recommended for engine oil.

Looks to me like bits of the rubber underneath the cap are dissolving or disintegrating .
 
Did you check the clutch master cylinder on the inside of the car? You can pull some of the carpet up to check for fluid. When the seal for the master goes, it usually leaks inside the car. The other more common place of failure are the seals for the slave cylinder when the clutch fork is.
 
Did you check the clutch master cylinder on the inside of the car? You can pull some of the carpet up to check for fluid. When the seal for the master goes, it usually leaks inside the car. The other more common place of failure are the seals for the slave cylinder when the clutch fork is.

When you posted this now 1+ yr ago, I didn't quite get what you meant by the clutch master cylinder inside the car. But this was indeed the problem and it got progressively worse over the past year. I've been having to refill the reservoir brake fluid about every other day for the past month to have pressure in the system. Today though, I installed a new clutch master cylinder, and bled the clutch fluid system through the slave bleeder and all. The clutch system seems stronger.

Two issues right now:

I'm have a starting problem because of the clutch interlock switch. The metal piece on the pedal side is not even making contact with the white plastic piece coming out of the switch, when the clutch is fully depressed. Is there something else that is supposed to be attached in that hole on the pedal side? If so it's not there. So I don't know if adjusting the switch will fix it.

When you said "seal" in your post, I wasn't sure if you were referring to the black rubber gasket that goes onto the engine side of the firewall. This was totally worn out on the master cylinder I took out, and there was no new one. So the newone is installed on there right now without any rubber gasket seal.
 
When you posted this now 1+ yr ago, I didn't quite get what you meant by the clutch master cylinder inside the car. But this was indeed the problem and it got progressively worse over the past year. I've been having to refill the reservoir brake fluid about every other day for the past month to have pressure in the system. Today though, I installed a new clutch master cylinder, and bled the clutch fluid system through the slave bleeder and all. The clutch system seems stronger.

Two issues right now:

I'm have a starting problem because of the clutch interlock switch. The metal piece on the pedal side is not even making contact with the white plastic piece coming out of the switch, when the clutch is fully depressed. Is there something else that is supposed to be attached in that hole on the pedal side? If so it's not there. So I don't know if adjusting the switch will fix it.

When you said "seal" in your post, I wasn't sure if you were referring to the black rubber gasket that goes onto the engine side of the firewall. This was totally worn out on the master cylinder I took out, and there was no new one. So the newone is installed on there right now without any rubber gasket seal.

I would have been referring to the seal/boot where the shaft protrudes. Looking at the photo below, it would be the black seal/boot to the right of the mounting flange.

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Please provide a pic of your current issue.
 
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I don't have a quality pic at the moment but here's a cell phone shot of the area illuminated with a flashlight and a graphic in alldatadiy from the manuals. The blue arrow in the cell phone image points to the metal plate that swings up and pushes the interlock switch.

The alldatadiy page on this reads "Check to be sure that the interlock switch is as shown in the illustration when the clutch pedal is depressed at its full stroke [150 mm (5.9 inch) ]. If necessary, loosen the lock nut and adjust." Right now, the metal plate doesn't contact the switch with the clutch pedal fully depressed.

There is a hole in the metal plate that contacts the interlock switch. I can stick an M5 bolt into that hole and get the car to start, but it's not a stable setup. I'd rather do it right.
 
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Or disconnect the switch

I see the dsmtuners thread on this, but can you tell me where the connector is located? I'm not finding any black/green wire going to the fuse fox.

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This is my setup right now. That's a red plastic tire valve cap stuffed with some pieces of duct tape. You can see the hole in the plate on the other side where I think something is missing. Maybe if I find some better adhesive for the valve cap I can leave it set up like this. A previous one fell out (don't know where it went).

On a positive note, I see no clutch system leaks and no loss of fluid from the reservoir, and the clutch is shifting well and normally.
 
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This is the white connector that I disconnected on my 99. You can see a green and black wire on one of them. Basically allows you to start the car without pushing in the clutch. Beware if you start the car and its in gear it will shoot forward and hit something. .
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Sorry it's definitely hard to take pix under there!
 
Thanks for the picture. I haven't found the connector in mine yet. I think it may be in a different physical location in the 4g64 N/T . That's what the manuals seem to show. I see a connector like that but it has blue/black wires .. the door lock/anti-theft circuit. The clutch start connector in mine may not be easily accessible.

For the time being though, that red plastic piece is now pushed on to the start switch in mine. It's probably cut into the threads where the lock nut is supposed to be. So effectively the switch is disabled in mine. It seems pretty stable but I don't know what would happen if I went over some bumps or rough roads.

Also, I'm not sure if I did the clutch push rod assembly correctly: I attached the master cylinder body to the firewall first and then screwed in the metal piece that attaches to the clutch pedal from inside the car. It's not screwed in all the way, maybe halfway or so. Everything is working but this might have shifted things around at the clutch start switch. Or it could be a fitment issue from this Autozone/Duralast (Chinese) component that I installed. I guess I could go back in and screw it in all the way, but getting that klevis pin setup back on was a pain ... probably the most challenging part of the job.
 
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