chillah7889

So I just recently put my 03 Z in the shop to get my clutch and flywheel swapped out. Went with a JWT clutch with lightweight flywheel. Also got my clutch line, master cylinder and slave cylinder all replaced. And the mech also bled the clutch line twice for me. I also have a RJM clutch bracket. Now when I got my car back it felt great, gears still felt slightly stiff but nothing major at all. All of a sudden a few hrs later, I'm at a stop sign, try to get into first and gears felt blocked as hell and as of this morning they still feel blocked. Tried to take it for a spin around the block, and was hard as hell getting into first. When I'm driving I can shift, but all gears still feel blocked as hell. Anyone ever experience this? If its a tranny problem I can get that swapped out through warranty but need any help I can get before I take it to those ****ers at the dealership.

Cass007

iTrader: (34)

How is the pedal feel? Where is the engagement point? All gears an issue or just getting into 1st? Does it shift smoothly at speed and just hard at idle? How may miles on the car?

RJM Performance

iTrader: (2)

Loosen the lock nut on the clutch rod and give it one full turn clockwise to go out a bit and see how it feels. Making this adjustment doesn't explain why it started suddenly but should help. Give it a try and let us know if it feels better. Did the dealership mess with the Pedal at all? The only thing I can think of is if the AFP wasn't tightened down properly and it shifted up while driving towards the pivot increasing the AFP setting beyond the usable range.

davidv

iTrader: (2)

The clutch is not disengaging completely. Take it back to the shop.

chillah7889

I tried turning clutch rod out 1 turn, did not solve the problem. The mech wasnt sure what the bracket did, so I gave him instructions and he removed the bracket and reinstalled it according to directions. Pedal feels good, soft yet still with some firmness. All gears feel blocked at stop and at speed all gears feel blocked as well but not as bad as at idle. Car has about 60k on it now. It does feel like clutch isn't disengaging properly because I felt something similar before I got clutch replaced. I'll be taking the car back in tmrw morning too

RJM Performance

iTrader: (2)

Ok, when your checking it over tomorrow with the mechanic make sure to check the AFP setting is still set around 75% or lower. It sounds like something shifted in the setup while you were driving. You say it all felt good when you first picked it up. Does the pedal feel softer now then when you initially picked it up?


To adjust the AFP setting you don't need to take the whole pedal assembly out. Binder has suggested it's a 10 min operation to check and change the setting if you take the cross shaft nut off, pull the shaft out and drop the pedal arm down. Make the adjustment and then simply raise it back in place, put the shaft back in and tighten the nut.

chillah7889

So just had the mechanic check things out. He raised the car up and checked everything he could, no leaks or visible problems seen. I turn the clutch rod out once this morning which made it easier to shift today, but he couldnt find anything wrong. When he took out the assembly and put it back in, he adjusted the slider so that the clutch was as straight as possible, currently its at about 25% with about 2-3 threads in. I can't turn the rod out anymore or it will either pop out or be hanging on for dear life with 1-2 threads. I want to raise up the slider back to 75% and start testing out this weekend, but with my clutch rod hanging on by so little threads now I'm kinda worried about that. The pedal is feeling quite firm now, although much better than stock felt, I'd still like it softer though.

RJM Performance

iTrader: (2)

You should actually gain a few extra threads by moving the AFP setting up. The pedal is at an angle to the master cylinder when the pedal is full up so raising AFP will shift the fork closer to the master cylinder as it moves up towards the pivot. Try going up to 50% and see how it feels. Also how far up from the floor is the engagement point? As you increase AFP it should move down towards the floor. I like mine set to about 3/4 to 1" with the AFP around 70%

chillah7889

I'll give that a try soon as I can, hopefully tonight if its not freezing cold again. Right now with the AFP so far down feels like engagement point is close to 1 1/2". Ideally I'd like it to be 1" or below.

chillah7889

Finally had some good weather. Spent about an hr playing with my bracket and testing out different settings. At 75% was only to get into gear with only about 2 threads in the fork but still felt very blocked and rough. Kept sliding the AFP down bit by bit, turning the clutch rod in a little and retesting each setting by turning clutch rod out. At about 25%, with 2-3 threads in the fork I was able to get into gear much easier. Currently the AFP is at about 10%, slightly above stock, 2-3 threads in the fork, and this is easiest I've been able to shift, still a bit rough but much better than before. I still don't get why I can't get the clutch to fully disengage with the AFP at 75% or atleast 50%. I'm thinking that maybe I might have to bleed my clutch line. Here's a picture of my current setting.

RJM Performance

iTrader: (2)

Chillah is that picture of how the bracket is currently being run? When looking at the right hand stud on the master cylinder I don't see the hold down nut clamping the bracket to the master cylinder? In fact from the pic it almost looks like the nut could be underneith the bracket even. The clutch rod angle is fairly low right now as well so the main bracket should be raised slightly to level the clutch rod with the master cylinder.

It should look like this installed. Notice that there is a good 1/2" of threads on the stud with the nut sinched down. Also running without both stud nuts could do serious damage to the master cylinder as the force of pushing the clutch pedal will force the master to move away from the firewall.


I hope it's just the photo playing tricks. If not 100% that nut being off or under the bracket would cause the problems your describing.

RJM Performance

iTrader: (2)

Bleeding the clutch line again may also help some if you have any air trapped but since you were having similar issues before the new clutch I'm not entirely convinced that's the problem now.
In regards to not enough threads you and str8dum both seem to be short on threads for some unknown reason. Can you measure the length of the clutch fork and let me know what you get. I'm currently going to send str8dum a custom AFP slider with a longer clutch fork to give more thread engagement and adjustment in his case. Since yours is sounding similar I'll make you a custom one as well and send it out for you to try. Once I know your current length I'll make a longer one to suit. I know what they should measure but I want to confirm there wasn't a forming issue with your existing one first since both of your came from the same batch of press forming.

chillah7889

It was a bad picture on my part. That black bunch of cables is blocking the view. Both stud nuts are in place and are securely clamping the bracket to the master cylinder. The clutch rod angle is ever so slightly low, not as bad as it seems in the picture though. When I got my car back, with the new clutch installed, the slider was set a little bit higher until my gears started feeling blocked. I'll measure the fork length first thing tomorrow and PM you the measurements.