915 clutch pedal -- binding/sticky at last inch of travel after release

[darrin]

The clutch pedal on my '86 targa is binding when it reaches the final inch of travel before taking my foot off the pedal after releasing the clutch. The clutch itself feels fine (engages/disengages as normal) and the pedal effort feels about right/the same, but the pedal's no longer confidently navigating the last inch of travel once I take my foot off the pedal.

I've exposed/examined/cleaned detritus from around the pedal cluster, but don't see any obvious issues -- looking for next steps, as I don't see this particular issue showing up via searches.

Thanks,

Darrin

[Arlo911]

Probably need some fresh bushings. Use your hand to move the clutch pedal, makes it easier to get a feel for what's binding, and you can see if there is any play in the bushings.

[Bill Douglas]

You could give the omega spring and where it attaches at both ends an oil too.

[Flat6pac]

If the bushing is gone on the right side of the pedal cluster there is a body seam that the clutch pedal will hang up against.
Taking up the carpet and you can watch the action.
Bruce

[thetorch]

Check the clutch pedal roll pin. If it's starting to disintegrate, it will still work for a while but starts behaving like this. Then it will fail.

[dannobee]

Pull back the carpet and floor board and inspect the well in the body where the return spring goes and vacuum out the junk (and verify that the return spring isn't broken). Also as Bruce said, inspect the bushings for wear.

I had one of the roll pins break on one of my own cars and ever since then I replaced the roll pin with a 6mm cap screw and a nylock nut on every pedal box overhaul. I've NEVER seen one wear or break.

[darrin]

thanks all, I'll follow-up on your suggestions and report back --

[thetorch]

Originally Posted by dannobee

Pull back the carpet and floor board and inspect the well in the body where the return spring goes and vacuum out the junk (and verify that the return spring isn't broken). Also as Bruce said, inspect the bushings for wear.

I had one of the roll pins break on one of my own cars and ever since then I replaced the roll pin with a 6mm cap screw and a nylock nut on every pedal box overhaul. I've NEVER seen one wear or break.

I like this idea of a 10.9 or 12.9 bolt. Is there some reason they used a roll pin originally -- is there some safety / shear issue to consider? I put a new roll pin in, but a bolt seems like a better idea.

The old pin gave out while I was driving. Do not recommend this experience.

[schoward]

As Bill said above - some spray oil on omega spring arm and spring itself may help.

Also - couple drops of motor oil into pedal bushings may do the trick. I do this every few years and it has helped slightly with clutch pedal effort and smoothness. Its a long shot, but it's free.

[darrin]

Wanted to circle back and bring this issue/thread to a conclusion. After going through the pedal box and finding that the bushings appeared to still be good and not sticking (there was a surprising amount of detritus around/under the pedal box that I vacuumed up/wiped down, will do this every year on 2 going forward), I turned my attention to the clutch cable and found that, at the point where the clutch pedal was "sticking/binding," the clutch cable was going slack. Also noticed that at the point the cable was going slack, I was hearing a metallic sound from the rear of the car.

So, next step, I jacked up the car (I used a floor jack on the driver's side jack point), put a jack stand under the driver' side rear torsion bar, and crawled under -- found the omega spring intact, but snug up against the heat exchanger -- moving things around a bit I found slop between the clutch cable connector and clutch arm -- following directions, I confirmed the 1.2mm clearance at the adjustment point, tightened the clutch cable adjustment nuts until I go to 1mm (while doing so, I watched the omega spring tension back away from the heat exchanger) and, viola, clutch pedal back to normal.

So, the culprit for me was my clutch cable going out of adjustment, with the resultant clutch cable free play ceasing to provide the tension necessary to pull the clutch pedal consistently/completely come all of the way back up --

[svcetiquette]

Originally Posted by thetorch

Check the clutch pedal roll pin. If it's starting to disintegrate, it will still work for a while but starts behaving like this. Then it will fail.

Just went through this on the track car. I thought it was the cable stretching. Would adjust it and by the time I made it out from grid, the clutch would no longer disengage. In my case the roll pin actually wore through the clutch shaft

[darrin]

svcetiquette - thx for the pic, will keep a CAREFUL eye out for recurrence of this issue, couldn't see any outward issue with roll pin, but now understand how this can mimic clutch cable stretch