re: Heavy Spider Clutch Dilemma?

["Giller,Bruce C." <bgiller@domain.elided>]

Rob,

	I believe that you are experienced a rare occurrence of a gravity gain
(GG) in your area.  Start looking around for any new black holes that
might have taken residence in your neighborhood....

	On a more practical note, I'd say that you are loosing the vacuum
assist portion of your braking system.  It could be that the hose from
the brake booster to the head is leaking, the in-line check valve is
stuck, or there is a leak internal to the booster.  When you start up
the car, your brake pedal should sink a bit as the vacuum is generated. 
If not, investigate the areas I mentioned above (along with the black
holes .. very hard to see at night).

	Bruce

> Early this morning I took a long ride north up Route 100 towards the
> Canadian border.
> Wonderfully cool at 6:00AM with the top down, etc. All was well. On the
> return flight after the lunch hour, I noticed that the clutch began to feel
> very heavy ... as in sticking, slow, and hard to press.
> 
> It soon became of real concern .... but I cannot discern if it is hydraulic
> or mechanical. The fluid is new (June) and the clutch original (69k miles).
> It grabs low but it is very hard on the pedal as if something is preventing
> it from releasing and it moves sssloowwly. I could not depend on the
> breaking of the gears into the corners as mt timing was off due to the
> clutch's slow response. But those Mintex brakes work flawlessly (thanks ..
> Bill!)

--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided