Worn out clutches that become problematic: a temporary remedy
When clutches get worn, problems with them come in two ways:
- The friction disk gets too thin to fully grab the pressure plate, and the clutch starts to slip. A rare occurrence. There is no remedy for this.
Manifests itself by the revs suddenly going up without an increase in speed. This usually starts in fifth gear and is more prevalent under hard acceleration. Exacerbated by slipping the clutch on an upshift with aggressive acceleration. The fingers on the pressure plate only move 80 thou to release the friction disk, so it doesn’t take much.
- Worn fingers on the pressure plate. Much more common. The clutch is not fully disengaging and becomes difficult or even impossible to change gears. To check to see if that's the case, start the engine, put it in first and slowly lift your foot off the pedal to see how far off the floor it is when the clutch starts to engage. The Throw Out Bearing has worn the pressure plate fingers down on the clutch, creating a gap between the TOB and the fingers. The following will get you through for now, but don't wait too long to replace the clutch.
The end of the clutch cable is attached to a quadrant on the clutch pedal. It can be adjusted to raise the pedal engagement point off the floor, allowing the clutch to fully disengage. Puts more tension in the cable and pushes the TOB closer to the fingers. No adjustment needed otherwise. Makes things worse if the friction disk is too thin.
If you look closely at the pedal, you will see a light blue rectangle. This is the end of the toothed quadrant. Push the pedal down with one hand, and then let it go while holding the end of the quadrant in place with the thumb of your other hand, or a suitable socket if too painful. If done right, you will hear one or more loud clicks. I'd start with no more than three.
Be aware that raising the clutch pedal beyond its normal resting point releases the clutch quadrant, and you will be back to square one.
Nick Chrimes, BaySHO Performance
