Clutch Question

Author
Discussion

ToothbrushMan

Original Poster:

1,771 posts

132 months

Thursday 6th March 2014
quotequote all
Just had a new clutch fitted and im finding it tough keeping the pedal down in traffic due to the bite point being on the carpet. you onyl have to bring it up a touch and you feel it wanting to go. i know bite points drop after new clutches but surely not this low making driving less comfortable in stop start situations?

the garage that fitted it have not bled the clutch slave cylinder so would it pay me to bleed the system now? clearly the slave would have simply been bolted back on the gearbox so that the pushrod fits into the clutch release arm so im wondering if when it was bolted back on it would be fitted against hydraulic pressure that perhaps needs to be relieved from the bleed screw - the thicker clutch linings meaning the pushrod would have to go back into the slave slightly pushing up the fluid. not sure if the master would have a non return valve. not sure if the system should automatically take this into account with a simple rise in the fluid level.

any advices......

crossy67

1,570 posts

186 months

Thursday 6th March 2014
quotequote all
What car is it? You can adjust a lot of clutch pedals to allow for differences in driven plate materials

ToothbrushMan

Original Poster:

1,771 posts

132 months

Thursday 6th March 2014
quotequote all
its an old fiat punto mk1

Tyre Smoke

23,018 posts

268 months

Thursday 6th March 2014
quotequote all
Sounds like the clutch needs bleeding.

BritishRacinGrin

25,205 posts

167 months

Thursday 6th March 2014
quotequote all
Are you sure it's not a cable actuated clutch rather than hydraulic? could be a simple adjustment.

ETA: Nah, just googled. They're hydraulic.

neiljohnson

11,298 posts

214 months

Friday 7th March 2014
quotequote all
They don't normally require bleeding but it would be the first place to start!

If this doesn't cure it either the clutch is faulty or not fitted correctly.

Also if the box does have to come back out carefully check the fork arm as they can bend / crack on the puntos especially if the release bearing broke up on the previous clutch.

TallPaul

1,518 posts

265 months

Friday 7th March 2014
quotequote all
Could be a failed master cylinder- in normal use, the piston only operates through a certain movement, when a new clutch has been fitted, the piston travels out further until the fluid has taken up the slack (so to speak!), this often damages the fluid seal, causing them to leak.
Quite common for brake master cylinders to fail straight after fitting new pads for the same reason.