Z28KLR

So, I let my grandfather use my car for a couple hours this morning, and when he got back the smell of burnt clutch filled the garage. Only explanation is that he must have rode the crap out of it; he hasn't driven a manual trans car much in at least 30 years. So anyway, now the issue is the pedal position in which the clutch engages/disengages; it's up real high, above the halfway point of pedal travel, whereas it's always been down below the halfway point almost centered between there and the floor. I tried spinning the firewall adjuster out (ccw) quite a few turns (probably moved it 3/8 to 1/2 inch further away from the firewall) in hopes that it may fix the engagement position but all it did was firm up the pedal (used to have 1/4 to 1/2 inch of slack up at the top and would rattle a little if your foot wasn't resting on it). The clutch itself still feels fine and isn't slipping or anything.

So what, if anything can I do? Do I just need to keep spinning that firewall adjuster? Or do I just need to re-learn how to drive my car with a clutch that engages up high? Hoping I'm not screwed here, any ideas are appreciated. Thanks.

DRAGUL

Sorry but I think your grandfather probably took years of life off that clutch

Z28KLR

Yeah that was pretty apparent, I'm just hoping I can get the engagement relative to pedal position back somewhat. It still seems to be holding fine, no slipping.

Shotgun Love

can't you readjust the clutch? try pulling it all the way up so it clicks and resets

teej281

Pull up on the clutch pedal maybe?

Shotgun Love

right thats what it says in the owners manual to do

Jazzer The Cat

The problem is the clutch plate is now very thin and the pressure plate needs to be nearly all the way closed to engage. There is no way to fix it without replacing it, I'm afraid

Jazzer... bummed for his pepes

Z28KLR

Think I might be out of the woods on this one. I went on MM's site earlier and looked at their install/adjustment directions for their firewall adjuster (I have a different one but figured the same principals would apply) and got it figured out. Earlier, I mentioned that I turned the adjuster ccw (away from firewall), which just increased the tension and did nothing for engagement position. From what I figured out reading their stuff I ended up turning it back in c/w almost back to the firewall so that there was a slight gap between the base of the cable and the adjuster. And it worked! Clutch engage/disengage is back where it should be, just below the halfway point of pedal travel. Clutch holding power seems to be fine, and I even lost a little bit of chatter on the 1st/Reverse engagement. And just for s & g I tried pulling up on the pedal, but didn't get a click out of it (think that only works on the stock quadrant/adjustment mechanism). I know I probably lost like 20k miles of life off the clutch, but as long as it lasts me another year or so until I get a blower (I figured I'd need to upgrade at that time anyway) then it's cool with me. This car only sees like 10k a year and I'm rarely if at all hard or abusive on the clutch so I think she'll be fine. Guess my next step is to take my grandfather out to a large parking lot and show him how to properly drive a m/t car (he's been spoiled with Lincolns for the last 35 years so I suppose he lost his touch).

teej281

The only time you ever get a click from pulling up on the clutch pedal is when your clutch is really out of whack. I pull up on mine to try to get it to self adjust and it always puts it right back to where its usually at. But again, i do have stock quad/FWA.

cliffyk

The entire semi-automatic adjustment mechanism is removed when you install any after market quadrant.

728KLR,

Good to hear you got it, there should be 1 to 1-1/4" free play in the pedal; a bit less (cable tighter) if you like the clutch to grab a bit higher, a bit more (cable more loose) to lower the engagement point...