JMon

A few weeks ago I sold my Firehawk and got a 1997 VET. It is a 6 speed with 21k mi.
When I start pressing on the clutch it travels about 2 1/2 inches before I start to feel pressure. It also doesn’t completely disengage until it is about 1 1/2 in from the bottom (determined by slowly disengaging until the car starts to creep). There are no other problems. Is there a way to adjust it? Or because it is hydraulic I’m out of luck. I just would think that the clutch would be a little more responsive, and even stiffer.
Is this normal for the C5s? Or am I looking at a problem?

Ray'98

By all rights the clutch should be "self adjusting". You can manually make an adjustment by moving the adjustment tabs on the pressure plate housing, although it's not a simple operation, as you could imagine.

JMon

Does anyone know of a kit that changes how the clutch feels? Basically a different slave cylinder size? I would really like to do something that would allow the transition between engaged and disengaged to be a shorter throw.
One more thing. Is the clutch and pressure plate on the fly wheel, or back with the tranny?
.

David Lively

The clutch and pressure plate are on the flywheel, inside the front bell housing. I had a problem with a soft clutch pedal for a while; I flushed the clutch and replaced the DOT 3 fluid with ATE SuperBlue and haven't had a problem since.

Problem: Bleeding the clutch takes about 4 hours and I highly recommend air tools. Dealerships don't like to do it as it involves removing the exhaust and the driveline closeout panel (held on by forty-odd 8mm bolts).


[Modified by David Lively, 12:54 PM 3/5/2002]

JMon

So maybe it's time to get the factory books, as I've noticed the fluid is a bit brown. I have air tools so 40 bolds shouldn't take more than a couple of mins.
So just drop that pan and get to the slave and blead it? Why did you use ATE SuperBlue?

JMon

OK so what's ATE SuperBlue?????? What's suppose to be in there looks/feels like DOT3 (well brake fluid that is)
Anyone else have an Idea about my clutch. Maybe that's normal......

Viprklr

I don't think it is normal. My clutch has pressure through the whole range. Try bleeding the system with the ATE Super Blue. I use it in my clutch and have no issues. If that doesn't solve it then you can look into other causes. :cheers:

vettenuts

Based on your description, I am not sure anything is wrong other then you may want to change the fluid. Mine starts grabbing lower then other cars I have had with mechanical linkage and is very easy to operate (one reason I got it with knee problems). As a matter of fact, in 01 they changed the arrangement so it was even easier to push down. I think changing the fluid is good maintenance, but maybe you should try another car before you start tearing into things that might end up being normal.

chuckster

ATE is Brake Fluid (same as clutch fuid) I too used ATE on both my brakes and clutch... The ATE is great caus it's blue and you can see when the entire system is flushed out...

David Lively

Sorry for the delay. ATE SuperBlue is DOT 4 (REALLY high-temp) brake fluid. I track the car (road course) and I have problems with boiling just about every liquid that the car uses; higher-temp fluids alleviate this problem.

Also note that the slave cylinder itself is INSIDE the front bell housing; there is a bleeder valve that sticks out of the top, driver side of the front bell housing, but I hope you have small hands. Send me an email if you need more information.

JMon

How do I get at it? From underneith, or is it somehow accessable from the engine compartment? driver side you say?

David Lively

Here's the procedure (ala service manual):

<ol>
<li>Clean all dirt and debris from the clutch master cylinder cap to ensure that no foreign substances will enter the system. </li>
<li>Remove the clutch master cylinder reservoir cap with diaphragm. </li>
<li>Fill the clutch master cylinder reservoir with clutch hydraulic fluid GM P/N 12345347, or equivalent, if necessary. </li>
<li>Raise and suitably support the vehicle. Refer to Lifting and Jacking the Vehicle in General Information. </li>
<li>Remove the intermediate exhaust pipe. Refer to Intermediate Pipe Replacement in Engine Exhaust </li>
<li>Remove the driveline tunnel closeout panel. Refer to Driveline Tunnel Closeout Panel Replacement in Propeller Shaft. </li>
<li>Have an assistant depress the clutch pedal fully and hold. </li>
<li>Loosen the bleeder screw on the clutch actuator cylinder to purge air. </li>
<li>Tighten the bleeder screw. </li>
<li>Release the clutch pedal. </li>
<li>Repeat steps 7 through 10 until all air is completely evacuated. Check and refill the clutch master cylinder reservoir with clutch hydraulic fluid GM P/N 12345347, or equivalent, as necessary in order to prevent air from being drawn through the clutch master cylinder. </li>
<li>Fill the clutch master cylinder reservoir with clutch hydraulic fluid GM P/N 12345347, or equivalent, if necessary. </li>
<li>Install the driveline tunnel closeout panel. Refer to Driveline Tunnel Closeout Panel Replacement in Propeller Shaft. </li>
<li>Install the exhaust intermediate pipe. Refer to Intermediate Pipe Replacement in Engine Exhaust. </li>
<li>Lower the vehicle. </li>
</ol>

Once you've got the closeout panel out, you'll have to stick your hand on top of the bell housing and feel around for the bleeder; it resembles a spigot[sic?] that is at about a 45 degree angle to the ground. I think it's an 11mm, but I can't recall for sure. It doesn't look like a normal bleeder (since it's not directly attached to a slave cylinder), but it's the only thing in the area that COULD be a bleeder; look and you'll find it.
You have to get at it from the bottom, and you have to take the exhaust and closeout panel off to do it, unless you're quadruple-jointed or something. =)




[Modified by David Lively, 11:18 AM 3/13/2002]