Clutch pedal sticking

[Ahwahnee]

I have (always and only) used a spray lube on mine - Fluid Film.

At 30 years I had 1" of free movement so I took it apart to inspect. There was no wear on the pin or the hole. All the free play was in the master.

I adjusted the push rod to have 16" of free play and that gave me 3/8" at the pedal.

Now at 40 years it is still 3/8" at the pedal.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...p;start=40

But it's not really an onerous task to R&R the pedal, especially if you chop off that vestigial horn on the top end.

[Californio]

Soon as I get my mind out of the gutter...I'll try that...

Seriously, maybe some spray grease would get up in there?
_________________
1987 Syncro Westy/2.0L Tiico

[Sodo]

[Californio]

3/4" so that should be good for another 25 years. Maybe?
_________________
1987 Syncro Westy/2.0L Tiico

[Sodo]

[Californio]

Don't tell me, clutch sudden death syndrome. First the trannies now this.

Mine has a good amount of play. You can see the hole that wears out from underneath, right? Will have to check.
_________________
1987 Syncro Westy/2.0L Tiico

[FloAK]

I appreciate everyone’s help getting this sorted out, it helped a lot getting advice on where to look.

Sodo, I think it is fair to assume that 1.5” of play in the clutch pedal is near or at failure.

Thank you!

[Sodo]

Hey! Davideric you're stealing my fire from March2!

[davideric9]

Nice (I think I called this (above) on March 3)
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia, stock (bought 1994)
1986 Syncro Westfalia SVX, 3 knob (bought 2008)
1987 Westfalia (bought 2010)
1988 Wolfsburg GL (bought 2012)

[markswagen]

that'll do it.
l cut the back of the pedal off, the top where there's an extra unused hole, opposite from the worn out end, it serves no purpose that l can see, it's removal make refitting the pedal a good bit easier.
_________________
markswagen {mobile mechanic} san diego area all early VW's cared for.

619 201 0310

[FloAK]

I found the culprit..Thanks for all the tips!

[FloAK]

The clutch pedal has ~1.5 inch of play before any resistance. When working the pedal, it feels like the source of the sticking is near the pedal.

Info above is great-I will dig further into and see what i find. Thank you!

[skills@eurocarsplus]

you can pull it right out of the speedo hole, no need for a full dash pull but the dash comes out in 7 minutes if you didn't go full asshole and wire up a ton of shit poorly
_________________

[Sodo]

Friction plate does need to float on the input shaft spline but it doesn't move far enough to relate to pedal position.
_________________


'90 Westy EJ25, NEW oil rings (!) 2Peloquins, 3knobs, SyncroShop pressure-oiled pinion-bearing & GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox.
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered original gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[Borg]

Sticky pedal is one possibility.

The other end of the system is a big ol' diaphragm spring that should be plenty strong enough to push the pedal back "up" to where it belongs. The friction plate slides along the transmission input shaft, is it possible it is binding up?
_________________
Steve

[do.dah]

Yeah,, the "JUST" on my screen seemed to be flashing in BIG, BRIGHT FLASHING NEON lights.

I would "JUST" keep repeating the mantra, "I'm "JUST" replacing a silly little sintered bronze bushing and pin, adding a dab of grease, and hoping I don't hafta weld up the hole. Easy peazy.".

No matter what, you REALLY should "JUST" do it.

AND! Pay no heed to that "1/2 hr" statement. Good times should last MUCHO longer.
"JUST" keep telling yerself, "I am having SO MUCH fun doing this!"

[Sodo]

[E1]

Wonderful info Skills, Thanks for posting it!
(and for the confirming post above)

I’d wondered about that after posting but have never worked with the parts you’ve detailed.

Now it makes sense and I realize that pedal “spring-back” has nothing to do with the hydraulics.

I try to not speculate here, but this time, I did. Apologies to the OP.
_________________
1984 Westfailure/2.1 Digijet/5.43 Ring & Pinion/Peloquin/D-rated BFG KO2s
AI has spoken to further illiteracy, to steal, to cheat, and to replace humans

"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere." — Colin Chapman

Jonathan Weisheit, Race in Peace:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3dS7xiFn7I&t=500s

[davideric9]

This! (not my photo)

_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia, stock (bought 1994)
1986 Syncro Westfalia SVX, 3 knob (bought 2008)
1987 Westfalia (bought 2010)
1988 Wolfsburg GL (bought 2012)

[skills@eurocarsplus]

I just went thru a pedal cluster for a member here

basically, 100 year old grease could be the issue.

but the pin everyone says should "slide right out" didn't

what was wild was in the bronze bushings was basically 'metal dust' and it needed to get cleaned out and lubed up...you can see the blackish grey smudges in the bushing

this was 1/2 way thru cleaning it out. you can see it's turning 'gold' again

any of what I posed may or may not be your issue. is your return spring broken?

Either way, not a bad idea to just take it out and service it
_________________