[russgt]

Hi guys,

My Grand Vitara has had the clutch pedal going nearly all the way to the floor before "popping" the clucth in. Its getting really hard to drive and change gears. The clutch itself doesnt slip. Do you think i might have a leak in the slave cylinder and need to bleed it?

Or should i get a new clutch while im at it? Im planning a big trip in a few months all across Australia. Going to take nearly a month. Dont want to risk having the clutch crap out during.

Thanks!

Russ

[GeckoXL7]

How many ks has the GV done?

First thing i would check is peddle play which should be around 2 at most 3 cm.

I had the issue where i had to push it hard against the floor to get it in grear. turned out the Peddle bolt that holds all the pedles together was loose, just tightened it and the clutch peddle got higher.

My Master Cyl went but what happend there was when the engine was running and getting hot it would get harder and harder to get in gear.

If a clutch was dying if you put the hand brake on and rev to 3000rpm and slowly let out the clutch it should stall, if dont clutch is gone.

[russgt]

98,000km's. Im thinking its more than likely a leak or something. Pedal assemble feels ok, just the part where it starts to pump the cluthc is very low. Im gonna try to bleed it today.

[fordem]

If you have a leak you would/should know about it very rapidly - the clutch master reservoir is very small.

Assuming you're not adding fluid then it's not leaking, in which case you most likely need a new clutch - as the clutch wears the engagement point drops lower & lower until the pedal is against the floor before it disengages.

The other possibility is a worn/cracked clutch fork (which is quite common, at least on the 2.0) - you'll have to drop the transmission to get to that, so you might as well change the clutch whilst you're in there.

[russgt]

Update:

I got home last night and followed this how to on bleeding the clutch.

http://nbs4x4club.com/forum/index.php?topic=13948.0

Absolutely perfect! I was mislead by looking at the fluid res oil level from the outside. But the residue was making me think it was still at the max mark. However when i opened it, it was near the low mark. It was also very dirty looking. I bled the clutch while topping up with nice fresh stuff. Alot of air and black crappy oil came out. Now my clutch feel is great and have a nice solid high pedal.

Thanks all for your help!

Russ