Technical Very low clutch bite?

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Technical Very low clutch bite?

Joined
Apr 24, 2011
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Herts/Cambs
Hi all,

My car got hit a few weeks back, and I just got it back from the garage, and the bite point seems really really low compared to what It used to be, you only have to lift the pedal about 1-2cm and its biting

I had the car MOT'd today, and even the tester said it was really low and didn't seem right, so does anyone have any suggestions as to what it is?

The first garage shouldn't have touched it as the car only went in for bodywork, I have called them about it and they are going to look into the issue for me, hopefully they will fix it but the have been a pain from the start
 
hi. did you fund out the problem. cause i have god the exact same problem with my gp 1.3 jtd from 2008.
 
Hi Jacob,

The problem is air clutch hydraulic system and i managed to cause the same issue while working on my sisters GP. In this case I was replacing the battery negative to earth cables and i had to remove the slave cylinder to get to the gearbox earth.

While the slave cylinder was out the piston came to the end of its travel and when i pushed it back in i could no longer select gears.

I bled it using a one way valve and the pedal, opening and closing the bleed valve in sync with the pedal being raised and lowered. This brought the gear selection back but now the bite is low. I ran out of time and had to finish.

I believe to fix it properly i need to put the one way valve back onto the bleed valve, open the bleed valve and fully press the clutch in, then push the slave cylinder all the way back in. This will remove all air and fluid from the system apart from the fluid in the pipe. Closing the bleed valve and then pumping the clutch pedal should then refill the cylinders.

Hope this makes sence.
 
Hi Jacob,

The problem is air clutch hydraulic system and i managed to cause the same issue while working on my sisters GP. In this case I was replacing the battery negative to earth cables and i had to remove the slave cylinder to get to the gearbox earth.

While the slave cylinder was out the piston came to the end of its travel and when i pushed it back in i could no longer select gears.

I bled it using a one way valve and the pedal, opening and closing the bleed valve in sync with the pedal being raised and lowered. This brought the gear selection back but now the bite is low. I ran out of time and had to finish.

I believe to fix it properly i need to put the one way valve back onto the bleed valve, open the bleed valve and fully press the clutch in, then push the slave cylinder all the way back in. This will remove all air and fluid from the system apart from the fluid in the pipe. Closing the bleed valve and then pumping the clutch pedal should then refill the cylinders.

Hope this makes sence.

Interesting.

I have exactly the same problem in my 1.3 Mjet.

I bought the car 4 months ago. Its required an extensive service due to negligence on the part of the previous owner for over 2 years.

So as part of the service front and rear disks/drums and pads were changed and new fluid was bled through the system. At that time my clutch pedal was below the halfway point in terms of the biting point. During the brake bleeding procedure my mechanic and I also bled the clutch pipe to refresh the fluid, no hardware was disconnected at that point, purely followed the bleeding procedure........

1. Open bleed nipple in conjunction with pressing the clutch pedal to down position.
2. At bottom of clutch pedal travel, close bleed nipple, then lift clutch pedal.
3. Repeat 1 + 2 until new fluid runs through and no air bubbles are evident in the bleed pipe.

Following this, the clutch bite point went almost to the floor, which I found rather odd at the time but didn't have time to investigate/rectify.

So based on the above summary, the slave cylinder is more than likely to have an air pocket in it? I can understand this being the case if the parts were completely disassembled, but I don't understand why this would occur when we were only bleeding the system with the two man approach!?!?!

Humour
 
Hi Humour. That is exactly how i bled the clutch too to get the low bite. I am not sure how it would have put air in your slave though, perhaps it puts the cylinder out of alignment or something.

I have yet to try out what i said in my last post but i am confident it will work. With the cylinders both empty and fluid in the line and the bleed valve closed, lifting the pedal will then fill the master cylinder from the brake resevoir (make sure this is topped up). Pressing the pedal again will then pressurise the system and fill the slave. another pump will top up the fluid in the system and that, in theory, should fix the issue. It certainly can't make it any worse.
 
Ransoman, yes the theory is sound, so I hope in practice it works.

I'm unlikely to be able to do this in January due to work commitments, but if you do it first do let us know how it pans out please. (y)

Hum
 
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