Possible to soften a clutch ?

Supercell

On motorbikes you can adjust the clutch lever easily to require as little or as much motion as you like when changing gear - a soft clutch (more lever play) being better for learner drivers.

I got used to my old Corsa's clutch which i'd describe as soft, i.e the biting point was easy enough to find during gear changes so no mad revving of engine during a gear change (or stalling if in the other direction) however the Fabia is much much more tight and even through I have it now about 6 months still ocassionally rev like crazy on a gear change which never ever happened on the Corsa.
On my first driving test I got a lot of grade two faults for clutch control (only had the car a few weeks ago at that point) and while i'm considerably better by now, when tired ... first thing in the morning or nervous ...someone 5 inches from my back bumper I do ocassionally over rev while changing gear and am pretty sure the driving test is going to be as stressful as it gets and am rather worried its going to happen.

So can I get the clutch adjusted on a 02 Fabia 1.4L MPI to be softer, or should I do it in another car? (any Fiesta, Micra, Leon or Corsa I've driven so far seems to be a lot softer and I don't have this probem in them) ?

Owen

It depends on whether the clutch is hyrdaulic or cable actuated. If it's Cable, then adjusting the Cable at the Clutch housing will do the trick. If it's hydraulic, there are a few ways. At the master cylinder (Close to the pedal), there maybe an adjustment wheel of some sort, but the slave cylinder at the Clutch housing can also be replaced with an aftermarket one. My Ducati 916 has a very heavy clutch, and I adjusted the master cylinder, and replaced the slave cylinder, and it's an amazing difference. Yes it's a bike and some of the principles might not apply, but they could.

Also, if you have a hydraulic clutch, it might need bleeding if there's air in the system!

Darragh29

ned78 wrote:

It depends on whether the clutch is hyrdaulic or cable actuated. If it's Cable, then adjusting the Cable at the Clutch housing will do the trick. If it's hydraulic, there are a few ways. At the master cylinder (Close to the pedal), there maybe an adjustment wheel of some sort, but the slave cylinder at the Clutch housing can also be replaced with an aftermarket one. My Ducati 916 has a very heavy clutch, and I adjusted the master cylinder, and replaced the slave cylinder, and it's an amazing difference. Yes it's a bike and some of the principles might not apply, but they could.

Also, if you have a hydraulic clutch, it might need bleeding if there's air in the system!

Didn't really want to get involved but kind of had to knock a few myths on the head here!!!

Myths being:

(1) If there is ANY AIR WHATSOEVER in the clutch hydraulic fluid line, the clutch will not work, full stop. The pedal will act like it is attached to nothing.

(2) There are no adjustment mechanisms on either the clutch slave cylinder or the clutch master cylinder on a car, EVER.

So, if you have a hydraulic clutch and you have a stiff pedal, you need a new clutch assembly (cover assembly, driven plate & release bearing).

Or if you have a cable actuated clutch, the problem is either a stiff clutch cable, which might be fixable with a bit of WD40, or else you might need a clutch cable and/or a clutch assembly, (cover assembly, driven plate & release bearing).

The clutch assembly in a bike and in a car could not be more different...

Darragh29

Longfield wrote:

On motorbikes you can adjust the clutch lever easily to require as little or as much motion as you like when changing gear - a soft clutch (more lever play) being better for learner drivers.

I got used to my old Corsa's clutch which i'd describe as soft, i.e the biting point was easy enough to find during gear changes so no mad revving of engine during a gear change (or stalling if in the other direction) however the Fabia is much much more tight and even through I have it now about 6 months still ocassionally rev like crazy on a gear change which never ever happened on the Corsa.
On my first driving test I got a lot of grade two faults for clutch control (only had the car a few weeks ago at that point) and while i'm considerably better by now, when tired ... first thing in the morning or nervous ...someone 5 inches from my back bumper I do ocassionally over rev while changing gear and am pretty sure the driving test is going to be as stressful as it gets and am rather worried its going to happen.

So can I get the clutch adjusted on a 02 Fabia 1.4L MPI to be softer, or should I do it in another car? (any Fiesta, Micra, Leon or Corsa I've driven so far seems to be a lot softer and I don't have this probem in them) ?

As far as I know, your clutch is cable actuated. Any mechanic worth his salt should be able to have a quick look at the car and tell you definitely, whether the cable has to be replaced or the clutch assembly itself...

Supercell

Thanks for the reply Darragh.

If I understand you correctly, what you are saying is that regardless if its cable driven or not, on a car its not ajustable like on a bike?
I don't think there is anything wrong with the clutch on my car, so would assume replacing its components with others would result in exactly the same feel.

Think I might do the test in a Fiesta so, liked the zippyness of them and the forgiving clutch on any ones i've driven before.

Darragh29

Longfield wrote:

Thanks for the reply Darragh.

If I understand you correctly, what you are saying is that regardless if its cable driven or not, on a car its not ajustable like on a bike?
I don't think there is anything wrong with the clutch on my car, so would assume replacing its components with others would result in exactly the same feel.

Think I might do the test in a Fiesta so, liked the zippyness of them and the forgiving clutch on any ones i've driven before.

Sorry Longfield, might have confused matters there a bit for you! Cable clutches are of course adjustable, but the adjustment available is only to adjust the travel at the pedal, it would have minimal difference with regard to the stiffness of the clutch, if the reason why the clutch pedal is stiff is due to the cable itself being stiff, or if the clutch assembly inside the gearbox bell housing is nearing end of life.

Hydraulic clutches are not adjustable, so when they go stiff, this is a sign that the pressure plate spring is becoming heavy and and clutch disc is nearing end of life. If there is ANY air in the system, the clutch simply will not work full stop, the pedal will fall to the floor as if there is nothing attached to it.

As far as I know, you have a cable clutch in your car... You can adjust this, but if the cable itself is stiff, no amount to adjustment is going to make it loose. Sometimes you can detach the cable at the gearbox and drop some WD40 lubricant into the cable and this will free it up a bit.

Othertimes the wire cable itself is frayed or clogged up with ****e and dirt and its too much hassle to clean it so replacement is the best option.

Worst case scenario is that you could replace the cable and still have a stiff pedal and then you know the clutch assembly itself is worn...

If you by chance have a hydraulically operated clutch, you can move straight away to getting a new clutch assembly.

Tobias Greeshman

Darragh29 wrote:

Othertimes the wire cable itself is frayed or clogged up with ****e and dirt and its too much hassle to clean it so replacement is the best option.

Worst case scenario is that you could replace the cable and still have a stiff pedal and then you know the clutch assembly itself is worn...

That's exactly whats happened my car (1.4 Ibiza), the clutch is very stiff, so ended up putting lube into the cable and after that didnt work replaced the cable. So now it turns out the pressure plate is on its way out, apparantly they loose their springiness after a while, and become very stiff. Getting it done in next few weeks.