Clutch pedal gets hung up halfway in..

[jlado13]

Just like the topic says, the pedal gets stuck about halfway depressed. Then, if I push really hard, it goes to the floor, but feels like something is giving. The clutch does not disengage from the flywheel on the second half of the pedal motion. The slave is brand new. It has been replaced cause when I installed my new clutch, the pedal stuck just as described. When I continued to press harder, the housing of the slave cylinder broke.

The weird thing is, if I bleed the clutch, the problem goes away for about 10 minutes and the car is driveable. After this, the clutch pedal can only be depressed halfway and the car won't go into gear.

When the tranny was apart, I noticed that the shaft that the throw out bearing slides on is pretty grooved and wore down. Both in the engaged and disengaged position, leaving a slight "rib" in the center of the bell housing shaft. Is it possible that the throw out is getting stuck on that "rib" halfway? Seems a little far fetched cause I never had this problem before.

I'm confused because there was an exedy clutch on before and never had any problems. Now I just put a new ACT on there and this problem arises. Don't know what to do next.

 

[Jimmyskrew face]

Check the line running to your master cylinder, you may have a leak or a bad seal thats allowing air to get into the system

 

[Talesin]

Air getting into the lines would cause a soft pedal (possibly the initial 'slack' you're feeling), and after the air was compressed you would be pushing directly on the plate and getting the full pedal effort. I know this isn't too objective, but does it feel like an ACT is supposed to, or does it have near stock pedal effort on that first half?
Are you using an OEM TOB, I hope?
Does the clutch disengage on the first half of the motion? Or does it just never disengage? The latter would be a STRONG suggestion of a hydraulic leak somewhere, and just not being used to the pedal pressure of the ACT (beginning to disengage on the second half, but not having enough force to fully disengage).

Ended up with a more severe version of (potentially) your problem myself, when one of the crush washers on my old slave cylinder gave out, and started spraying scalding clutch fluid everywhere. One way to test for that is to bleed the clutch, let the car warm up (and the TOB get lubricated) then just push in the clutch and put it in first. Then hold the clutch down for however long it takes for the clutch to go unusable again. If it's a fluid leak, the car should lurch forward and stall as the fluid keeping it disengaged sprays out wherever.
Leak could also possibly be in your clutch master, so don't forget to look there... just trace the entire line from the clutch master to the slave. With luck, there should be a pretty obvious 'fluid leak here' spill all around one of the fittings, that may have come loose.

 

[jlado13]

Thanks for the suggestion. However, the first half of the pedal motion is the normal act pressure, no slack. The second half, feels like something is stuck, not letting anything move, thus leaving the pedal extremely hard to push in. If I push REALLY hard, the pedal will depress, but feels like something in the line is "bulging" for lack of a better explanation.. No hydraulic leaks as far as I can see. Oh and like I said, I can bleed the system and drive it around for a bit and the pedal pressure is fine. Then when I stop for a few minutes and start the car again, the clutch gets extremely hard to push once is halfway down. When I let off the pedal, it comes right back up no problem, just gets hard to push again once it's halfway in. Then, I can bleed it again, and everything will be fine for 10 mins. Then back to the problem again..

 

[Nvisabl]

Sound to me like you may have the pedal adjusted incorrectly. Have you tried turning the adjustment in?

DJ
www.dsmtuners.com
89 colt turbo (casper)
89Mirage turbo(Nvisabl)
91 awd talon 578whp still slower then slow

Thanks for the suggestion. However, the first half of the pedal motion is the normal act pressure, no slack. The second half, feels like something is stuck, not letting anything move, thus leaving the pedal extremely hard to push in. If I push REALLY hard, the pedal will depress, but feels like something in the line is "bulging" for lack of a better explanation.. No hydraulic leaks as far as I can see. Oh and like I said, I can bleed the system and drive it around for a bit and the pedal pressure is fine. Then when I stop for a few minutes and start the car again, the clutch gets extremely hard to push once is halfway down. When I let off the pedal, it comes right back up no problem, just gets hard to push again once it's halfway in. Then, I can bleed it again, and everything will be fine for 10 mins. Then back to the problem again..

 

[jlado13]

Haven't tried tuning the adjustment. It's an intermittent problem, so I don't think the adjustment is out due to it being just fine after bleeding the system.

 

[Talesin]

Silly question, have you made sure that your slave cylinder is properly torqued down to the tranny? Could be getting shifted into place when you bleed it, then slip back out of place as it's used.
Did you replace the fork and pivot ball when you were doing the clutch?

 

[Nvisabl]

Haven't tried tuning the adjustment. It's an intermittent problem, so I don't think the adjustment is out due to it being just fine after bleeding the system.

You may want to try adjustment. How does the clutch feel when the car is cold? Does the problem occur after driving a few miles?

DJ
www.dsmtuners.com

 

[jlado13]

Car will drive a few miles, after bleeding. But after I stop the car for a few minutes and get back in, the sticking comes about. I watched the slave cylinder today while my friend was pushing the clutch in and out. The slave will move like it's supposed to, until about that halfway point. Then, if the clutch is pushed really firmly, the slave will move the rest of the way. However, I still can't get the car in gear.

 

[Nvisabl]

Car will drive a few miles, after bleeding. But after I stop the car for a few minutes and get back in, the sticking comes about. I watched the slave cylinder today while my friend was pushing the clutch in and out. The slave will move like it's supposed to, until about that halfway point. Then, if the clutch is pushed really firmly, the slave will move the rest of the way. However, I still can't get the car in gear.

Try putting it into gear as you push the pedal to the floor, does it go into gear at some point?


DJ
www.dsmtuners.com

 

[jlado13]

When the clutch is operating correctly, the car goes into gear at the same point. When this hangup problem occurs, it's as if the clutch gets hung up before it has been depressed enough for the car to go into gear. So, in summary, after I bleed the clutch, everything is fine. 10 minutes later, the car will not go into gear and the clutch pedal gets REALLY hard to push at the halfway point. It feels like I'm gonna break something if I push the clutch all the way in. When I do, though, nothing has broken yet.

 

[Nvisabl]

When the clutch is operating correctly, the car goes into gear at the same point. When this hangup problem occurs, it's as if the clutch gets hung up before it has been depressed enough for the car to go into gear. So, in summary, after I bleed the clutch, everything is fine. 10 minutes later, the car will not go into gear and the clutch pedal gets REALLY hard to push at the halfway point. It feels like I'm gonna break something if I push the clutch all the way in. When I do, though, nothing has broken yet.

adj pedal.

dj
www.dsmtuners.com

 

[jlado13]

Went out and adjusted the pedal this morning. Seems to be working fine now. Thanks Nvisabl.