Clutch pedal stop adjustment

EastMT

EastMT

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2D, single disk, Honda 3.5 . I think I wore out my previous clutch by not having the slave cylinder set nuts adusted correctly ( to tight , throw out bearing riding on the clutch fingers ) and over extending the slave cylinder/throw out bearing (no pedal stop on previous pedals). New throw out bearing, new clutch, and new pedal assembly with a set screw pedal stop for the clutch pedal. I read about the 1/4" to 3/8" free play for the slave cylinder. How do you set the pedal stop so you have enough slave cylinder throw to engage the clutch but not too much to over extend the throw out bearing?
 
Push it in with the engine running, slowly let the clutch out until it engages and have a helper mark it?

I've never had an issue with it over extending when adjusted to the correct freeplay. That slave cylinder doesn't have a huge amount of travel.
 
Engine off, put it in gear, push the clutch in, have someone try and roll the car.
Adjust the stop to where the car will just start to roll while in gear.
Slave I do 3/8" free play.
 
Rockwood said:
Push it in with the engine running, slowly let the clutch out until it engages and have a helper mark it?

I've never had an issue with it over extending when adjusted to the correct freeplay. That slave cylinder doesn't have a huge amount of travel.
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Thanks!
 
lincster said:
Engine off, put it in gear, push the clutch in, have someone try and roll the car.
Adjust the stop to where the car will just start to roll while in gear.
Slave I do 3/8" free play.
Click to expand...
Thanks! Appreciate the freeplay measurement.
 
lincster said:
Engine off, put it in gear, push the clutch in, have someone try and roll the car.
Adjust the stop to where the car will just start to roll while in gear.
Slave I do 3/8" free play.
Click to expand...
I'd go a little past where it starts to roll, otherwise you'll never fully disengage the clutch.
 
Rockwood said:
I'd go a little past where it starts to roll, otherwise you'll never fully disengage the clutch.
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+1

He will find out Real quick, when he tries to put it in reverse! 😱

Can the fingers really go so far they would actually hit the clutch disc?

I would try and go into reverse, with the engine running at idle.

If it's like most every manual transmission, there is no syncro on reverse.

It should go in easily.
 
rivermobster said:
+1

He will find out Real quick, when he tries to put it in reverse! 😱

Can the fingers really go so far they would actually hit the clutch disc?

I would try and go into reverse, with the engine running at idle.

If it's like most every manual transmission, there is no syncro on reverse.

It should go in easily.
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Yes. Happens all the time.

Clutch pedal should only need to move about 3-4" to dis-engage. Most pedals have way too much travel.
 
SeanRitchie said:
Yes. Happens all the time.

Clutch pedal should only need to move about 3-4" to dis-engage. Most pedals have way too much travel.
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Wow.

Since I'm mainly a car dealership guy (or was anyway), I'm used to everything being designed/engenered to the T.

In the aftermarket world, where who knows what diameter slave or master is being used, or what the pedal ratio is...

I was hesitant to make any kind of recommendation here.
 
rivermobster said:
Wow.

Since I'm mainly a car dealership guy (or was anyway), I'm used to everything being designed/engenered to the T.

In the aftermarket world, where who knows what diameter slave or master is being used, or what the pedal ratio is...

I was hesitant to make any kind of recommendation here.
Click to expand...
Even the highest end sand cars are a hodge-podge of various quality parts. This is a world of generalities.
 
SeanRitchie said:
Even the highest end sand cars are a hodge-podge of various quality parts. This is a world of generalities.
Click to expand...

I would always call Ed at ABS Brakes for Custom brake related issues.

He would know right away to tell me what components to use, what size lines to run, what proportioning and residual valves to use, and what pedal ratio to use. On everything from a manual system to a full blown hydroboost system.

And he either had it in stock or built it for me! Dude was a wealth of knowledge.

Never had to assemble a hydraulic clutch system from scratch though...

So I was hoping to learn a few things from this thread. 😎
 
Just so I am clear I have never had an issue with to much travel on the though out bearing. However with 1/4 - 3/8 play at the slave cylinder with the clutch released. My pedal set with 3/4 master cylinder will give me more travel than is needed to get into any gear. So in my case should I install a pedal stop ??
 
Dbotelho said:
Just so I am clear I have never had an issue with to much travel on the though out bearing. However with 1/4 - 3/8 play at the slave cylinder with the clutch released. My pedal set with 3/4 master cylinder will give me more travel than is needed to get into any gear. So in my case should I install a pedal stop ??
Click to expand...
My car didn't come with one and worked perfectly but I wanted one for peace of mind and I like screwing with stuff. I like being able to bang on the clutch pedal to the stop and not worry about hurting anything.
Also bleed the slave once in a while.
 
There are a lot of factors that go into how far each clutch pedal will need to travel to dis-engage the clutch.

Length of pedal
Master cylinder bore size
Slave cylinder
External arm length at bell housing
How much soft/flex line is used

Since every car is typically built with a a variation of these parts, each car needs to be set up individually.

The slave cylinder should be adjusted so there is only 1/8" of play until the throw out bearing contacts the fingers of the clutch. This will allow for a little bit of disc wear as the clutch fingers move towards the throw bearing as the discs wear down. This needs to be checked periodically (at least once a year) by move the external arm at the bell housing and making sure there is some free play.

Most clutch pedal assemblies do not have any sort of pedal stop. Some combinations of these parts can allow the pedal to travel far enough to push the throw out bearing too far into the clutch, and cause the fingers to drag on the disc, or worse, catch the throw out bearing on the fingers and yank it off the fork that pushes it, requiring engine removal and usually a new throw out bearing.

A properly adjusted system should only need about 3"-4" of clutch pedal travel to fully dis-engage the clutch. This can be check by putting the trans in gear, jacking one rear tire off the ground, and having one person push the pedal down, while another person tries to spin the tire off the ground. Once the tire releases, you can set the clutch pedal stop for another 1/2" or so of pedal travel.

Note that the newer internal hydraulic slave cylinders (Albins, Weddle HV, S4/S4D with Weddle Chevy BH) are self adjusting. The throw out bearing will always sit right against the pressure plate fingers once the pedal is released. These do not need to be adjusted other then setting the pedal stop for max pedal travel.
 
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