Elan S4 clutch adjustment

[lotusposition]

Gentlemen,

Am experiencing grave problems with getting a decent clutch operation and would greatly appreciate any advice.

Have replaced all seals, slave spring, flexible hose and bled the system all to no avail. When correctly adjusted it will not engage gear with engine running and reverse selection just gives a crashing sensation.

I notice in the footwell that the clutch pedal has no return spring and there seems to be 3 - 4 mm of free play.

Have just pulled the pushrod from the master cylinder and it seems to be 3 - 4 mm shorter than Mr.Buckland says it should be.

TIA for any comments and possible suggestions as to where I can obtain a correct length pushrod ?

Donald

[hansaxl]

Hi Donald,

I can only throw in my two-penny here. Had a similar problem a couple of years ago after a major engine job. I had also fitted a new clutch master cylinder, adjusted the free play under the car, thought all was fine, but then I was not able to change gear with engine running..

After much head scratching I discovered that the clutch was actually being engaged too much(!), so it was "jammed". This was due to the new master cylinder having a different diameter than original.

Easy to test if this is your problem: Engage the pedal only halfway or even less and see if your problem is solved. Sounds all too simple, but took me two hours back then...

IMHO, there is no return spring for the pedal inside the car, only the one fixed to the slave cylinder.

Otherwise, your rod may be too short, as you already seem to suspect.

Cheers, Hans

[Craven]

Clutch hydraulics are notorious difficult to bleed due to the position of the bleed nipple not being at the highest point on the slave cylinder, some even go the length of removing the slave to achieve this.

[lotusposition]

Thank you for your responses.

[seniorchristo]

I had a similar problem in my S3. The clutch pushrod was adjustable and I was able to take up the free play and solve the problem.

[smo17003]

My S4 certainly has two pedal return springs, i.e. one each for brake and clutch. The parts drawing on WIKI also says "quantity 2" (although illustrating only one).

This thread has photos showing the arrangement viewtopic.php?t=29885&p=198754

Mike