Intermittent ratchety clutch pedal

C

CheeseHelmet

Member
Ever since I got my P5 the clutch pedal action would occasionally become less smooth. If I push the pedal in slowly I feel and hear a pop-pop-pop-pop from the top all the way to the end of the pedal stroke. If I push it in quickly it feels like I was stepping on a box of cereal.

Here are the facts:
  • The problem comes and goes but it seems to happen more after I've done a bunch of stop and go driving.
  • It can occur with or without the engine running.
  • Most of the time, I can make the problem go away by pumping the clutch pedal a few times (it can take anywhere from 1 to 10 pumps).
  • The entire clutch was replaced last summer, that didn't seem to fix the issue.
  • Shifting might be slightly worse when the problem occurs but that could simply be coincidental.
  • For the hell of it, I recently applied some grease to the point where the slave cylinder meets the clutch release fork, that didn't help at all.
  • The clutch hydraulics are all original (except for an SS clutch line).

I can think of two possible causes:
  1. The release bearing is rubbing on the transmision input shaft collar. I'd like to think I can dismiss this because I lubed that collar properly with the grease provided with the clutch kit.
  2. The master or slave cylinder is worn to the point where the piston is rubbing and/or getting caught on the cylinder wall.

What do you guys think? I know I'm not the only one with this issue, if someone has figured out how to resolve it I'd be very happy to hear from you :)
 
Master slave could be it but the slave cylinder could be bad as well master slave is 40 bucks from autozone but if your a bigger person its a major pita
 
Should do it without the engine even running. Have someone get under hood and listen, with stethescope rod if needed, to rule out the master/slave cylinders. If it is indeed from inside the bell housing, it's odd that your clutch replacement made no difference. That rules out a lot.
 
RABID_MP5 said:
Should do it without the engine even running. Have someone get under hood and listen, with stethescope rod if needed, to rule out the master/slave cylinders. If it is indeed from inside the bell housing, it's odd that your clutch replacement made no difference. That rules out a lot.
Click to expand...

It does do it even without the engine running, but not all the time.
 
I poked around today inside the engine bay, the sound is definitely coming from the slave cylinder side. I don't have a stethoscope so it would be kinda hard to determine whether the sound is coming from the bell housing or the slave cylinder itself.

Interestingly, by playing around with the slave cylinder piston (I pushed it into the cylinder and wiggled both the piston and clutch release fork) the sound went away completely and the pedal action was very smooth. I then tested the car on a road which seems to have stop signs every 100m and after 10-15min of driving the problem came back.
 
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