Feeling a 'click' in my clutch pedal

[SBSerpent]

Only appears after I have driven the car for a bit - say 30 minutes - in stop and go city traffic. Also, I only feel it on the pedal return. I've checked the clevis, made sure all fasteners are tight, including the two mounting bolts for the master cylinder and have greased the linkage associated with the pedal. Looking more closely, I am suspecting the push rod where it fits into the socket that pushes the piston in the master cylinder. Gonna try pressing some grease into the ball and socket connection to see if that corrects the 'click'. Any other ideas? Otherwise, the clutch operates just fine. Good pedal feel and good clutch engagement. All original 2011 build with only 4400 miles on the car. Bone stock. Fluid is original.

[spdbrake]

So the the "return " click, thats when you are releasing the pedal correct?

Is it still there once the engine is off? If so it may a good idea to listen outside the car while someone mashes the clutch repeatedly.
Have you looked at the slave cylinder? They can walk a bit in the clutch fork. Also see if the slave- rod- fork are in a straight line? side loads on the push rod shorten the life of the slave cylinder. Luckily they're cheap.

[Argess]

I've just gone through this with my car. It's the MC pushrod hitting the edge of the endcap (washer under the circlip). It made an awful noise.

To prove this, I made an offset clevis and the noise was gone. See pic below.

It only cures the noise. The sideload will remain the same.

The rule of thumb is no more than a 5 degree offset for a cylinder pushrod, yet Tilton claims a 3 degree max. No doubt their endcap hole is only large enough to handle 3 degrees. So I could drill it out a tiny bit larger. My angle is 3.7 degrees.

Before doing that, I went with the offset clevis. I don't want to leave it that way as there is now a bending moment on the pushrod, so I'll no doubt drill the endcap. Moving the clutch bellcrank hole closer to the pedal pivot would lengthen the pedal stroke, and I don't want to do that.

[SBSerpent]

spdbrake,

Funny but I only feel the click on the return, or 'up' stroke of the clutch pedal when the car is running. Once I turn the car off and crawl underneath into the foot box to check things out and start depressing the pedal with my hand, it has gone away. I can't see how any noises being made by the slave cylinder could possibly translate to a discernible click felt on the clutch pedal on a hydraulic system.

Argess,

You have somewhat confirmed my suspicions. I will look more closely at the angle of my pushrod but from what you described, I feel that applying grease in that area (where the 'ball' at the end of the pushrod sits in the cup) should somewhat remedy the problem 'click' albeit only temporarily? But I'm still a little confused as to why this click only appears after a period of driving and not all the time, even when I first start driving the car.

[SBSerpent]

Argess,

Wouldn't another way of lining up the push rod would be to drill another hole in the clutch pedal so that I can move the clevis up/down on the pedal so as to better line up the pushrod?

[Argess]

In my case, the only option is up. That will increase the pedal throw considerably and it's already a little longer than I'd like.

The OP may have some success if he repositions the pedal by adjusting the MC pushrod longer. That reduces the angle a bit.

When something is just touching, it may not touch at all when cold, but then rub or click when hot.

My new MC makes most of the noise when I depress the pedal. My old one only made noise when a released the pedal. All quite odd.

[SBSerpent]

Well I just took the car out for an hour drive and the generous amount of grease that I applied to the push rod/MC socket interface seems to be working, at least for now. No click.

[patrickt]

... and after 9 years, it wouldn't hurt to flush the fluid.

[SBSerpent]

What would be the original fluid that BDR put in the cars? DOT 3-4 or DOT 5?

[Quentin Z]

Originally Posted by SBSerpent

What would be the original fluid that BDR put in the cars? DOT 3-4 or DOT 5?

DOT 3-4 for clutch

[hauss]

Take a good look at your fork, my pushrod shoved all the way through, during a outing. Had to drive back home, with no clutch!

[Gaz64]

Originally Posted by SBSerpent

Argess,

Wouldn't another way of lining up the push rod would be to drill another hole in the clutch pedal so that I can move the clevis up/down on the pedal so as to better line up the pushrod?

That wouldn't work.

You would then be altering the pedal ratio, the pedal will be light as a feather, and probably wouldn't disengage the clutch.

Far better off moving the clutch master, either tilt the front mount down, or both mounting points to straighten the pushrod path.

The pedal pivot and the master cylinder mounting point relationship is not correct, and the reason for the pushrod issue.

[Argess]

That's what I did when I first changed clutch type and had to deal with a longer throw. I put a washer under the bottom MC bolt flange to tip it down. That was fine with my old cast iron MC. With my new aluminum one, it's probably not a good idea as the housing flanges might crack.

Apparently the new versions of my car have the MC bracket tipped down a bit. I really don't want to cut my bracket off and re-weld it back on at an angle as not only is access for the work difficult, it would mess up the nice powder coat.

I intend to enlarge the hole slightly where it touches (see below):

[SBSerpent]

Well so far for me, applying a generous amount of grease at the area of contact and keeping it all contained with the rubber boot has worked wonders.

[Ozzie Goat]

^^^
+1,000 pts for mad diagramming skills