Sticky clutch

[Brico]

Hi there, I am having a difficuly in releasing my clutch on first. I first notice this when it developed a very sticky and heavy pedal. So,I had a new cable fitted . After only 1 month the problem started again, this time i decided to get a new clutch kit after all it has done close to 180k ,guessing it was wear on them. It lighten up for the first 2 months ,but now the problem is back. What can i do? my drive is a year 96 D8 2.0 petrol . it has no hydraulic clutch.

[mjb]

Chances are it's your clutch cable that's rusted. Lubrication's a short term workaround, but you'll really want to replace it

[HimBigChief]

He's already done that MJB. Try lubrictaing the pivot point on the clutch pedal and also the clutch pivot on the gearbox. May work, may not. My original diagnosis would be the clutch cable too though. I'm assuming you got a new clutch release bearing in the kit?

[mjb]

He's already done that MJB.

[steve_earwig]

Just a thought: What if the cable's badly routed and it's wearing the nylon off the inside on a sharp bend?

[Brico]

He's already done that MJB. Try lubrictaing the pivot point on the clutch pedal and also the clutch pivot on the gearbox. May work, may not. My original diagnosis would be the clutch cable too though. I'm assuming you got a new clutch release bearing in the kit?

Yes the release bearing was changed, I have just sprayed the clutch pedal pivot n also the exposed cable tip above the gear box with silicon lube , did not seem to have any effect. Will go for the pivot on the gear box tomorrow. But where is this pivot located on the gear box? is it the at location where the the fork lever and fork bearing meet? TQ

[HimBigChief]

Sorry, I got myself confused! I was thinking about the box and the moving parts on it and for some stupid reason I was thinking about the gear selector mech and not the clutch release mech. All you can do really is lube up all the pivot points and maybe swap the cable for a decent quality replacement item.

[mjb]

Could be worth lubing up the moving parts on the pedal too, especially if the end of the cable is attached to something that rotates (dunno if it does or not, not seen a 406 cable clutch)

[jasper5]

This sounds like a classic problem that used to happen on driving school cars.....the release bearing sticks on the shaft that it slides on, it's ok for a while after the clutch is replaced because of the grease on the new bearing helping it slide on the shaft, but when dust builds up it causes the grease to clog up and hence the bearing sticks and causes a tight/heavy, clutch.
It got so bad on one particular Nissan Sunny that I drilled a hole in the clutch housing so that I could squirt WD40 onto the shaft every now and then to keep the clutch free.