Pipedreams

Someone posted that they removed the big spring on the clutch pedal and felt it made the clutch feel better. I know many followed and did the same thing. This could be bad news, I was reading the clutch section in the factory service manual. On page 7-421 (if you have the service manual) under the diagnosis sections labeled "clutch slipping" it has this cause "the clutch pedal return spring is broken or missing" this is the one many of you removed The "action" is listed as "replace the clutch pedal return spring" Make since since the clutch actuator is hydraulic the slower it returns the slower the actuator will release the pressure plate. It may feel better because it's actually slipping. I people searching the garbage for that spring

docrings1

FAQ updated with this little tip!

Pushrods4ever

The spring that was removed allows the pedal to return faster not slower. The spring was added to reduce pedal pressure for clutch release and actually slows the return of the pedal for clutch engagement..I have no idea what the writer of the diagnosis section was thinking when he wrote it. The book is wrong on that one.



Doug

Pipedreams

Not sure your correct on this one, the spring as far as I see retruns the pedal. I think I tend to believe the tech writter

67435animal

I cannot see anyway that the clutch spring has anything to do with the clutch slipping when the spring is off. Since the spring tends to "weaken" the pedal, I think that the likelihood of the clutch slipping is greater when it is installed.

PS-no clutch spring on the vehicle below. Clutch never slipped unless I rode the pedal:

nowheelie

As mentioned in another clutch-pedal spring conversation, the spring serves a dual purpose - help keep the pedal to the floor and help keep the pedal up. There's a point where the behavior of the oem setup changes.

I'm not sure with how much force, but with the spring in place it keeps the pedal taut when not pressed. Without the spring you'll notice the pedal may have some "play" in it's rest state.

Thus, when you remove the spring the pedal feels more linear than before.


But still, without the spring, and if you happened to rest your foot on it, not applying enough force to press it, but merely eliminate the play in the pedal.. would that be enough to cause slip?

So I still don't quite get why the "manual" says what it did.

67435animal

I checked my pedal when I removed the spring. The travel in unchanged. I drove the car on a Grand Prix track two weeks ago. No spring, clutch worked great, no problem. If there were excessive pedal travel, I'd be checking the clutch master cylinder, not the spring.

What the tech wrote in the manual makes absolutely no sense to me.

Basic rule of manual cars - never ever ride the clutch. Rest your foot on the dead pedal.

kharyespy

My spring broke about a year ago....never replaced it! My clutch does not slip and functions great. I tend to drive the car hard from time to time and still havent noticed any slippage.