intermitant heavy clutch pedal,,,advise please

[scruffy]

Hi all,

Back with another question on this clutch of mine,,,in my 88 gq lwb 4.2.

about every second day i drive my truck at some stage i get a heavy pedal as compared to "normal",,,any ideas ???

my mechanic told me that was normal,,(ahhhhh my brain hurts)

also to note when i had the new clutch done about 18 months ago the peddle arm mechanics came home with a much different setting ,

ie before and in my mates stocko the pedal moves a few inches before hitting the floor,,,now the length of the "stroke" is much much longer,,,

my mechanic said it's better this way,,,,(ahhhhh my brain hurts)

i also get clutch smell occasionally but that could be me not driving like a truck but a car,,,,,mid you i never take it passed 3000 on the tacho before changing gear,,,

confused,,,,i don't mind going to another mechanic if i need to give this one the flick,,,maybe i should wear a cap to cover up the "S" for sucker on my forehead,,,,

Scruffy

[chimpboy]

Long stroke is probably because, with a new clutch you have more room for adjustment left.

Intermittent heavy clutch - only thought here is that your vacuum assist is cutting in and out, but this only makes sense if you HAVE a vacuum assisted clutch. Do you? You can tell by having the clutch depressed a little bit while you start the car. If you suddenly feel it "give"... that's the vacuum assist kicking in.

If the problem is with the vacuum assistance then you probably have a vacuum leak in the area.

If your car doesn't have vacuum assist at all, then I can't imagine what the problem could be.

Jason

[Deano]

I had the same intermittent heavy clutch problem.

It had been diagnosed to me as a leaky slave cylinder. I had the slave cylinder repaired and the problem seems to have gone away (been 4 weeks without a re-currence).

It usually occured on the first clutch press after the engine was started, then fine after that (MOST of the time), occasionally it cut in at random for a press or two.

My question is though, if the slve cylinder was leaking, where to? It wasnt the atmosphere as I never lost any clutch fluid. It must have been leaking around the piston, and then being recovered when I depressed the clutch again.

As for the pedal thing, you mean yours has a longer total throw now, or the clutch just takes up in a different part of the throw (ie closer to floor or driver)?

Hope this helped

Deano.

[TUFF MAV]

How long has this been happening? Are you revving it a bit harder sometimes. Could just be a lack of Vacuum.

Kyle

[battle wagon]

kyle u r on the money. big revvs, fast change=no vac

[bazzle]

I had that problem on a Petrol GQ. As prev post said not enough time to charge vac.
I ended up putting an extra vac tank on vac line. Gave an extra push on brakes when stopped too.

Another thing, if water has been in there iy can make shaft bind. Give it a good spray of wd40 to see if temp fix happens.

Bazzle

[bru21]

try short shifting at like 1700 or so every shift. if the cluch is consistant then, its vacuum loss due to revs being higher, mine does it when i rev it to 5000 + and change (petty obviously).

cheers bru

[scruffy]

thanks to all,you guys are fantastic.

yes i notice it on start up and sometimes when i do a quick change,,,

but i never do the big rev thing i'd be lucky to go over 3000 revs,,

you guys have given me plenty to work with i thank you all once again,,

scruffy

[TUFF MAV]

You could still get the problem without hi revs. Such as climbing hills in wrong gear or towing a trailer.

Kyle