Hi Guys,
Well like many of you my new-to-me '88 GT had a clutch which just would not fully release. No fluid loss, so I assumed there was air in the system and I bled it and bled it, every way imaginable....bled the slave....replaced the slave with one of Rodney's (lovely bit of work, BTW)....and STILL it would not completely release. Reverse was a nightmare....but then so was any kind of shifting.
I finally noticed that my clutch pedal was no higher than the brake pedal....hmmmm. The pedal is steel and not bent, no apparent abnormal bend in the clutch rod (there is a designed in slight bend at the pedal end of the rod, BTW, but it is really needed for alignment).
So I said let's try Rodney's adjustable banjo! I had read it could not fix the problem, but I was desperate.
So, today I put in the new banjo....4 1/2 hours!!! (More on that later)
Now while I was down there unhooking the old banjo from the clutch pedal, I really looked around. It turns out that there are at least three things which can limit how far the clutch pedal can rise: There is a bracket which the pedal arm will hit. The banjo is kept from extending too far by a snap ring. And there is one more which I have never seen mentioned in any of the dozens and dozens of clutch threads: It is a switch attached to the bracket which limits pedal rise. Actually there are two switches. The higher of the two is the clutch safety switch. Below it is another. This switch made access to the banjo at the pedal difficult so I removed it. I believe it is a cruise control switch (I am sure someone out there will either correct me or verify what it is). This lower switch has a threaded base which scews into the bracket. It is quite long. In my case, it was screwed in all the way to the body of the switch....and the clutch pedal would hit the threaded portion BEFORE it hit the mechanical stop!!!!
At this point I went ahead and installed Rodney's banjo. Carefully adjusted the length to make sure the pedal hit the mechanical stop. And amazingly the pedal was about 1" above the brake!!! Then I re-installed the lower switch.....and was careful to only srcew it in far enough to actuate the switch, but not so far as to use it as a stop for the rise of the pedal.
With everything buttoned back up, I decided to see how the clutch worked before I bled it yet again....and SUCCESS!!!!
I now have a clutch that works.....even when running....even into reverse without sounding like was crushing rocks!!!!
The clutch pedal is a 4:1 lever. That means that 1 inch of pedal travel results in 1/4 inch of master travel and that is a LOT when you are close but not quite there!
So, did Rodney's banjo fix it or did the switch fix it? I believe it was the switch, but Rodney's banjo is precise and there is much less free play in any direction now than before I swapped out the banjo. I recommend Rodney's banjo.
So just how come it took so damned long to install it?
Well, Rodney's banjo is perfectly straight and VERY robust and uses oilite bushings. It does not have that lil bend the stock banjo has. It turns out that if you assemble it, attach the banjo to the master, thread the banjo through the firewall and bolt the master back into place, there is no way in hell you are gonna get the banjo and bushing to slide back onto the clutch pedal. You must attach the banjo and bushing to the clutch pedal BEFORE you bolt the master down. I believe Rodney's directions are incomplete and I have a call into him.
So, in summary, if you have clutch release problems and a low pedal, crawl under your dash and check to see it that lil switch is preventing your pedal from swinging up to the mechanical stop...it just might have you a lot of heart ache.
And good look to all of you with clutch release troubles.....I am gonna go finally drive that blasted car!
Larry
