clutch travel adjustment issues

[flee27]

I have searched and read as many threads as I could find on this but still don't understand what is causing my issue.

I have a new to me 1984 911 Carrera. Car is in good shape and basically drives very good. I have done some deferred maintenance items like replace leaking oil return tubes (no leaks now), oil change, transmission fluid change, check/adjust valves, leak down tests, compression test, and clutch adjustment.

This brings me to my question. I had no problems getting the 1.2mm, then 1mm gaps at the transmission. Everything there looks fine. I can only get 20mm of clutch travel. I pulled the wood floor out and it is solid. I reinstalled the floor making sure it was installed correctly and raised the clutch pedal adjustment plate to its highest position. All of this gets me to the 20mm travel number.

I have read a few threads talking about the clutch cable being too long. This doesn't make sense to me. As long as I am not running out of thread to adjust the cable at the transmission it shouldn't matter how long or short the cable is. But saying that my cable definitely isn't too long because the adjuster is closest to the cable. I still have plenty of adjustment left.

Car shifts fine but the clutch does feel like the disengagement point is when the pedal is fully pressed. Seems like it would feel more correct with the extra 5mm of travel. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

Foster

[Rsnellie]

As i understand it the cable adjustment adjust the gap measurement only for the 1mm and 1.2 mm adjustments. If you had an old stretched cable or a cable that is wrong/too long, the starting point for this adjustment would have the pedal too close to the floor. It would nearly bottom out at the floor. If you had a shorter cable then you would be lifting the pedal to make it connect to the clutch giving you an engagement point farther off the floor. Simple test I would think could be disconnect clutch cable and see if you have more travel in lifting the pedal. Hope this makes sense. This is only from my personal experience replacing mine.


Also another thought that I experienced. Your bushings could be worn in the pedal cluster. This made mine not engage right away. I had pedal travel/slop in the line before actually moving the cable. They get very worn so I had to replace bushing and readjust back to spec on the pedal side too.

[flee27]

Thanks Rsnellie. I do have full travel from the pedal.

I will verify I don't have excessive play/movement that would be causing the loss of travel. Doesn't feel sloppy but it could be there somewhere. Thanks.

Foster

[Flat6pac]

You might check the front Clevis on the cable.
It needs 17 to 20 turns into the front clevis.
Bruce

[ErrorMargin]

My thoughts:

1. Old clutch cable that is stretching

2. Something is preventing the clutch pedal from returning to the fully out/rest position which reduces that amount of travel you can get. Does it appear that the clutch pedal can come all the way out? Maybe post a picture of your pedal in the fully out position so we can all take a look

3. Something is limiting the amount of forward travel the clutch gets. When you say you've raised the clutch pedal adjustment plate to its highest position, are you talking about moving #16 in the diagram below to its upper/forward most position? Assuming yes, then I'd look hard at the bushings in the pedal box...if they are shot the clutch pedal assembly (pedal, rods, etc.) in the pedal box might not be able to get full travel.

[flee27]

Thank you all for the responses. Upon further inspection last night is looks like my clutch pedal is not returning to its fully extended position. I did not have time to look further into what is preventing it from returning fully but I can pull the top of the pedal approximately an additional 25mm which then puts it visually inline with the brake pedal.

I will update with what I find once I look further into it.

Best
Foster

[911obgyn]

With cable disconnected check pivot arm and lever, corrosion will cause binding.

[blucille]

I found it hard to believe, but I once had an SC where the clutch pedal was bent and kept the pedal from returning to the stop on the pedal board. I was able to square it back up and the problem never returned.

[BSNMOE]

Try John Walker’s tip. Loosen the cable again at the transmission, pry apart the 2 levers with screwdriver then adj the bolt to 1.2 mm.
Tighten cable to that 1mm gap.

[flee27]

Thanks everyone for the input. I had time yesterday to readdress my clutch travel issues. After looking at the overall workings of the springs and realizing the spring at the clutch pedal acts as an assist to depress the clutch by pulling the pedal towards the floor it made more sense.

I kept reading another thread where they kept repeating the clutch cable is too tight and this is why the pedal would not return fully. At least in my case this was the opposite of what I needed. After disassembling the levers and omega spring, cleaning and lubricating the assembly I was able to adjust the cable to pull the pedal to its fully retracted position. Once I understood that I had to tighten the cable enough to counter act the spring at the pedal assembly, not loosen the cable as stated in the other thread. Now I have the appropriate clearances and travel and the clutch feels good.

Happy to have everything in spec and operating as it should. Thanks again for the assistance.

Best
Foster