Re: 105 Clutch not disengaging

[jack@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Jack Hagerty)]

From: Giro Maurici <GiroM@domain.elided>

>Lately my car seems to surge as if the clutch has
>not fully disengaged itself...it is especially noticeable
>when I need to accelerate quickly at about 3000 rpm,
>it just revs higher but hesitates as if the clutch is
>half engaged ?

Check your pedal height. Is the clutch pedal visibly lower than
the brake pedal (the should be roughly equal). If so, then the
weld has broken on the end of the pedal shaft.

The 105/115 cars (pendular pedal cluster) have a design weakness. Both
the clutch and brake pedals hang from the same shaft. The brake pedal is
mounted on bushings so that it rotates independently from the shaft and
operates the brake master directly from the pedal arm. The clutch pedal
is pinned to the shaft so that when you depress the clutch pedal the 
whole shaft rotates. The the arm that actuates the clutch master is 
attached to the very end of the shaft. The factory just puts a big glob 
of weld over it. This is insufficient and after a few million operations 
this weld breaks and the arm starts to rotate relative to the shaft. The 
result is that your pedal starts to sink lower and lower, and eventually 
can't disengage the clutch all the way.

There are two ways to fix this. First is to remover the pedal cluster
(but remember to pull the pedal back up to its correct position before
you start) and have a qualified welder put a circumferential bead on
*both* sides of the arm. The other is to buy an aftermarket shaft where
this has already been done. I got one last Spring from Jon Norman in
Berkeley for $54. There may be others avaliable, but I haven't checked.

- - Jack

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| Jack Hagerty                |                                             | 
| jack@domain.elided   |                                             |
| Robotic Midwives, Ltd.      |  Black holes are where God divided by zero. |
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