I have an 06 6mt Coupe and I've noticed something about the clutch pedal that might be interesting to some of you...

I recently adjusted the pedal so it would be a little lower (see clutch adjustment thread somewhere on this forum). I've since noticed that sometimes my pedal will not return 100% of the way. It DOES return far enough that it is just playing w/ the clevis pin and not still slipping the clutch, but it's annoying.

While I was adjusting it, when I lowered it pretty far (I actually liked it nice and low) I noticed it would not return very well at all. I didn't figure out why that was the case, I just raised it until it returned reliably (well, almost, i guess).

Well this weekend I took off the clevis pin and released the pedal from the clutch plunger/rod. I noticed the spring that is attached to the pedal has a two-way function. If I press on it some (towards floor), the spring will yank the pedal towards the floor. In this way it is "helping" you to press the clutch pedal down. If I pull on the pedal some (away from floor), it will press towards me. In this way it is helping to raise the pedal. Somewhere in between, it has a sweet spot where the spring is not doing much.

So..... here's what happened when I was adjusting my clutch -- I lowered it past the sweet spot -- so that the spring was "helping press the clutch" and thus countering the clutch's return spring. Bingo, the clutch wasn't coming up reliably. The position my pedal is presently at is JUST inside the "it helps u press down the pedal" position, so, sometimes the spring is countering the clutch and it doesn't return 100%, only 95%. I need to raise my pedal up some so it will be in the sweet spot.

Some of you guys with clutch pedals that have trouble returning might want to take a look at this and see if maybe your "assist spring" on your clutch pedal itself has a sweet spot that is not well matched to the throw distance on the plunger rod. Just remove the clevis clip, pull out the pin, and see how the pedal works when it is not attached.

hope that helps someone... sorry if everyone already knew that, i sure didn't -- I thought the spring on the pedal always pushed the pedal towards me (away from the floor).

 

Yeah, that happened to mine also. But, I didn't adjust past the "point of no return" of the helper spring. Instead, in my case the problem is the sticky lube used by the factory on the clevis pin. When it's cold the pedal will stick for a few presses and then start working correctly to move the little extra bit up after the lube has been "worked in" for that drive. It kind of annoys me. I was thinking of bushing the clutch pedal so there is no free play. Or, maybe another lube would work better. Regardless, the small amount of adjustment I made with the pedal is definitely worth it!

 

that's interesting... mines has been sticky since i adjusted it... imma go look into that... thanks

 

NICE INFO..learn something every day!

 

very cool glad to learn as well

 

I just raised mine up a little today... I took the pin out, releasing the pedal. I confirmed that it was in fact in the "pull myself down towards the floor" range. Next I loosened the nut for the cruise control switch, and turned it so the pedal would come up a bit (it was disconnected from the clutch pushrod/pin). I pressed on the pedal with my hand a little, and kept turning the cruise switch until when I pressed on the pedal, it wanted to push itself back onto the switch. Then I tightened the nut down, and re-adjusted the clutch plunger so that it would reach the pedal in that position.

yay.. no more sticking and it's as low as my helper spring will allow. My car feels much better now... I'd like the pedal lower but I don't know if it's possible to adjust the helper spring, so I'll take it like this since it's the best it is going to get!

 

Anyone having sticking issues might want to also review my posts in:

https://g35driver.com/forums/drivetrain/105874-clutch-pedal-sticking-burning-complaints-come-here.html

I'm 100% happy with my clutch now after setting the pedal action correctly and changing the fluid.