DIY - Easy clutch grab adjustment (~10 mins)

[KW1Xan]

So I have a question... I adjusted my clutch a little too low the first time and the spring would intermittently spring up. So I adjusted it and pulled it up a little and tightened it. After tightening I sort of felt it could be too tight which I believe it was. So I loosed it from the sensor. Now my pedal is a little loose and just under the brake. Now here is my issue... At no time when doing the adjustments did I ever hear chatter or riding on the clutch. Also each time I did the adjustment check and everything checked out ok. Now since this last adjustment being paranoid I have noticed small clicks coming from my transmission area in 2nd gear after going about 25 on throttle. I also believe it might be doing that on throttle midway through between the gears but I cant really tell and it happens intermittently anyways. Its too faint to get it on video...any ideas? Am I just paranoid?

[DownFracture]

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[DownFracture]

Originally Posted by gdrider77

Same here. Not sure why everyone seems to be trying to manhandle the rod, vice grips, pliers, sticky gloves? I found it much easier to simply remove the pin, pop out the "bolt", and the simply spin the U thing a couple turns. This is how it was made to be adjusted. Much easier and didnt require turning the rod. I guess either way works, but removing the pin was wayyyy easier.

Did this also I actually broke/popped off the small white squeezable cap, which actually made everything so much easier to push through. Super easy well except for the terrible position and it was super hot.

[ZackZ]

Just adjusted the pedal so it sits slightly above the brake pedal. If i would adjust it any further the clutch would make a rattling sound when i let my foot off the clutch also when in neutral and rolling if i stepped on the brakes i would also hear a small rattling sound. My present adjustment doesnt make any sounds but i do notice some slight clanking after i shift especially from 1st to 2nd. Not sure if its just my mind. Today i also noticed there were drip spots on my driveway of hydraulic fluid. Do you think the slave cylinder or clutch master cylinder seals were messed up after the adjustment. Im very concerned and i hope this simple adjustment did not ruin my clutch system.

[ZackZ]

Originally Posted by Koji_Online

Purpose:
For members looking to bring their clutch grabbing point closer (or farther) from the floor due to personal preference.

Tools Necessary:
- 12mm open-end wrench
- 14mm open-end wrench

If you go under your steering column you will see the clutch master cylinder coming thru the firewall, just above the accel. pedal (I couldn't find it at first because cars I had before have it right behind the clutch... anyway) double-check you're looking at the right one by pressing the clutch with your left hand & watch the bracket/ cylinder move in & out.

You will see that the master cylinder bolt (w/e) threads into that bracket, & is held in place by a 12mm hex nut; pull out a 12mm open-ended, loosen the nut (too difficult to explain direction based on your orientational awareness; just be sure to note the thread pattern to know how you should turn to loosen it); slightly press clutch pedal with hand to remove tension from bolt, then with right hand screw the threads into the bracket; this will effectively bring your pedal closer to the ground & your grab point as well;

I've messed with different points all week & let me save you R&D; the most comfortable point for intuitive starts/ rolls off the clutch, & heel-toe downshifting; screw in until the clutch pedal sits ever so slightly lower than your brake pedal.

Test setup by getting in drivers seat, turn your car on, & test grab point by putting into first & letting out very slowly with no gas input; take note of when your car ever so slightly moves forward; next run forward a few feet, STOP completely, then immediately shift into reverse; if you get no unusual hesitation or grinding then move back & repeat this (forward, stop reverse) until you feel comfortable with your grab point & make sure you aren't grinding gears.

Tighten the bolt & one final thing, look at the front of your clutch pedal, the first sensor up is for your cruise control & I believe relates to your gear indicator display (if you have it enabled); basically the gear displays only with clutch out, but now that you put your pedal closer to the floor it does not engage the switch on the sensor.
In the same fashion that you loosened the clutch master cylinder nut, use a 14mm to loosen the nut attached to the sensor; it doesn't actually thread into the bracket, so you don't have to turn the sensor in; with the nut loose just slightly push it in to get the sensor switch in contact with the clutch pedal (fully depress the switch onto the pedal); just make sure it isn't pushing force down on your pedal, or this will probably put wear on your clutch ( my suggestion is to pull up on your pedal while you push the sensor into place; then tighten nut.

Now you are all set!; your clutch point is optimally adjusted for all sorts of driving, & your cruise control/ gear indicator still functions =D

*Video of the process; uploaded from forum member @JonnyRocket!

Does this adjustment void the warranty if there are any transmission or clutch issues down the road or is there no way of the dealer knowing or can you just play it off like you never touched it

[wulfgang]

Just did this on a new 2013 BRZ. It was just like the OP's post, and I did not have any issues turning the rod, loosening nuts, etc. Very easy!

1. It was trivial to loosen the 12 mm nut and turn the rod, perhaps because the car has <300 miles. Very easy to turn the rod with your fingers. If the rod was not made to spin, then why does it have a locknut? Mine spun easily using the technique of pushing a bit on the clutch pedal to relieve the tension.

2. Putting the clutch pedal even with the brake pedal makes it too low for me. It engages about 3/4" from the floor, which just feels wrong. Also, I smelled a bit of clutch, which probably means I was not disengaging it fully during shifts. I'm going back in there today to raise it a bit. Maybe my BRZ was setup a little different.

Still, it feels way better than it did. Major improvement, even if I have to raise it again a bit.

[gdrider77]

Any chance adjusting this can make the cruise control not engage over a certain speed? I cannot engage over 69mph....

[JonnyRocket]

Originally Posted by wulfgang

Just did this on a new 2013 BRZ. There were some minor differences from the OP's post:

1. It was trivial to loosen the 12 mm nut and turn the rod, perhaps because the car has <300 miles. Very easy to turn the rod with your fingers.

2. The clutch switch is secured by two nuts on the threaded barrel. Both nuts have to be loosened, so you need an extra 14 mm open-ended wrench or something else to hold the extra nut.

3. Putting the clutch pedal even with the brake pedal makes it too low. It engages about 3/4" from the floor, which just feels wrong. Also, I smelled a bit of clutch, which probably means I was not disengaging it fully during shifts. I'm going back in there today to raise it a bit. Maybe the BRZ is setup a little different?

Still, it feels way better than it did. Major improvement, even if I have to raise it again a bit.

Many, many of the us have done this on 2013 BRZ's (myself included, I made the video) and it was exactly as @Koji_Online described. That being said, our cars are bound to have minute differences so as always, YMMV.

[wulfgang]

Originally Posted by JonnyRocket

Many, many of the us have done this on 2013 BRZ's (myself included, I made the video) and it was exactly as @Koji_Online described. That being said, our cars are bound to have minute differences so as always, YMMV.

You're right, my post made it sound like things were different. I edited it for clarification. My main points were that it was very easy to do with the OP's instructions and that I did not need to set the pedal as low to get a good feel.

[Suberman]

This is well worth doing.

Be careful not to overdo this.

The pedal cannot be dropped by much without risking clutch drag.

Be very careful to preserve the free play at the top of the pedal arc as this is essential to ensure the clutch is fully engaged when the pedal is up.

Otherwise this mod improves clutch pedal feel markedly and reduces that spring loaded lurch close to the bite point. Find the sweet spot between too low and not low enough and you will be very pleased with the improvement in the whole shift quality.

Most drivers stall the engine the first time they drive this car with the clutch pedal at factory height. With the pedal dropped to level with the brake pedal or just below then clutch modulation is much easier and nobody should stall the engine.

[Ozzman]

Originally Posted by Suberman

This is well worth doing.

Be careful not to overdo this.

The pedal cannot be dropped by much without risking clutch drag.

Be very careful to preserve the free play at the top of the pedal arc as this is essential to ensure the clutch is fully engaged when the pedal is up.

Otherwise this mod improves clutch pedal feel markedly and reduces that spring loaded lurch close to the bite point. Find the sweet spot between too low and not low enough and you will be very pleased with the improvement in the whole shift quality.

Most drivers stall the engine the first time they drive this car with the clutch pedal at factory height. With the pedal dropped to level with the brake pedal or just below then clutch modulation is much easier and nobody should stall the engine.

You can verify freeplay at the top of the stroke is correct, by a simple function check.

Open the hood and look at the clutch master cylinder reservoir while pulling the clutch throwout lever towards the clutch slave cylinder. If you can not get any travel out of the throw out lever and the fluid level doesn't rise in the reservoir, then the clutch pedal is adjusted too tight. And you have to back off the clutch pedal/cruise control switch a bit. If you drive around in this condition for very long the clutch will start slipping even with your foot off of the clutch pedal and the you will wear out the clutch in short order.

If you can depress the throwout lever toward the slave cylinder a significant amount and the fluid level rises in the reservoir while pulling/depressing the throwout lever than the freeplay adjustment is good to go.

There is a bleed/transfer port between the reservoir and the master cylinder, this port is only open when piston in the master cylinder is topped out aka clutch pedal released. This port must be open in this position to allow for expansion of fluid when the clutch is not being depressed. Once enough pedal travel has been utilized to push the piston passed this port the hydraulic clutch circuit becomes pressurized.


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.

[Yruyur]

Originally Posted by Ozzman

You can verify freeplay at the top of the stroke is correct, by a simple function check.

Open the hood and look at the clutch master cylinder reservoir while pulling the clutch throwout lever towards the clutch slave cylinder. If you can not get any travel out of the throw out lever and the fluid level doesn't rise in the reservoir, then the clutch pedal is adjusted too tight. And you have to back off the clutch pedal/cruise control switch a bit. If you drive around in this condition for very long the clutch will start slipping even with your foot off of the clutch pedal and the you will wear out the clutch in short order.

If you can depress the throwout lever toward the slave cylinder a significant amount and the fluid level rises in the reservoir while pulling/depressing the throwout lever than the freeplay adjustment is good to go.

There is a bleed/transfer port between the reservoir and the master cylinder, this port is only open when piston in the master cylinder is topped out aka clutch pedal released. This port must be open in this position to allow for expansion of fluid when the clutch is not being depressed. Once enough pedal travel has been utilized to push the piston passed this port the hydraulic clutch circuit becomes pressurized.


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.

Thats good info. Can you make a video on how to do those checks.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[jvincent]

Just did this adjustment on my FRS. Took me two tries to get the level I liked the best, but it's much better feeling now.

As a bonus, I now have practice twisting myself into a pretzel so I can apply to the Cirque du Soleil.

[8987846]

Originally Posted by gdrider77

Same here. Not sure why everyone seems to be trying to manhandle the rod, vice grips, pliers, sticky gloves? I found it much easier to simply remove the pin, pop out the "bolt", and the simply spin the U thing a couple turns. This is how it was made to be adjusted. Much easier and didnt require turning the rod. I guess either way works, but removing the pin was wayyyy easier.

Can you upload a video showing us how to do it? I want to follow what you did but I have no idea what are you talking about without visualizing. e.g what's the pin? what's the bolt and U thing....