Technical Stiff clutch pedal.

[chris3234]

Our 2010 1.2 Panda had a stiff clutch pedal and initially, only very occasionally, made a loud squeak as the pedal was depressed. As time went by the squeak became more frequent until it happened almost every time you pressed the pedal and by process of elimination (using my listening tube whilst Mrs J operated the pedal) The noise seemed to be coming from the slave cylinder. Changed the slave cylinder and the squeak disappeared entirely and the heavy pedal was greatly improved. Some time later the clutch had to be renewed simply because it was worn out and the pedal became lighter again.

So, because it's a relatively cheap thing to try it might be worth putting a new slave cylinder on and seeing if it sorts it? - The clutch hydraulics are known to sometimes give trouble on our left hand drive cars and the slave seems to be the weakest link? Most of the rest of the production - ie right hand drive - have cable clutches I believe?

OOPs, just thought, Is your's a diesel? I don't have much experience of the diesels but I believe their slave is of the concentric type which necessitates removal of the gearbox for access. The petrol engine's slave is mounted on the top of the bell housing so easily accessed.

If you do get to the stage of removing the gearbox it's probably worth doing a clutch anyway as much of the cost is in the labour. and get them to very carefully check the gearbox input shaft oil seal and bearing. even the smallest hint of an oil leak or lift or roughness in the bearing should not be ignored as it indicates imminent failure of these components which will then let oil escape and contaminate and ruin your new clutch.

I believe it's only the later 95hp diesel's that had the concentric slaves cylinders the 75hp version at least some of them definitely still had external ones
The 500 1.3 mjet I had did

 

[DaveMcT]

The clutch release lever is a 12mm diameter pin with two arms that push on the release bearing. Up top it's spliced to take the lever arm which is pushed by the slave cylinder. It moves on two dry bearings these are hard plastic (probably carbon impregnated) bushes. They cannot be replaced without bashing the old ones out so dont go ahead unless you have the parts in hand. If you want to ensure long term silence. Drill into the news bushes and fit grease nipples. Just take care as too much grease will pollute the clutch plate.

You could try some lubrication. Remove the lever arm circlip, mark the position and lever the lever off. Now dribble some oil into the bearing bush. My fave is ACF-50. It's an anti corrosion formula (hence the name) but harmless on plastics and very slippery.

While in there, bleed the clutch to change the fluid. Mine was about 2 years old and brown at the top and milky underneath (Yuck). Suck out the old gunk with a syringe, top with new fluid and bleed it through. Note - the pedal stays down when you push the fluid out.