Clutch feeling soft

[sergeshishik]

Anyone experienced a change in your clutch "feel" I took out my 1984 targa today and the feel of my clutch was completely different? it didn't grab hard like it used to, the car has 98000 miles and the best I can guess its the original clutch, is that about the life?

any feedback would be great.

Thanks

[dshepp806]

meaning that it's possibly slipping (clutch)? Expound on this new "feeling"..

Best,

Doyle

[sergeshishik]

I have not noticed it slipping, however it is engaging softer. To describe it the best I can my clutch historically had a very narrow engagement point, meaning you would let out the pedal and nothing would happen then a sudden "grab". Most people that never drove my car would stall it, nearly all the time. Now the grab is much easier.

hope that helps

[Superman]

Some time when you're going up a slight incline at highway speeds, in fourth or fifth gear, keep your right foot on the throttle and just tap the clutch pedal. Enough that it releases, and then lift your foot off and pay attention to how quickly the tach returns to your previous 'cruise rpm.' If it does not return quickly, your disk is getting thin. If there are 98K miles on your clutch, then I'll save you some time. Your disk is getting thin.

[Elombard]

The clutch lever arm (inside the bell housing) can fatigue and fail over a time on the earlier 915s. I think its the same arm on the later ones. Its actually a fairly common issue with miles and age. If this is the problem the arm will push the TO bearing less and less (as the crack widens) and then the clutch will stop disengaging all together eventually.

Hopefully not the problem but if it is it will take only a few days to run its course.

[dshepp806]

Originally Posted by Superman

Some time when you're going up a slight incline at highway speeds, in fourth or fifth gear, keep your right foot on the throttle and just tap the clutch pedal. Enough that it releases, and then lift your foot off and pay attention to how quickly the tach returns to your previous 'cruise rpm.' If it does not return quickly, your disk is getting thin. If there are 98K miles on your clutch, then I'll save you some time. Your disk is getting thin.

good info here..

Best,

Doyle

[ToddM]

My Omega spring went south and started doing this while also engaging just slightly lower. I had the clutch readjusted not knowing this and a week latter it snapped in half - ping.

[Superman]

Another bit of advice I would have is......when it is time to replace the clutch disk, inspect and/or replace everything. At this point, it is probably time to replace the fork, for example. And the cable. Clean a grease everything, and your clutch will feel better than it has ever felt before.