Clutch pedal alignment or slack

[delikilpat]

Just bought a 95 L300 exceed and the import dealership told me they replaced the clutch master cylinder before shipping it out to me.

Well the clutch pedal rubs on the floor board in the last about 10% of its range. Other than really throwing me off while tuning in to the drive, I think it’s what’s causing the occasional difficult shift into 1st for me. Looks like the problem isn’t a new one, the carpet is eaten through at the rub between the floor board and the pedal arm.

Is this a problem anyone has had? Am I pressing in the clutch too far? Do I have another issue? The master and slave cylinders arnt leaking as far as I can tell and the clutch fluid is filled almost to the brim.

I’ll post some pictures after work. My first thought is the pedal needs to move over to the left just 2 mm or so, or, I could take some slack out of the linkage?

I know I read somewhere on this forum the clutch pedal should have only “x” almost of free play before engaging the master cyclinder… I’ll look for that number again this afternoon and try and get a measurement.

Thanks for any advice in advanced. I really don’t like having to push the pedal past the point of run with the floor but it seems like it’s the only way to avoid issues getting into 1st from neutral.

 

[douglas.the.delica]

I sometimes have difficulty shifting into first, I'll start in 2nd or put it into reverse, start to move backward, then shift into first. I thought it was just me. I don't know the answer to your question but I will be watching this thread.

 

[delikilpat]

Yeah read around on the forum about difficulties shifting into 1st and 2nd, and tricks like going back to neutral, hitting third with the clutch depressed, and then going for 1st again.

Those tricks do seem to work. And honestly It’s a more rare occurrence the better I get at shifting, this is only my second week driving this van.

But damn is it annoying to hit the clutch pedal lever arm on the lip of this metal plate on the floor by the steering column, it makes an awful clunking sound then slide off to the left.

See photos.

 

[delikilpat]

The answer my damn well be I’m pressing it too far, but I think I’m just going to find a think rubber stop to stick on the clutch or something

 

[delikilpat]

Update:

Should anyone be following this thread, I talked to the Japanese import dealer who sold me the van. They did change out the slave and master cylinders just before shipping it to me. I bought it In Michigan but had it shipped to SLC without ever test driving (crazy af I realize). Regardless the cylinders look brand new and they arnt leaking.

He stopped short of admitting that they swapped the master with a cylinder they had on hand, but that’s what it sounds like could have happened. So it may be that the cylinder rod is too short and that’s why everything Is out of spec ( the clutch pedal height, the distance between the clutch and floorboard when completely depressed, no free play etc). The other option is air is stuck in the master cylinder or elsewhere.

I can lift the clutch up with my toe and can get about 3 inches of travel towards me at the pedal (maybe half an inch at the piston rod). If I do this the next shift into 1st or 2nd is easier.

My questions for the community: should air in the clutch system cause the pedal to drop so far to the floor? Or can air in the system cause so much free play in the master cylinder?

 

[Growlerbearnz]

How it should work:
At rest, the rubber buffer/stopper on top of the clutch pedal should be touching the metal plate:



Then, you adjust the pushrod until the clevis pin is loose (IE the clutch pedal is neither pulling nor pushing on the pushrod/clevis when the pedal is at rest). That's your "master cylinder free play" setting.



In your photos it looks like you're either holding the pedal down, or the pushrod is *way* too short.

I think I know what's happened in your case: you have a van/base model, but they've fitted the pushrod from a wagon/people mover.
The Wagon has a fancy clevis fork with built-in buffer/isolator, which the pushrod screws into. That makes the pushrod effectively longer.



To fix it, I would extend your clevis fork using a coupler nut:



You should be able to install that without having to remove the master cylinder or pushrod. You'd remove the clevis pin, unscrew the clevis fork from the pushrod, and then fit the coupler nut on the workbench (after measuring to check how long the nut should be).

Maybe use some loctite to the fork/short bolt end of the coupler nut, just to keep it from coming undone.

 

[delikilpat]

Thanks Growlerbearnz, this is the exact type of fix I was trying to think of. I'll let you know how it goes. And definitely my clutch pedal cannot rise up high enough to get to the metal plate. Once I have the clevis fork off, I should be able to measure how much extra length I need to add to the push rod using a coupler nut.

 

[delikilpat]

This is the van I have. I’m tired of driving a solar cooker around SLC so it’s currently at the shop to have the windows tinted.

When I have it back tomorrow I’ll measure the diameter of the push rod, or size the lock nut, I want to say it’s maybe 12 mm.

 

[moonpost]

Unrelated to main post: I'm not in a very hot climate (stereotypically anyway) and got the nano ceramic tinting on my L300 and it is wonderful to have so far.

 

[Growlerbearnz]

From memory the pushrod is M8 thread.

 

[delikilpat]

Yup it is M8. I managed to put something together that worked from metric parts at ace hardware.The clutch is now all the way up to the stop underneath the steering wheel. I’ll take some pictures tomorrow, but the pushrod only needed a very small increase in length for a huge difference in travel at the pedal.

Thanks for the idea Growlerbearns

 

[Growlerbearnz]

Just make sure the clevis fork and pin are loose when the pedal is at rest. If the clevis pin is compressed the clutch hydraulics will pump up and cause clutch slip.

 

[delikilpat]

Okay I’ll double check that the pin is loose, it very well may not be but I’ll have modify the parts I’m using slightly to get a slightly shorter extension on the push rod