Bizarre Clutch problem driving me insane...

#1

Ok guys, this is in my GTS1/chumpcar e30. During the 24 hours at VIR, a couple of the drivers noticed the clutch was releasing “slow” seemed to be a delay in lockup after releasing the pedal…and the pedal returned slowly. About 6am the car came in with the clutch pedal bent off to the side and the clutch engaged. The driver said the pedal got really hard to push. The crew replaced the Clutch MC and the pedal and 3 laps later the same thing, clutch pedal bent and a box of neutrals. We withdrew…

To gdet the car ready for the NASA MA race I replaced the Transmission, complete Clutch, Slave Cyl, Slave line, clutch pivot, clutch fork, pedal and return spring. Sure enough I got all the syptoms…slow release and hard pedal. I quit using the clutch and just ran 3rd and 4th gears…

How could I replace every componenet and still have the problem?? Anyone seen this??

Thanks

Al Taylor

#2

Al, I created what may be similar problem a few years ago with my son’s street car. Pedal was hard to push down and very slow to return up. Eventually got undrivable. Scratching my head and finally pulled it all apart to see what was wrong.

When I got the transmission off, it was obvious, because what I found was that the TOB, which is square (or maybe rectangular?) on the back side so that it rides within the release fork, had slipped out of position during transmission attachment, and gotten ‘cocked’ so that the TOB wasn’t riding within the release fork, but was instead rotated axially about 45 or maybe 90 degrees. The net result was that it was squeezed into essentially an oval shape, no longer round, and since it was no longer round, it was dragging on the stationary central tube, causing the resistance to release AND return.

Cause was just a failure to keep everything in it’s rightful place during assembly. Maybe through bad luck or whatever you repeated the assembly mistake??

#3

I’ve got a slow clutch release but no other symptom except that its hard to get in 4th sometimes. The second problem means I need a new transmission eventually. The first problem I think I figured the return springs were just getting weak or crudded up or something. I doesn’t feel like it slips once it engages, but sometimes my iq3 isn’t sure what gear I’m in.

#4

Unless you have a gear selector sensor, the IQ3 is using GPS speed and RPM to calculate gear. It’s common for that type of setup to sometimes be off while shifting (e.g. going from 4th to 3rd might show 5th briefly because of the RPM / speed differences)

#5

Check the pedal itself and where the master cyl. bolts to the pedal assembly. I had a similar problem that was very random. Turned out the metal was cracked and would bend the master over. Worth checking.