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clutch feels soft.

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Old Jan 2, 2016 | 10:51 AM
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Default clutch feels soft.

ok so as always i tried to researched, but found nothing so here goes

the car is an 03 with 101k miles. last night i parked it outside and the weather got pretty chilly, around 20-30 degrees.

this morning, woke up and wanted to take the car for a spin, except the clutch felt weird.

1/2 of the travel feels soft, almost like butter. then the rest travels find and engages fine. clutch fluid isnt low and the clutch isnt sticking. it just feels soft.

this literally happened over night, while the car was parked outside. any suggestions on what i should do?

in my research, it says possible problems could be the slave cylinder, gunk in the fluids, possible need for a re bleeding, need ss lines. but all of these had symptoms prior, mine seemed to happen over night. and the problem theyre discussing isnt exactly like mine. mine still grabs firm, it just for the first half of the disengagement, its soft, like there play in the clutch, kinda like air in the system.

is it possible for air to enter the system without anyone messing with it?
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Old Jan 2, 2016 | 11:16 AM
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Just bleed it, report back.
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Old Jan 2, 2016 | 11:17 AM
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Originally Posted by turboed350z
ok so as always i tried to researched, but found nothing so here goes

the car is an 03 with 101k miles. last night i parked it outside and the weather got pretty chilly, around 20-30 degrees.

this morning, woke up and wanted to take the car for a spin, except the clutch felt weird.

1/2 of the travel feels soft, almost like butter. then the rest travels find and engages fine. clutch fluid isnt low and the clutch isnt sticking. it just feels soft.

this literally happened over night, while the car was parked outside. any suggestions on what i should do?

in my research, it says possible problems could be the slave cylinder, gunk in the fluids, possible need for a re bleeding, need ss lines. but all of these had symptoms prior, mine seemed to happen over night. and the problem theyre discussing isnt exactly like mine. mine still grabs firm, it just for the first half of the disengagement, its soft, like there play in the clutch, kinda like air in the system.

is it possible for air to enter the system without anyone messing with it?
Dat,

How does the clutch feel after car is warmed up?

When was the last fluid purge n' restore?

Based on your description of the weather conditions, I'm going to go out on a limb and speculate that there could be water/moisture in the system - through hydroscopic absorption, a bad tendency of brake fluid - that could have "frozen", not in chunks as it were but enough to change the viscosity of the fluid. Moving a thicker fluid through the system could possibly make it feel soft (although one would tend to think the other way around).

I would warm the car thoroughly and drive it for a bit - so long as it's not a dangerous situation to drive it - and see if warming it helps. If that's the case, I'd swap fluid and bleed the system. Costs hardly anything but some time and fluid to rule this out or fix.

Not 100% on this.... speculating based on general hydraulic system characteristics.

Mic
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Old Jan 2, 2016 | 11:21 AM
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Originally Posted by MicVelo
Dat,

How does the clutch feel after car is warmed up?

When was the last fluid purge n' restore?

Based on your description of the weather conditions, I'm going to go out on a limb and speculate that there could be water/moisture in the system - through hydroscopic absorption, a bad tendency of brake fluid - that could have "frozen", not in chunks as it were but enough to change the viscosity of the fluid. Moving a thicker fluid through the system could possibly make it feel soft (although one would tend to think the other way around).

I would warm the car thoroughly and drive it for a bit - so long as it's not a dangerous situation to drive it - and see if warming it helps. If that's the case, I'd swap fluid and bleed the system. Costs hardly anything but some time and fluid to rule this out or fix.

Not 100% on this.... speculating based on general hydraulic system characteristics.

Mic
Thanks mic i will likely do that for awhile and see if it helps.
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Old Jan 2, 2016 | 11:21 AM
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Originally Posted by terrasmak
Just bleed it, report back.
Will likely do that tomorrow. Will definitly report back
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Old Jan 2, 2016 | 02:56 PM
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Update for future reference:

The problem was actully the screw behind the clutch. It was loose. Tighten and all was good to go.
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Old Jan 2, 2016 | 08:14 PM
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Originally Posted by turboed350z
Update for future reference:

The problem was actully the screw behind the clutch. It was loose. Tighten and all was good to go.
The what?

Do you mean one behind or on the pedal?
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Old Jan 5, 2016 | 11:37 AM
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Originally Posted by MicVelo
The what?

Do you mean one behind or on the pedal?
I meant the pedal haha dont know why i just wrote clutch haha mustve been excited that it wasnt gonna be a weekend project haha
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