DIY - Easy clutch grab adjustment (~10 mins)

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by Siege

Thank you for this great DIY! It made a great difference in overall drivability.

To add to the discussion above, a great test to ensure the clutch is disengaging fully is to find a perfectly flat parking lot and place the gearbox in 1st with the clutch in. Rev the engine slowly up to 6K RPM. If the clutch isn't disengaging fully then the car will start to move.

Don't do this for long because if the clutch is dragging it will heat up pretty quickly at 6,000 rpm!

Also, the gearbox spin test is slightly better because it will show up the least bit of clutch drag, even if it is less than what might move the car.

Definitely though if you do this rpm based test and your car starts to move you have gone too close to the floor with your clutch adjustment.

[liquidus44]

Hey guys, I adjusted my clutch to a little below the brake pedal. It feels good but I noticed that when I depress the clutch and shift from 1st to 2nd while moving, I can feel a sort of 'grinding' vibration in the shifter when I'm notching it into 2nd. Is this normal?

[stockysnail]

Originally Posted by liquidus44

Hey guys, I adjusted my clutch to a little below the brake pedal. It feels good but I noticed that when I depress the clutch and shift from 1st to 2nd while moving, I can feel a sort of 'grinding' vibration in the shifter when I'm notching it into 2nd. Is this normal?

Grinding is not normal. Try adjusting it a little closer to you to see if it goes away. Maybe the same height as the brake pedal. If it still does it at that spot then it may not be you adjusting the pedal but something else.

[SirBrass]

I did the adjustment tonight. It's almost dialed in right. I lowered it way too much at first but still got zero grind but the initial pedal free play was way too much before it released/grabbed.

I raised it back up to right about level with the brake & it just needs about less than one turn lowered before it's right on, I think.

Wasn't all that hard to reach the area, I just had to do some contortions to get underneath, but I was able to lay flat once I'd gotten slid in.

Using shorty wrenches was definitely helpful. I couldn't have gotten those nuts loose with normal open ended ones.

After my second adjustment I took it for a long drive & a canyon night run (moderate safe speeds, nothing crazy stupid) & all shifts were bang on, except it felt like the clutch wanted to release just a hair too high (nothing like stock, though) on the fast downshifts, so my downshifts + blip (I've yet to learn heel toe, as that requires me to brake too hard before getting level with the throttle) were a bit slow and I couldn't put as much power out of the curves as I wanted to. But it's almost right and definitely in the zone. I still feel the normal "clunk thunk" when going into first ar a stop with clutch in, which is good.

Thanks for the tip, OP. This has fixed my biggest "in cockpit" gripe.

Now, if only I could firm up the clutch pedal feel in the free-play "slop zone" when I'm just depressing the pedal & before the clutch disc releases...

Originally Posted by Ozzman

To check that you have enough pedal travel to fully disengage the clutch there is another function check you can do. With the vehicle fully warmed up, this also means warms trans fluid. With the vehicle stopped and your foot on the brake, Depress the clutch and immediately shift to first gear, you should hear a clunk/thunk.

Put it back in neutral and then depress the clutch again, wait 3 seconds and then shift into first gear, there should be no clunk/thunk. No clunk/thunk after 3 seconds means you should be good to go. (the clunk/thunk is the sound of the input shaft stopping rotation to mate with the output shaft) If there is still a thunk/clunk when shifting into 1st after depressing the clutch for 3 seconds then the clutch is not fully disengaging and you have your pedal adjusted too low. You will kill your syncros in short order if you drive around in this condition for long.

Repeat these function checks again after driving a while after having made any adjustments just to make sure everything is adjusted within safe functional tolerances. Check again a week later just to be sure.

This is what I did, and I got the correct response from the clutch & shifter after warmup. Don't know how to verify free play travel, though. But I smelled no burnt clutch & get no grind so I know the disc is engaging & disengaging from the flywheel properly, else the clutch would wear & roast and/or the synchros would grind.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[ronboogieon]

Just did this making the clutch about even with the brake pedal, maybe even a hair lower. WOW! Feels so much more natural!

[DocWalt]

Just adjusted mine so the clutch pedal was level with the brake pedal. Huge difference in feel. Feels much nicer

[fatherfork]

After reading every post in this thread and deciding it wouldn't hurt anything to try this adjustment, I attempted it last night. I don't have shorty wrenches so I'm going to have to pick some up today. I just figured I'd try it last night and if I couldn't get the nuts loose, I'd at least have a better understanding and could try again today. I'm sure I looked hilarious upside down in the driver's seat.

Anyway, I did notice something using the second method of adjustment mentioned here. I took the pin out so that I could spin the "clevis" instead of the rod. While I had the pin out, I accidentally tapped the clutch pedal and it (somewhat violently) engaged to the floor. It wasn't connected to the clutch, so it was just moving based on the pedal spring, which I assume is there to counteract the clutch tension to make depressing the pedal easier. It also has another function, which I discovered when I tapped the pedal. At the top (away from the floor), there is a very small window which the spring actually holds the pedal toward the driver. When depressed even slightly, the spring begins pulling the pedal to the floor.

So, making this adjustment moves the pedal closer to the floor (I know it doesn't act to depress the clutch at all, what I'm talking about is something else I haven't seen mentioned here), but in doing so it also releases some of the tension at the top end of the clutch pedal resistance. This is probably why so many have mentioned the clutch feels lighter. However, if, when making this adjustment, you pass the point of resistance toward the driver and enter the area where the spring is pulling toward the floor, it would cause constant light pressure on the clutch.

I hope I've described this well. I'm not sure I'm comfortable making this adjustment after discovering how small the window is for the clutch pedal spring to push the clutch toward the driver. It's a very small window, and while I'll have to play around to see if I can at least make a small adjustment without entering the down-pull of the pedal, I don't want to make the adjustment if it causes even slight pressure on the clutch.

Any thoughts?

FF

[fatherfork]

Originally Posted by fatherfork

...It's a very small window, and while I'll have to play around to see if I can at least make a small adjustment without entering the down-pull of the pedal, I don't want to make the adjustment if it causes even slight pressure on the clutch...

I did some playing, and found the window for the clutch pedal spring is plenty large enough (about 0.75in.) to make this minor adjustment and be just fine.

I adjusted mine so that the clutch pedal is about 2mm (previously about 6mm) above the brake pedal and it makes a HUGE difference in the feel and travel of the clutch pedal. Like many others, I have no issues with the clutch completely disengaging, it does so just fine. The pedal now feels very light, and I don't have to bring my knee almost to the steering wheel to let off of it. Engagement of the clutch is about half an inch closer to the floor now, which is a substantial improvement.

Thanks everyone!

FF

This mod+short shifter=50whp

But honestly, The pedal is a little softer I'll just have to get used to it but... It's still awesome thank you @Koji_Online and @JonnyRocket

[no1r]

I KNEW I COULDN'T BE THE ONLY ONE WHO THOUGHT THE CLUTCH PEDAL WAS CRAZY HIGH! I work till Wednesday, looks like I know what I'm doing on my day off! Thanks for posting this up!

[tomaszjanczak]

I recently bought a used BRZ and felt the clutch pedal and engagement point was too high. Came across this fix but went to go do it and my clutch pedal already sits a few mm below the brake. I'm guessing the previous owner already adjusted it?

I drove a few manual cars before but this is my first daily driver manual. Could something be wrong, or is it just that I'm not completely used to it yet? My shifts are not 100% smooth. I'm guessing my footwork is the problem and not the clutch.

[Dusty]

Awesome! Nice write up and pictures. I did this in under 10 mins after looking over the 1st post. Once I put my head under there it made sense.

Jiggling the clutch pedal back and forth made spinning the rod very easy.

[dave77]

I just did this, it was very easy. Thanks a ton for the OP for posting this up, otherwise I might not have known/done this for a while!

I just tested it out (adjusted the clutch to about the same height as the brake pedal), doing the 1st/reverse thing. Then drove it around the block. For me personally, it is MUCH better. Clutch feels way shorter, even though it has less spring resistance feel. But for a sports car I really think a shorter clutch and lower engagement is 100% necessary. So I'll see how it feels driving around the highway and stuff later on.

I love these cars though, to be able to do these easy things to make it better.