im at bradshaw in greenville........

 

+10000 all my friends get out of my car feeling like they cant drive a stick.

 

I was thinking about this today. I've been trying to figure out this high release clutch idea. Presumably the high release point is so that you can disengage the clutch quickly without going all the way to the floor for quick, sporty shifting. That makes sense.

What doesn't make sense is why does the clutch pedal have such a long 'throw'? I understand that if the throw is too short it is harder to finely control it but it seems like you could take an inch or so off this clutch pedal throw and have plenty of fine control and still disengage at the top of the throw for quick shifts.

When you do the DIY clutch adjustment does it lower the disengage point or shorten the total clutch throw?

 

lol yep

 

it shortens the clutch throw.

BTW n80 is the timing issue you addressed a problem on my car? Or is it all driver?

 

That's interesting. I need to look into the DIY a little more. If it shortens the throw I think it would make the clutch easier to use without sacrificing any 'sportiness'....especially if it shortens the throw closer to the floor.

When it happens on mine it seems to be mostly me. In other words, I don't think anything is broken on my car, I think the clutch/clutch pedal are just fussy.

But again, I'm just guessing about all this and all my guessing is based on my experience with my car. I may be totally off base.

 

626Gthirtyfive,

You didn't mention how old your G is, how many miles, did you buy it new?

The only place a loud mechanical noise would come from is the tranny. Could be the pilot bearing is worn and the input shaft is shaking around when the clutch is dis-engaged. Could be the syncro's in the tranny have taken a beating, leading to increased gear wear, causing the shifting forks to have 'slop' inside the tranny. If it's only making noise when you dis-engage the clutch and before you do any shifting then I'd suspect the input shaft has play in it. In the good ol' days we used oil impregnated sintered bronze (or brass) bushings in the flywheel to align the input shaft on the tranny. They were great from a wear standpoint, and never had to worry about drying out like the roller bearing type of bearing that is used by and large these days. I cannot keep count of the times I've pulled a tranny out to replace a clutch and the bearing was TOTALLY SHOT!

As far as "linkage noise"... as has been mentioned early in the thread, our tranny doesn't have any linkage at all. The bottom of the shifter is inserted directly into the tranny onto the shifting rail, moving the forks directly. As opposed to an outside linkage with arms, rods, etc. that feed into the side of the tranny.

While I'll agree with pretty much everyone here that the 1st to 2nd shift can be tricky when you're trying to be slow and smooth, it's not a fault of the tranny so much as the driver. (And yes, I too think the 1st to 2nd ratios are a bit close.)

Easy enough to be smooth though by starting out in 1st, wind er' up to 3400~3800 and just slip it into 3rd, wind it up to 3600 or so again and it'll slide right into 5th or 6th. Never puts a strain on the clutch, drive-line, or your passengers necks. ;-)

 

yeah 1st gear is way too short

 

Couldn't mechanical noises come from behind the tranny too? In otherwords, if you put a sudden load on the tranny it gets transferred back to the driveshaft, diff and more specifically U-joints (or whatever) on either end of the driveshaft. Surely these develop a little slop in them over time. Heck, if you grab most drive shafts you can twist them back and forth a little even on a new vehicle. Anyway, I've never driven an MT that you couldn't produce a 'clunk' when you dumped the clutch a little early....but then again, I've always driven trucks, not luxury sports cars.

Wouldn't those things be noticeable with every shift? Maybe it is in the OP's car but in mine I get the mechanical 'clunk' only under very specific, easily reproducible circumstances.

I'm sure I used the wrong term, but did not mean to imply external linkage rods. When I shift mine from first to second, with the windows open you can hear a metallic 'shifting' noise. I guess it could be the shift rail assembly. Would hearing the gears, rails, forks, etc indicate a problem if everything else seems to be working normally?


I've never thought about skipping a gear. It makes sense. And I agree, I think the real key in this car is shifting at higher RPMs.

 

Same here...

 

yes if you let off the gas and stay in gear then push the clutch in fast, it makes a rattling noise becuase your shifting wrong, let your foot off the gas and clutch in more evenly

 

That's pretty much what I was saying....I just used way more words and was a lot more confusing.

 

Yeah... sorta' something close I think.
Although with a 'true' 6 speed (IE not a 6 speed / overdrive) all the ratios have to be close. I tend to think that where the problem comes in is actually overdriving 1st. If you're really thrashing it then yea' fine... but in day-to-day situations shifting from 1st to 2nd at less than 3000 rpm is a much better idea.

In all honesty, I was kidding a bit when I said shift at 3800 or so. Just wanted to see if anyone would 'catch' it. It's not a problem to do it that high at all. Especially if you're getting on the freeway.

For instance; I have to pickup my son everyday at school, driving on secondary roads. There is no freaking way that one can run those rpms without seriously speeding. (It's 45 on the roads I use to go to school, and of course I drive 55 at least, but that's another thing all together. )

Anywho...
It's easy enough to start out in 1st, shift at 2600~2800 to third, (which is over 30mph) then again at the same rpm to 6th and you're doing 50. No rush, no noise, less wear and tear on engine & tranny, better mileage... win win.

 

Noises can of course come from anywhere in the driveline. I've been driving manuals for 43 years, from a 63 Ford Econoline panel van, to a 50 ton 3 axle Tow Truck, and tons of medium duty rollbacks in the 17+ years I owned my Towing Service. So yea... I know what you mean about "clunk".

The "clunk" into second though makes me look at the syncro gears as they mesh before the main gears, and are very soft (as well as very very thin). It's not the syncro's making the noise, but perhaps the wear of them allowing the the main drive gear to hit 2nd harder than if it was a new tranny.

(Did you buy your car new, or used? How many miles? This is something to take into account.)
As the driveshaft is concerned, the U joints there will not have any slack until they are totally shot. At that time they will start go creak and even grind everytime they turn even a little. Especially under load.

Now the rearend "chunk" does and will have a bit of slack in it. But... in our cars at it's mounted as a solid part of the rear suspension, and doesn't move up or down, side to side, like say a truck, or a Mustang for instance. By default, this design has far and away less slack than a floating rearend. Now before someone jumps up to correct me here (and God knows I'm not the be all and end all on the subject) the rear "chunk" is mounted with bushings in the rear carrier section and can flex a small bit with torque and load. However it is still considered a solid mount.

As for U joints in the rearend... Not any. There are CV (constant velocity joints) the same as in any front wheel drive vehicle. Those typically don't have any play at all. Once they wear out however, usually the boot splits and the grease flys all over the place first, then the three ***** inside get dry and wear, at which point you'll hear them clicking like crazy long before one comes apart.


Perhaps... but the greatest load is with the gear reduction down in 1st and 2nd, amplifying whatever 'slack' may be there. The lower gears are spaced farther apart, and of course the higher ones are get closer and closer together. Notice that 5th and 6th are something like 400rpm apart, (If I remember correctly)


[QUOTE\I'm sure I used the wrong term, but did not mean to imply external linkage rods. When I shift mine from first to second, with the windows open you can hear a metallic 'shifting' noise. I guess it could be the shift rail assembly. Would hearing the gears, rails, forks, etc indicate a problem if everything else seems to be working normally?[/QUOTE]

Again, I think it's more a wear issue in the tranny. Mine is an 06 but just turned 21,000 and is very smooth, very tight, and doesn't make a sound.
One thing that I've found that helps, and I mean helps a TON is swapping out the tranny fluid for full synthetic. I've done it on tons of vehicles, both manual and auto, along with swapping the rear gear dope and not only does it make things smoother and cut down on wear, but actually helps your fuel mileage.


It's surely not a bad idea that's for real. Also makes you (read me) not look silly sometimes around the local town square in stop and go traffic.
Although you have to adjust when driving on secondary roads versus the freeway for instance.
On roads around the house...
It's easy enough to start out in 1st, shift at 2600~2800 to third, (which is over 30mph) then again at the same rpm to 5th or 6th and you're doing 50 before you know it. No rush, no noise, less wear and tear on engine & tranny, better mileage... win win.
Just up the rpm's to the high 3's if your scooting down the entrance ramp to the freeway.

 

And I would LOVE to drive your Kabota!!!

Had a dealership owner that used to send me old vintage tractors to tow for him. One of the old John Deere units was a freaking B-E-A-S-T! I mean not a huge tractor, but a three wheel, large exposed side flywheel that once you let the clutch out you darn well better be hanging on for life because it'd wheelie you off the back if you had the hand throttle up a notch or two to high!!!