Alternate approach to common gear shift problems, thoughts?

[zatos99]

Hi All,

I have seen several posts on here about the dreaded gear shift problems, clutch bite too low, reverse grinding etc. I had the same problem for a long time and was able to fix it with the damper valve fix (removing damper and putting oil sump in its place). This lasted a few months for me, then I noticed it becoming difficult to change gears again. There have been some solutions posted on here that worked for some, however I had the same issue.

After trying all the checks: slave/master cylinder leaks, hydraulic system leaks, bleeding several times, replaced slave...I still had the problem.

Then I remember a few mates telling me that their clutch was adjustable...why isn't mine? (i30 CRDi FD 09 RHD). Putting this thought with one of the fixes mentioned in another thread (posted by Eugen) regarding the plastic attachment of the master cylinder push rod and the clutch pedal wearing down.

I began to experiment with the pedal and found something amazing...

First I attached a plastic tube filled with brake fluid to the bleed nipple and undid it, then i took the push rod off the pedal by removing the pin, and pushed it as far as i could. I marked the point it reached with a permanent marker for reference. I then put the push rod back on to the pedal and pushed the pedal to the max...12-15mm to my mark. As the pedal or push rod isn't adjustable, I decided to make my own adjustment with a piece of scrap metal. This engages the pedal approx 15mm, which removes the freeplay I had before, and also gives an extra 15mm of push, getting the slave cylinder that little bit further, removing the gear shift issue.

This has completely changed the clutch pedal and feel, the bite point it approx 1.5 inches off the ground, compared to 0.5 inches before. Although the pedal sits approx an inch higher than before, it's very stiff and super responsive.


 
*Yes the pin isn't all the way through, fixed since photo.

Getting it all together was a shit of a job, but honestly it feels like i'm driving a new car! I'd love to hear your thoughts.

P.S. I'd like to clarify that even though the pedal is pushed 15mm already, it is not engaging the clutch at all as it was previously freeplay.

[CraigB]

Good work around

Shark Racing stock a clutch pedal adjuster just for this purpose Clutch Pedal Adjuster - Shark Racing

[Dazzler]

Brilliant Sato, stickied for easy finding later. 

[Lorian]

at least one other has done something similar but by welding in an extra bit to the rod

[zatos99]

I'm back...not with great news.

My car has since been rendered unable to drive because of my workaround. The metal rod pushed out the wall of the plastic end of the pushrod because my metal extension offset the stroke by about 3mm. Now CraigB in his reply mentioned the adjustable pushrod and I was going to buy one, but after trying to source one locally I had a clutch and brake place tell me that you shouldn't need an adjustable pushrod, and that if you over-pressurise the master cylinder, something will break enentually. His other comment was that a lot of mechanics don't understand master cylinders and think if they push a bit more, they'll get the slave to work a little bit harder, but the inverse is true and once you push past a point, they work less.

What are your thoughts? When my mod was in, it worked a treat...now I'm not sure

[zatos99]

P.S. I'd like to clarify that even though the pedal is pushed 15mm already, it is not engaging the clutch at all as it was previously freeplay.

Well, this was wrong. The rod was just that bit too long, and even when the pedal wasn't pressed, I was getting 2 problems that I thought was related to the EGR: jerky acceleration, clutch slipping at 2500rpm. Workshop manual suggested that it could be insufficient freeplay...reduced pushrod length, 2 problems disappeared. Posting as it may be useful to others with those symptoms 👍