I took my car to the dealership a couple of weeks ago to have them check out the "clicking sound" from the rear that has been discussed in previous threads. Although they said they weren't able to recreate the noise, they took it upon themselves to adjust my clutch (without telling me about it) while it was in the shop. Before the adjustment, the engagement point was pretty low with a fair amount of free play. I thought there may have been a little too much play but had gotten used to it. The clutch is now much stiffer and the engagement point is a lot higher. It feels completely different and has been hard to get used to. I had the service manager drive the car after the adjustment and he said the clutch feels normal to him. Can anyone tell me where the ideal clutch engagement point is for our cars? Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

I think that the definition of "ideal" is going to be dependant on your driving style. However, if you have too much play, you will have to be more carefull that you completely depress the pedal before shifting gears. If you don't time it right, you'll grind into gears. If there is NO PLAY in the pedal, then there is a good chance that the clutch is not fully engaging when the clutch pedal is released. This will wear out the clutch very quickly. I adjusted my pedal so that there was only a small amount of play, since I've had allot of 2nd gear grinding.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gernby
[B]I think that the definition of "ideal" is going to be dependant on your driving style.

 

Sort of.
The Helm manual says that the pedal height (from the pedal surface) should be 7.44" above the floor and the pedal Stroke (travel) should be 4.53-4.92".
I'm assuming that when it is adjusted to these specs, the corresponding "free play" should be correct (but how does the car know that).

 

Thanks for the information. I believe the pedal travel is now quite a bit more than what those specs call for. I'm going to take it back to the dealer and have it checked out.

 

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "how does the car know that". The clutch is purely mechanical, like the brakes.

 

As your clutch wears, doesn't the friction point change? If so, then does the clutch system have some king of self adjustment to keep the friction point relative to the pedal position constant?
This is what I meant by how does the car know.

 

I would expect that it would be self adjusting, like the brakes. As the break pads wear, the fluid level drops in the reservoir to compensate for the additional fluid needed in the lines. The clutch has a similar master cylinder, but I'm not sure what the system is like at the clutch end.