Tips for adjusting the clutch pedal

In order to fully "feel" the car while driving, you need to make sure that all "control levers" obey perfectly. These include the familiar gas and brake pedals, as well as a third equally important element called the clutch pedal. The role of this control lever can hardly be overestimated, because if mishandled or malfunctioned, the machine simply will not budge. In addition, clutch adjustment is required for each such pedal, and there are reasons for this.

If you look at the problem from a practical point of view, then absolutely all clutch faults can be divided into two main groups: those that can be eliminated by adjusting the drive, as well as those in which this method cannot be dispensed with and it is necessary to apply repair, and sometimes replacement details. Accordingly, if the clutch adjustment is not taken care of in time, the malfunction will quickly move from one category to another, and then it will take much more time and money to eliminate the breakdown.

In addition to wasting resources, an unadjusted clutch, of course, causes certain inconveniences during the operation of the car - the pedal sinks and falls, the car starts off unusually abruptly, and sometimes jerks. Transmission problems are also possible - gear shifting, which is accompanied by loud sounds uncharacteristic of this process.

Thus, if you take up the necessary pumping of the hydraulic line and adjust the free wheeling, the clutch system at the most inopportune moment can completely fail, which will lead to trouble. In order to detect and debug a breakdown in time, you need to correctly diagnose the problem and only then look for ways to solve it.

Diagnostics of the correct operation of the clutch

In the go, motorists have their own ways to check the operation of the clutch without going to a car repair shop. To do this, you will need an ordinary ruler, with which you can measure the movement of the part, if your vehicle suddenly stops "obeying" and manifests itself in the above described way: the car starts jerking, the gearbox makes a noise, and the lever sinks. A ruler is needed to measure the distance from the passenger compartment floor to the rubber pedal pad.

The normal value is equal to 16 centimeters - if this figure is greater, then the clutch adjustment is necessary.

In addition, there is another simple test for the serviceability of this system: to do this, you must first start the engine, and then slowly release the lever. The immediate start of the movement indicates that there is no free play. In the event that the car remains in place with the pedal fully lowered, it is obvious that its travel is more than normal and adjustment work is required.

If you have to make an effort to shift gears, this also indicates a problem. In addition to the maximum increase in freewheel, the opposite can happen - it decreases to a minimum, signs of which are a very sluggish and slow acceleration of the car. Also, any extraneous noise when pressing the pedal or shifting the gearbox should alert you and make you think about adjusting the clutch pedal.

Setting the clutch pedal travel

Professionals recommend checking the free travel amplitude at every technical inspection. In the event that the free play of the fork is more than 3 millimeters, you will need to change the length of the cable for the clutch accelerator. Here you need to use a special nut, which is located on the threaded section of the cable. In general, clutch adjustment takes place in two main stages. Work on the first one is carried out directly in the passenger compartment, for the second one will need to get under the bottom of the car, for which a viewing hole will come in handy.

We need certain tools: a wrench for 8 (or 10 - it all depends on the model of the working cylinder), as well as an open-end wrench for 13 and 17.

The first step sets the clutch pedal travel. To do this, you need to get to the steering column, where the adjusting screw is located, which is fixed with a lock nut. In order to achieve the optimal effect, you need to try to twist and twist it until the stroke comes to its normal position of 140 millimeters. After completing this procedure, you can proceed to the second part of the work, which consists in installing a free wheel, for which you need to move to the inspection pit.

Pedal free travel setting

First you need to check the free travel distance. This is done by a simple method of pulling the fork away from the follower. The normal size of the gap is equal to 4-5 millimeters, and if this distance is different, then adjustment is also necessary here.

The whole process looks something like this:

On this, the adjustment process can be considered complete, but now you need to test your work without fail. To do this, you need to start the engine, turn on the gear and slowly release the lever. If the adjustment of the clutch pedal was correct, the car will move about halfway through the pedal travel. If you feel that this value is still increased or decreased, therefore you need to check everything again, especially since now you know how to adjust the clutch and there should be no problems the second time.