Club 80-90 Forums

Hi all

My 2.0l 1980 petrol Aircooled has a high bitting point although the clutch is strong and not slipping. It is just a bit of a pain on hill starts and wondered if there is a way to adjust the height of the bitting point, I've done a search and checked the wiki but to little avail... any tips?

Cheers in advance.

p.s anyone ever been camping at croyde bay? apparently the beaches are really good... im off for a weekend in june

If you have a hydraulic clutch then nope, not adjustable!
If you have a cable operated clutch then yes. There is a wingnut at the gearbox end for adjustment. You should have 10-25mm free play at the pedal end before resistance is felt (to allow for clutch plate wear).
There is a high biting point on these vehicles anyway so what you have may well be normal!

Cheers Mark

yep, tis a hydraulic clutch... that's a shame, oh well I suppose I'll live

Ta
Dave

Understand that the clutch pedal needs to have some freeplay before the pedal actually starts to dis-engage the clutch, if you find this free-play to be excessive (more than 2 inches) then there is a chance that the pedal stop can be adjusted (bent) or something added (adjustable bolt/nut) to lower the pedal a little (still needs freeplay of course). Obviously this won't alter the actual bite point but it will reduce the amount you have to raise your foot over the pedal.
Martin

Just out of interest, if the biting point is low does that mean the clutch is on its way out -hydro, not cable..

No, normally the opposite. Should indicate a good clutch with loads of life left.
Incidently, the hydraulic clutch is adjustable but normally factoy set and not touched unless a replacement master cylinder (the one at the pedal end) is put in.
It is a threaded pin located between the top of the pedal and the master cylinder that is locked in place with a small nut on the thread. Loosening the nut and turning the bar will increease or decrease the length and hence alter the free play of the pedal.
It's a right pain in the backside to get to though!
Free play on a hydraulic system should be about 0.5mm at pedal end.

well i recently installed both new master and slave cylinders, although the clutch height hasnt changed since then. i bled the system well and have little free play at the top of the pedal.... i may have a look for that adjuster though if i can get to it, just for experiments sake

If you adjust it to allow more free play, the biting point will be lowered but keep in mind that the pedal itself is held up by a spring and will always return to the 'high point' regardless of the free play or biting point.
Take a look at Red Westies post earlier for some ideas on that problem.

VWCamperfan wrote:If you adjust it to allow more free play, the biting point will be lowered but keep in mind that the pedal itself is held up by a spring and will always return to the 'high point' regardless of the free play or biting point.
Take a look at Red Westies post earlier for some ideas on that problem.

Yeah, I see. there definitely isn't enough free play at the moment to allow for that (adding a stopper) but i will have a crack at adjusting the cylinder rod as you mentioned.

nice one