I've been noticing that my clutch pedal wouldn't return all the way up after shifting once in a while. When this first occurred, I noticed a leak in my clutch line and replaced it with a SS line. The problem went away for a while and then started again. This time it would only get stuck about 1/2" from its normal position. The car is 5spd swapped and I used a brand new OEM slave cylinder and rebuilt the OEM master cylinder with an OEM seal kit.

Today I looked under the pedal and noticed that it gets stuck just after the master cylinder push rod is released from the pedal pressure. The spring looked fine but then I notice the pedal isn't hitting the stopper correctly. So I removed the pin from the push rod and the pedal springed up immediately. The spring is working fine so I figured I should adjust the push rod. I removed the master cylinder and turned the U shape bracket to make it reach the hole on the pedal when it is fully in the up position. Did I need to remove the master or could I have just turned the rod by hand? :bang head:

After that was all done, I took the car out for a test drive. The pedal pops back up as it should. However, I noticed that the car seems had to get into and out of gear sometimes. On the highway, it felt like I had to force 5th gear in and out. The car was sitting around for about 3 months and I forgot how it should feel. It wasn't daily driven for about 2 years now. I have a vlsd with a B&M short shifter. I been driving my brand new jetta 6spd for the past 2 months and maybe I'm just hung up on how soft and buttery everything is in that car. The clutch is about 3 times lighter and the shifter can be moved with just your pinky finger! The B&M had me in shock today compared to the jetta that I'm now accustomed too.

Is it just a placebo effect or did adjusting the pedal play cause the clutch system to operate differently? The pedal should be moving the master cylinder piston the same distance regardless of the where the U shaped bracket is connected, right? It feels as if the clutch isn't being fully disengaged. However, the grab point feels to be in the same spot as usual. The last time I drove the car, the tranny felt fine. I didn't notice anything besides the clutch pedal issue. There are no signs of tranny leaks since I last parked the car.

I know thats a lot of info to digest but what do you guys think???

 

I think the adjustment at the clutch pedal is just for pedal freeplay. When you swapped the 5 speed did you put a spacer between the clutch pedal and firewall because if that's not spaced properly it will affect the clutch as usually staying engaged. Have someone take a look at the slave while your on and of the clutch and make sure it's moving the shift fork over about an inch or so if not than that would be a problem as well. My pedal wasn't spaced right when i bought it from the previous owner and the clutch was staying engaged and now the clutch is smoked and it was only a year old. Spacing everything is crucial, I would bleed it real good one more time just for piece of mind too. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

We checked the slave today and it was moving the full distance. Everything was properly spaced initially. I'm not sure if I made anything fall out today when I took the master cylinder off. Do you recall the spacing that is needed? 1/2 inch? I originally thought it was a bad master cylinder and I was all ready to change it today but then decided to adjust the free play to get rid of the sticking issue.

 

Don't quote me on this but i was told either 22 or 28 mm's by the previous owner. I know with the ss line there's less of a chance for air in the system but i use to bleed my 5/5 every oil change just to make sure and always kept the pedal nice and snappy.

 

What bleeding method did you use with just the SS line?

 

I haven't bled the clutch with the ss line on this new car yet but, Id just bleed it from the slave.

 

Today I re-adjusted the pedal height and it has enough free play while still allowing the pedal to spring back up. The clutch feels soft when you initially press it but quickly gets stiff towards the middle to bottom. I now notice an annoying squeak when I press the clutch and traced this to the slave cylinder. The movement of the slave is good even during that "soft" area. It moves the full distance I believe. Here is a video of the noise I am hearing:

http://youtu.be/HsmjQ6CRduo

Where is that coming from? The slave's internals, the fork, or the slave piston and fork metal to metal contact???

 

Could be the slave piston. I just replaced my clutch over the weekend and my pedal is pretty soft not spongy but soft gonna swap out my master and slave and see if it makes a difference

 

a soft pedal is weird feeling.

dont u have to prime the master cyl before reinstalling?

Either way, all new components woudnt hurt.

Lastly, u can adjust the pedal engagement point for the clutch but it wont change the spongey feel.

Bleed the lines???

 

Yea, I'm gonna bleed it a few times after I replace everything

 

Did you notice any difference? The slave I have was a brand new OEM slave installed 3 years ago. I doubt that it went bad already. I may change the master cylinder though, I rebuilt it at the same time with an OEM seal kit. I haven't driven the car since my last post so I have no idea what it feels like. I should take it for a spin next week and see if it feels any better after the pedal adjustment.

Anyone have the same noise coming from the slave? Do I just need some grease here?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsmjQ...ature=youtu.be