clutch pedal "clicks" when de pressing

[grasshopper]

Hi all. My clutch pedal seems to have some sort of a "click" sound when I press it down or come back up. I can slightly feel it as well. Does anyone know what this might be ? Do I need to replace something ?
Thanks in advance.

[chrisg]

In my experience, that click has been associated with metal fatigue in the upper (cable connection? Spring? Geez, I’d have to look at one) pedal. It could just be some wear & the need to lubricate, but the end of the pedals are known to flex & Bend/break with fatigue & at that point you have no clutch actuator.

Also of note, seems like the rapid disengagement of the clutch when the pedal breaks can lead to the throw out bearing pivot coming loose in the bell housing (maybe the wear cycles have similar cadences?), so if it surprises you with a break & you end up with some sort of issue with the arm for that TO bearing, make sure it’s still engaged in its pivot point before you start preparing to spend more money. I have fixed a “clutch problem” on a few cars by popping in he pivot back in place.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Ahhh, Grasshopper... “Nothing more, my son. But if you choose to think there may be more, you are welcome to follow.”

OK, with that meme out of the way, some thoughts on your question. A few of my Fiats have exhibited this same "click" when the clutch pedal is depressed or released. The noise was definitely coming from the vicinity of the pivot arm for the clutch pedal, and as near as I could figure, it was the clutch pedal spring shifting slightly in its orientation as I moved the clutch pedal in or out. I never did find a definitive cause or cure, so if you figure it out, please let us know. I had some luck with spraying some lubricant up in the area of the spring ends, and while this quieted things down for a while, the click inevitably came back.

-Bryan

[chrisg]

YES! just "the way it is" is the other potential culprit. If that's the case, one would think a good dose of lubrication & careful machining/polishing of spring/hook mating surfaces for the pedal would help, but I can't say that I have ever done that...but I probably will whenever I am installing a pedal box in a car in the future.

[DieselSpider]

Mine was clicking because the replacement cable the previous owner put in had a thicker end on its so that it was not seating correctly in between the forked end of the clutch pedal which I could not see until it finally failed snapping the end off the clutch cable and I completely removed the pedal to check it out. The new cable I bought also did not fit until I opened up the fork with perhaps two strokes of a fine file.

The clutch pedal will also click if the pedals pivot bolt is loose or the nylon bushings it rides on are worn.

[BARTRAGO]

My clutch pedal crunches when I push it in. I am going to change the cable. Should I change the bushings on the clutch pedal shaft at the same time? Clutch works fine, but pedal gets a little wonky after awhile.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

My clutch pedal crunches when I push it in. I am going to change the cable. Should I change the bushings on the clutch pedal shaft at the same time? Clutch works fine, but pedal gets a little wonky after awhile.

You might need to describe "crunches" a little more, but I think you mean the that the clutch pedal alternately grabs and releases slightly as you depress the pedal. In other words, the clutch pedal doesn't depress smoothly from fully up to fully depressed and back. Note that this could be a lack of lubrication in the clutch cable, a problem in the clutch itself, or a binding clutch pedal including incorrect installation of the clutch cable ends.

A couple of thoughts:
1) changing the cable can be an absolute nightmare with the lack of space, the need for small yet agile hands, and the overall inaccessibility of the actions needed to properly insert the clip on the cable into the right spot on the clutch fork. Removing the cable is easy, but putting it back can be extremely difficult.

2) Removing the clutch/brake pivot bolt presents its own challenges because to remove this bolt, the brake and clutch pedal springs have to be removed. The spring for the brake pedal return is easy enough with a pair of vise-grips holding the spring end, but the spring for the clutch is an absolute pain. The spring is actually to help depress the clutch pedal, not a pedal return, by the way. Anyway, I'm sure there is a tool or a method for this, but do be careful as if the spring pops out, it could do a lot of damage to sensitive body parts (like eyes). I found it easier just to remove that whole metal box pedal assembly (see below) and remove the clutch assist spring while the box is in a vise.

Back to the issue of clutch pedal clicks:
On my '71 spider, I just this week finished reinstalling the large metal "box" assembly that holds the pedal pivot shaft, springs, steering column, electrical switches, various cables, and is held in place by the 4 bolts on the brake booster (and two bolts up near the dash). I had taken it out to really clean it up, inspect, and see if I could figure out the cause of the clutch clicking sound.

I could see that the clutch pedal could click where the S-shaped linkage for the clutch spring attaches to the top bracket on the clutch pedal. In mine, the metal on the clutch bracket at the linkage point was chewed up, and with the spring tension, could cause the S-shaped linkage to shift and cause a click when depressing the pedal. I smoothed out the chewed up metal with a file and lubricated, and it seems much better. Quite frankly, it's a poor design and not surprising that it would develop issues over time. Other causes of clicking might be where the spring attaches at both ends, or in the cable attachment points.

Hope this helps.
-Bryan

[BARTRAGO]

Thanks, I will start with the simple fix first and lube the clutch actuation system. Simple things first.

[SteinOnkel]

You have to look at the whole systems with its (many, compared to other OEMs) weak points.

First and foremost is the firewall's sheet metal around the bushing. It's very thin and likely to be fatigued. Prone to breaking and cracking. You can either take the engine out and reweld the firewall or you take the booster out and weld a new bracket onto its backing plate. That's what we did. 1/4" steel plate - that ain't gonna break again.

Next up is the clutch cable. It's probably old and stiff and a new one is cheap. Wouldn't even bother lubricating it, just bin it. The installation isn't as bad as people here make it out to be.

Thirdly, the clutch pedal itself. The clicking only presented itself on my car after the fixes above were performed. It ended with the new clutch cable being almost torn apart. Barely got the car home. The reason is because the pedal itself wears out where the cable meets it. Bin it and buy a new one.

And lastly the bushings the pedal box. This is the only piece that you want to lubricate. Buy new ones and add a drop of fluid film to each of them. The old ones are shot, I guarantee it.

Pretty shoddy design all around. These issues are unheard of on other cars. My Fox has the original clutch everything - works great and makes no noises.

Cheers
Steiny

[DieselSpider]

Pretty shoddy design all around. These issues are unheard of on other cars. My Fox has the original clutch everything - works great and makes no noises.

Cheers
Steiny

Try a Saturn/GM with the 4 cylinder engine and 5 speed front wheel drive. Vented to atmosphere hydraulic clutch system where the clutch slave cylinder and throw-out bearing are integrated having the clutch shaft going through them. Every 30 to 40 thousand miles when the hydraulic slave cylinder fails it leaks brake fluid all over the clutch ruining it making it so you need about $500 worth of parts and about $800 worth of labor to remove the front drive axles, pull the transmission, clean up the mess, replace the clutch, pressure plate, clutch slave cylinder, clutch master cylinders, clutch hydraulic lines, clean or replace the clutch fluid reservoir and put the front suspension back together again.

I'll take dealing with the less than $20 Clutch Cable in the 124. Took me less than 30 minutes to replace it and that included widening the fork in the clutch pedal to accept the thicker ball end in the replacement cable.

[SteinOnkel]

"Pretty shoddy design all around. These issues are unheard of on other cars*. My Fox has the original clutch everything - works great and makes no noises.

Cheers
Steiny"

*that aren't complete junk.

There, I fixed it