as the clutch wears...engagement point goes towards the floor?

[venik]

My uncle says the reason my engagement point is going towards the floor is just normal clutch wear, but I think my slave might be going bad. I'm going to be replacing both soon anyways(I have a spare slave and my 6 puck has almost 30k on it), but I'd like to know for sure if hes right or not for future reference. Can someone explain? My uncle has been a motor head for 40 years, but I just don't get how clutch wear could make the engagement point go down instead of up. I'd ask him but I feel like I'd be disrespecting him by questioning his knowledge.

[beefy]

Maybe it just needs to be bleed.
You could pop the rubber cover on the slave and see if there is any fluid leaking.

[TT4ME]

I'm no expert but knowing how a clutch operates, but the later it grabs - the more the clutch is worn. There are simple adjustments in these cars to have it engage at the correct time.

Replacing the slave cylinder is a cheap and easy measure to take. If that doesn't solve your issues it should be just simple clutch adjustment which is done inside the car, under the dash. Personally, I would try that first because it is free & somewhat easy.

[RealMcCoy]

As a clutch wears the pressure plate fingers extend, and freeplay is lost, making the engagement point higher, not lower. If the engagement point is lower, something else is going on.. Most likely air in system, or hydraulic problem.

[kywhitelightning]

Very informative Real. Thanks.

[venik]

Originally Posted by TT4ME

I'm no expert but knowing how a clutch operates, but the later it grabs - the more the clutch is worn. There are simple adjustments in these cars to have it engage at the correct time.

Replacing the slave cylinder is a cheap and easy measure to take. If that doesn't solve your issues it should be just simple clutch adjustment which is done inside the car, under the dash. Personally, I would try that first because it is free & somewhat easy.

I've allready adjusted it and I've only got 2 or so full rotations till I run out of adjustment. My question was purely about how the clutch hydrolics work, as in whether or not the slave auto-adjusts to the wear which could lead to the opposite of what you would think - the engagement point moving towards the floor. But it seems like my uncle is wrong, dont know why he thinks that it moves towards the floor. Is our car different from most?

thanks for the info guys

[axispiral]

ok, lemme see if i can get my thoughts out into a coherent paragraph

think about what the clutch petal is actually doing, as you push the petal, it uses the hydraulic system to push one end of the clutch fork and releases the pressure plate thus disengaging the clutch plate. now, as there is less 'meat' on the clutch plate, the actual plate will be thinner, and the pressure plate will need to move further to squeeze the clutch plate and engage the clutch. that means that as the clutch gets more and more worn down, the point of engagement of the pedal will get higher and higher.

this logically makes sense cause imagine you have a brand new clutch plate that is relatively thick, you will have to press the clutch pedal down pretty far cause you have to put lots of pressure on the fork pushing on the release bearing to disengage its grip on the clutch itself.

now think of an old clutch plate, where it only takes a little bit of pressure on the pressure plate to cause it to let go of its grip on the clutch disk.

now think about going from an old completely worn out clutch, and replacing it with a brand new one. since it took so little pressure on the hydraulic system to release the old clutch, when the new one is in, the release point will now be almost on the floor. (from personal experience) this is because now, you will have to put that much more pressure on the release fork to disengage the clutch

now . . . did that make any sense? or is that even right, I think it is, cause after i got my clutch replaced, the release point was on the floor, but after a few turns on the adjustment nut, it was all better

[venik]

Originally Posted by axispiral

ok, lemme see if i can get my thoughts out into a coherent paragraph

think about what the clutch petal is actually doing, as you push the petal, it uses the hydraulic system to push one end of the clutch fork and releases the pressure plate thus disengaging the clutch plate. now, as there is less 'meat' on the clutch plate, the actual plate will be thinner, and the pressure plate will need to move further to squeeze the clutch plate and engage the clutch. that means that as the clutch gets more and more worn down, the point of engagement of the pedal will get higher and higher.

this logically makes sense cause imagine you have a brand new clutch plate that is relatively thick, you will have to press the clutch pedal down pretty far cause you have to put lots of pressure on the fork pushing on the release bearing to disengage its grip on the clutch itself.

now think of an old clutch plate, where it only takes a little bit of pressure on the pressure plate to cause it to let go of its grip on the clutch disk.

now think about going from an old completely worn out clutch, and replacing it with a brand new one. since it took so little pressure on the hydraulic system to release the old clutch, when the new one is in, the release point will now be almost on the floor. (from personal experience) this is because now, you will have to put that much more pressure on the release fork to disengage the clutch

now . . . did that make any sense? or is that even right, I think it is, cause after i got my clutch replaced, the release point was on the floor, but after a few turns on the adjustment nut, it was all better

Thats what I thought too until my uncle told me the opposite, and he definetely has more experience than I. If someone could explain why he thinks the opposite happens that would be great.

[RealMcCoy]

Originally Posted by venik

Thats what I thought too until my uncle told me the opposite, and he definetely has more experience than I. If someone could explain why he thinks the opposite happens that would be great.

Probably the same reason that after twenty five years of turning wrenches for a living, I still, at least once a year try to turn a bolt the wrong direction.. You can't retain that much knowlege without a hiccup once in a while..

[axispiral]

Originally Posted by venik

Thats what I thought too until my uncle told me the opposite, and he definetely has more experience than I. If someone could explain why he thinks the opposite happens that would be great.

youre right, I'm right and RealMcCoy is right, your uncle and TT4ME are incorrect, I know for a fact new cluthes disengage a lot lower than old one