Ever Wanted To Fix That Silly Clutch That Engaged Too High Up In The Travel?

[Goombeh]

Since getting myself back into a GTR, there was always something which left me feeling just a little unhappy with how it operated.

When I bought her, she had an Xtreme single plate clutch which was incredibly heavy and engaged so high up in the pedal that I thought it was coming to end of life.

So since I was doing more and more track days, I thought I'd plop a Nismo Copper Twin in and be done with it. But to my surprise, although the weight was considerably less, and the bite was nice and hard, it still engaged very high up in the travel. I did some research only to find that most people found this to be the case. Now as this is not my daily, I found it quite an effort trying to get accustomed to the high take up point every time I got into it after some time.

So I had to do something as there seemed to be no way to adjust it to reduce the point of takeup. You can go the other way by adjusting the rod at the master and the point of coupling to the pedal (ie. if the pedal engages early), but short of cutting the slave rod, I was a little stuck getting the engagement lower. And I didn't want to mess up the operation with the booster.

Had an idea. If I could simply shorten the throw and take away the dead pedal just off the floor, I could dial in a nice travel with a take up mid way up the pedal.

So I popped to Bunnings and picked up an 8 x 50mm bolt with nuts and a rubber end cap with a 6mm internal diameter. (After fitting, I could have got away with an 8 x 25mm but the extra doesn't get in the way of anything)

Here are the steps.

1. There's a little rubber stop mounted in the clutch pedal nearer the hinge to the firewall which can be removed. This stops the travel as it hits the pedal box.

2. Removing this leaves a 9mm hole in the clutch pedal where the stop was, use this to mount your new adjustable stop.

3. Mount it through the pedal first as this will allow you to use the two screws (one either side of the pedal arm) to adjust the length of the new stop.

4. fit the rubber cap to the end of the mounted screw and adjust a little beyond stock.

5. I garage tested first to see where the engagement point was, then once I liked it, I test drove to ensure engagement was clean and smooth so that I was certain the clutch was disengaging completely.

And the result. I've reduced the pedal travel by about 25mm at the foot which I feel has simply taken up the dead travel in the clutch. Now the clutch takes up about mid way through pedal travel and I can just get in and drive it normally without thinking or trying to adjust.

It's so much easier to take off as the clutch friction point is now just where it should be, and because I'm not going through the whole travel, my clutch action is much quicker and my shifts are much smoother and faster as well as being very natural and fluid.

Love it.. it has made the car feel incredible to drive and very natural to use. Have to say it has transformed the drive as previously, the high take up was quite annoying.

So for those who've had this issue, it may be worth giving it a go, just make sure you test it well to ensure you are disengaging the clutch completely.

Jump in and feel how much better it is to drive. You'll love it.!

And it cost me all of 6 bucks or so.... Sensational. Now just want to drive the thing everywhere.

Edited October 9, 2013 by Goombeh

[GTRsean]

Great idea!

I have the same thing happen with mine, take up point is near the top with a lot of dead travel once disengaged.

[GTR-N1]

Thanks so much for sharing

And your resourcefulness deserves an applause

[gtr0321994]

Some thing with mine hate it

[niZmO_Man]

This is great! Always felt the clutch engagement point is too high, was thinking my clutch is about to wear out. Thanks for sharing.

[poohkies]

when i put the push pull kit in mine it had an adjuster on the clutch slave, mine was the opposite issue that it was right on the floor to disengage, and jumping between the misses car and mine always involves a couple of stalls, i just adjusted the length on the slave adjuster!

[baicai]

Great write up, I had this problem as well after my nismo twin plate was installed. Friction take up point was just too high, and I was revving but not moving untill the clutch engaged high up. So after doing what was suggested above I must say it now drives a lot better. Thanks Goombeh, keep the posts coming!

A side note, I think the slave cylinder can be adjusted, as there is a nut at the end of the clutch salve cylinder, can't be sure, gonna get the mechanic to have a closer look next time.

[BakemonoRicer]

cool guide for people looking to reduce it.

Seems to be common...I have an ORC twin in my S15. The bite is very high up in the pedal also but im used to it now. Release...release...few quick blips of the throttle and slip it. quite nice when shifting gears quickly also.

[Ambi3nce]

My clutch pedal was different, had no hole on the bracket attached like yours (late 94 r32).

Have pulled the grommet from pedal box and done same thing there with the screw and seems to achieve similar.

[DJBarnstar]

Thanks. I hate high take up.

[jiffo]

This is a pretty old thread. At the time I mentioned to the OP the car comes with the facility to reduce pedal movement.

The "UP" stop on these cars is the switch.

Adjust the switch so the pedal sits closer to the floor and at the same time shorten the adjustable push rod to the master cylinder.

If the switch runs out of thread due to the lock nut, move the locknut to the other side of the bracket.

The pedal return spring is designed to go over centre so don't go too crazy with a super low pedal.

Remember to set some free travel.