Clutch pedal popping sensation and trouble getting out of gear.

[stang1087]

I'm having the same issue although less often than you it seems. Which stainless steel line did you buy? The McLoed? Do you feel the popping in the pedal everytime you press it in? What if you change the speed in which you press in the pedal?

For me I can feel and hear "pops" from the clutch pedal. The welds on the pedal look fine. If I slowly press the pedal in the noise is not present.

As for installation error, that is a possibility and the RST is not too forgiving IMO. From the Installation instructions.

"Check disc clearance at this time. Insert the pilot tool and rotate the disc. There should be a slight amount of front to back movement. If there is more than .025” clearance the floater will push the top disc into the pressure plate, resulting in no clutch release. If the clearance is less than .020” the bottom disc will drag on the flywheel and the floater resulting in no clutch release."

When we first installed my RST the gap was .040" so I called McLeod tech support as they suggested in the instructions. I was told they check the gaps with the clutch laying flat on a bench and it may shift when checking on the car. Also, it is possible to accidently nudge the disk when checking clearances and that will throw off your readings.

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[Jpump]

I'm having the same issue although less often than you it seems. Which stainless steel line did you buy? The McLoed? Do you feel the popping in the pedal everytime you press it in? What if you change the speed in which you press in the pedal?

For me I can feel and hear "pops" from the clutch pedal. The welds on the pedal look fine. If I slowly press the pedal in the noise is not present.

As for installation error, that is a possibility and the RST is not too forgiving IMO. From the Installation instructions.

"Check disc clearance at this time. Insert the pilot tool and rotate the disc. There should be a slight amount of front to back movement. If there is more than .025” clearance the floater will push the top disc into the pressure plate, resulting in no clutch release. If the clearance is less than .020” the bottom disc will drag on the flywheel and the floater resulting in no clutch release."

When we first installed my RST the gap was .040" so I called McLeod tech support as they suggested in the instructions. I was told they check the gaps with the clutch laying flat on a bench and it may shift when checking on the car. Also, it is possible to accidently nudge the disk when checking clearances and that will throw off your readings.

I have the McLeod stainless line. My pedal doesn't make any noise, there's just a feeling in the pedal on release. If I don't push all the pedal all the way to the floor, it doesn't have the feeling. But as soon as it reaches the floor on release you can feel something. If I push even harder once it's on the floor, the feeling is lessened a little, but still there. Occasionally it doesn't have the odd feeling on release, but that's only after I've pushed way harder than I feel is needed.

This only happens if the car is running too. If the car is off, it feels 100% normal to me, but as soon as the car is on, I get that feeling in the pedal on release.

I'll check today on my way to work if pedal speed has any effect on it, but from what I recall, it doesn't matter. It seems once the pedal reaches a certain point in the throw the odd feeling shows up on release.

I'm pretty sure it was installed correctly. The guy I took it to has done plenty of McLeod clutches on S550's. I don't know if he checked the disc clearances, but he did check the air gap on the throw out bearing and it was within spec.

**Edit** Changing how fast I pushed the clutch in didn't help. Feeling in the pedal is still there regardless of how fast or slow the clutch is pushed.

 

[WhitemarePP]

Hi, I know this is an old thread but I’m looking to see what was done to resolve issues when the trans seems to get stuck in gear and then hard to shift at other times.

I installed a McLeod RST with their lightened steel flywheel, a new center-force HD slave, a braided clutch line, and an MGW shifter, but I have the same issues being described in this thread. Sometimes the car is very hard to get into 1st and reverse is the worst. Sometimes going into 2nd makes me cringe. Other times it makes me hate driving the car. However, there are some times (less frequent) with no issue and it’s buttery smooth. High RPM shifting is no problem though. There are also other times where it feels like clutch engagement is right off the floor and then I can feel something “release” in the pedal and it goes back to in the middle.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’m just about ready to call it and pull the McLeod out (all of it) and put the factory flywheel back in with an Exedy OE style clutch and pressure plate but if there’s something I can do without having to drop the trans (again), I’m all for it. That’s a PITA on a garage floor with Jackstands

Could it be the clutch master cylinder under the dash?

 

[Dark Pony]

Did this ever get resolved? I'm having similar issues. Thinking about replacing the MC before dropping the trans.

 

[Jpump]

Nah, still happens, I just try to ignore it.

 

[Dark Pony]

Nah, still happens, I just try to ignore it.

Did you ever end up replacing the MC. That's about the only thing that hasn't been replaced on my car. I get the "pop" occasionally too as well as your other symptoms. Only thing I can think of is that maybe the seals are weak/going bad, whatever and it's having a harder time pushing against the pressure plate. Figure it's 11 years old, might as well try before pulling the trans...again.

 

[Jpump]

Did you ever end up replacing the MC. That's about the only thing that hasn't been replaced on my car. I get the "pop" occasionally too as well as your other symptoms. Only thing I can think of is that maybe the seals are weak/going bad, whatever and it's having a harder time pushing against the pressure plate. Figure it's 11 years old, might as well try before pulling the trans...again.

I haven't replaced it.

 

[MyStang]

Pull a vacuum on the master cylinder for about 20 minutes works wonders.

 

[Dark Pony]

Pull a vacuum on the master cylinder for about 20 minutes works wonders.

I have. Not sure how much it helped. I did get some air out *however* I think it was sucking air from the MC supply line. The thing isn't on there as tight as you'd imagine it would be, but I didn't see any wetness or signs of leaking so...idk.

 

[Dark Pony]

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