Clutch Issue

[EyemAllin]

Hopped in the car for quick drive and soon noticed the clutch was a bit soft - as if it had some slack at the top. I had no issues changing gears. Drove for less than a mile and brought her back. It just didn't feel right

Tried pumping the clutch and still felt the same. There were no puddles or signs of any leaks underneath. Checked the clutch fluid and it was full. Perhaps looked a bit dirty - pic is attached.

Searched on the internet and found lots of mentions of checking the fluid, flushing, and replacing the clutch slave and master cylinder. Most of the issues with slaves and cylinders resulted in not being able to put the car in gear which is not an issue for me

Hadn't driven the car for a week and didn't have any previous issues. No scratching or difficulty with the gears; However, several weeks back I noticed it would stick every so slightly at the very end when putting into gear. I adjusted my seat forward one click to its normal position and didn't feel it stick as much, if at all. Thought perhaps it was a good time to change the transmission fluid.

I remember the clutch being super stiff. But now if i just tap the clutch without applying pressure it seems to wiggle almost as if its loose - not sure if I'm now just overthinking it but don't recall that previously being the case. However when I push down its definitely not nearly as long.

Think I need to first try flushing the clutch fluid. Not sure when it was last done. Would appreciate any insight.

It's an '01 with 26k miles

[Old School]

Does the clutch pedal return to the same position as in the past (inline with the brake pedal)? Does the clutch hold at wide open throttle?

[njsteve]

Just went through this with my '93. Started with a noticable "different" feeling to the clutch pedal. I replaced the clutch master cylinder on the firewall but that was not it. No visible fluid on the garage floor but it was the slave cylinder that engages the throw-out bearing. Tranny has to be pulled out to replace.

Here's what I went through: https://driveviper.com/forums/thread...ck-on-the-road

[dave6666]

Easiest step one is to flush and bleed. Stupid simple to do. After that the choices are master or slave. Either could cause that problem with no external leakage.

Bad plunger primary cup at either... soft pedal and no external leak. That's called bypassing when that happens.

Bad secondary seal at master or slave... external leak and not necessarily a bad pedal but with fluid leakage you will have to refill and deal with the mess.

Combo seal leak i.e. all of above... do the math. Soft pedal AND a mess.

[Viperenvy]

This is what 7,000 miles and 2years looks like.

If you haven’t changed it and no service records, could it be factory fill?

Listen to Dave6666 & check every fluid.

[EyemAllin]

yes clutch returns to normal resting place however there is about .5 to 1 inch of play before pressure is required to push down the pedal

looks like i definitely will be flushing the fluid this afternoon. i have a feeling that should fix the problem

[njsteve]

That was the exact symptom on my car. (It didn't help that I had just tried to teach my son how to drive a manual transmission on the car, either) :-)