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Car Forum / BMW Cars / February 2005'95 328i Clutch Adjustment
Does anyone know if the height at which my clutch "takes" can be adjusted? It seems to "take" rather low down... With my heafty boots I find it difficult to depress the clutch all the way. Just a tad annoying.... Thanks Paul > Does anyone know if the height at which my clutch "takes" can be > adjusted? It seems to "take" rather low down... With my heafty boots > I > find it difficult to depress the clutch all the way. > > Just a tad annoying.... Not really. Because the clutch is hydraulically operated it is "self adjusting". That said, if your disengagement point is late (too low) it may be due to air in the line. Try bleeding the circuit. -Fred W Hi Fred Thanks for the advice. I actually had my clutch replaced today. My old one took pretty low, but not as low as the new one. I asked the mechanic to bleed the system, which he did, but perhaps he never did it properly. In addition to the clutch taking a little low, I find it sometimes feels as though the clutch is slipping a little as I pull away... but perhaps that's just because the height at which the clutch takes is different and I'm not useto it.... I also had new brake disks and pads fitted, and asked him to bleed the brakes. The brakes now feel a little spongy, and not as solid as they did before. Could it be as a result of the type of pad fitted, as they were not BMW pads? Thanks again for your input. Regards Paul > Hi Fred > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > perhaps that's just because the height at which the clutch takes is > different and I'm not useto it.... Or perhaps the mechanic didn't install it correctly. > I also had new brake disks and pads fitted, and asked him to bleed the > brakes. The brakes now feel a little spongy, and not as solid as they > did before. Could it be as a result of the type of pad fitted, as they > were not BMW pads? They still need to be bled. Perhaps you should switch mechanics. Jim Hi Jim The mechanics are generally ok... but I think they were in a rush, so perhaps as you say - both need to be bled again. Maybe I should just do it myself... sigh. Paul > Hi Fred > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Thanks again for your input. Yes, it sounds as if maybe your mechanic does not have a good method for bleeding hydraulic lines. New brake pads do not cause the brake pedal to feel spongy. They may have a different rate at which they stop the car, but the pedal feel is all about the hydraulic lines. Both symptoms (clutch and brakes) would indicate air in the lines. Good luck with it, -Fred W > Yes, it sounds as if maybe your mechanic does not have a good method > for bleeding hydraulic lines. New brake pads do not cause the brake [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Good luck with it, > -Fred W I agree (about the mech) but new pads can take a little while to bed in and make it seem like the pedal is spongy. The clutch shouldn't slip at all. The trick with these when bleeding is to remove the slave cylinder fromt he transmission. It could be that your slave cylinder has failed in some way though. >> Yes, it sounds as if maybe your mechanic does not have a good >> method [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > in > and make it seem like the pedal is spongy. If you say so... I've changed pads a lot and never experienced this. > The clutch shouldn't slip at all. The trick with these when > bleeding > is to remove the slave cylinder fromt he transmission. It could be > that your slave cylinder has failed in some way though. Quick ad-on here. Even if the clutch line needs to be bled, there is zero possibility that this would cause the clutch to "slip". Think about it... air in the line makes it harder to disengage the clutch. It should engage just fine. To test for slipping, while at a stand-still, put the trans in 3rd gear and rev the engine and let out the clutch fairly rapidly. The engine should immediately stall. If it does not, the clutch will slip and you should be able to sense that. -Fred W Thanks for all the replies. I called my mechanic today and he reckons that the clutch may slip slightly until it has bed in. He indicated that I should give it a week and if it is still a problem I could bring it back. I'm not sure that I buy it, but I can't think what else it could be. It seems to slip every now and again and then only between about 1400 and 1900 RPM. My gut feel is to agree with Fred in that I can't see how air in the clutch fluid could cause slipping. I feel that the air could however cause the clutch to take low down (practically on the floor) - since much of the clutch travel is simply compressing air in the line. Do any of you know if it's a mission to bleed the clutch? I have bled a clutch on a Fiat Uno before... but the thing was in plain sight... I can't even see my BM's master/slave (not sure which) cylinder :-). Paul > Thanks for all the replies. I called my mechanic today and he reckons > that the clutch may slip slightly until it has bed in. I've changed many clutches and never experienced this.  Signature*Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. > > Thanks for all the replies. I called my mechanic today and he reckons > > that the clutch may slip slightly until it has bed in. > > I've changed many clutches and never experienced this. It's complete BS. Maybe he put the friction plate in the wrong way around or something like that. <adder1969@yahoo.co.uk> wrote >> > Thanks for all the replies. I called my mechanic today and he > reckons that the clutch may slip slightly until it has bed in. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > It's complete BS. Maybe he put the friction plate in the wrong way > around or something like that. I wonder if the tech (?) only replaced the friction plate, and didn't replace the clutch plate (and I might wonder about the throw-out bearing if I wondered that). A new and old surface won't grip very well due to the uneven wear of the old surface... And this would be worse if the flywheel wasn't re-surfaced... Floyd Although I've yet to replace a clutch on my daily drivers, new clutch slippage is well known in performance (track) cars, but maybe this has to do with the types and formulation of the components used in these applications. Of course, I cannot disagree with your real world observations, just offering some food for thought. >> Dave Plowman (News) wrote: >>> > Thanks for all the replies. I called my mechanic today and he [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Floyd > I wonder if the tech (?) only replaced the friction plate, and > didn't replace the clutch plate (and I might wonder about the > throw-out bearing if I wondered that). A new and old surface won't > grip very well due to the uneven wear of the old surface... And this > would be worse if the flywheel wasn't re-surfaced... Again, not so. In my youth I often replaced just the plate since money was tight - and these things cost a *lot* more in proportion to what they do today. Of course if the pressure plate had bad scoring, then it would be replaced too. But never had a slipping clutch after only a new centre plate. This would suggest the clamping pressure of the springs was poor, as the friction itself will vary by little regardless of the state of the surfaces - if clean. A worn pressure plate or flywheel surface is likely to produce judder at take up, though. Signature*If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done? Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. > In article <1119cnuru7l4rcf@corp.supernews.com>, >> I wonder if the tech (?) only replaced the friction plate, and [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > replaced too. But never had a slipping clutch after only a new centre > plate. Not my experience. Floyd > Yes, it sounds as if maybe your mechanic does not have a good method > for bleeding hydraulic lines. New brake pads do not cause the brake > pedal to feel spongy. If anything, forcing the caliper pistons back into the body sort of bleeds the brakes anyway - possibly. However, many open a bleed screw to avoid pushing fluid back into the reservoir, so this might introduce some air. Signature*Keep honking...I'm reloading. Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. You guys clearly know a darn side more than I do. I purchased the clutch kit and gave it to the mech, so I reckon he installed everything. The release bearing is a point though.... surely it won't cause slippage though? I asked the mech to skim the flywheel. He said that my car's flywheel could not be skimmed because it was a {some type of flywheel I can't remember}. Strange I thought... but I'm not a mech, so what do I know. An updated status on the clutch is that it seems to slip less now. And seemes to start "taking" slightly higher up... about and inch from the floor! The brakes are a little better... or am I just becoming use to the spongy feeling? I tested the ABS at about 70km/h - all seems well, the car stops pretty quickly. I think I will get they guys to bleed the clutch and brakes again next week. Perhaps by that time all the slipping will be gone.... I hope. Thanks for the deliberation. I've learned one or two things. Paul > You guys clearly know a darn side more than I do. > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > could not be skimmed because it was a {some type of flywheel I can't > remember}. Strange I thought... but I'm not a mech, so what do I know. usually/often a flywheel is a complete solid unit and in the clutch discs there are springs that act to dampen the take up of drive. On most 3-series BMW fitted a "dual mass" flywheel which has the springs built into it. I think they can still be skimmed if necessary. |
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