Gear change problems?

[Ian Geary]

Afternoon all,

The wife's suzuku swift 1.5 is really hard to change gear in, making it un drivable.

Background
-done about 100,000, clutch biting point really high, some slippage in high gears

- new clutch put in by me (exedy plate, friction disc and new release bearing) a few weeks back

- clutch immediately impossible to change gears in. And with the clutch fully pressed, the car creeps forward.

Its a hydraulic clutch, with no pedal adjustment. I didn't touch the hydraulic system.

- 1st attempt - I rotated the clutch form arm 1 spline towards the slave cylinder, so that the slave presses the clutch earlier. This made the car somewhat drivable, but still a bit crunchy.

- 2nd attempt - I looked at the slave, and the plastic engagement arm had broken off about 1cm from the end.. so i bought a new slave cylinder and swapped over the longer arm.

I thought this would be a slam dunk fix, but no- the gears are still crunchy.

The biting point is also on the floor- it foot full down, it's OK, but you lift up a toe and it's moving. So it has gone from one extreme to the other with a new clutch, but I can't believe this is how suzuki sold them.

Worst still, the clutch gets worse as you drive. So a short test drive is fine, but after 5-10 miles it gets harder and harder to change gears (ie clutch not being disengaged fully), before becoming impossible to shift without turning the engine off, and then starting it with the clutch down.

Edit- just test drove it, and it's back to creeping forward with the pedal.fully down. It didn't do this on Saturday, and then was OK Sunday and got worse during Monday (today).

Ultimately I need to sort it. Options I can think of

1. fit the new slave entirely (ie hydraulic bit) as maybe the slave is leaking and not pushing hard enough? But the car doesn't have the normal symptoms of a failed slave (which is the pedal staying on the floor) or fluid leaks (none)

2. Maybe i put the clutch on back to front? Highly unlikely as they generally fit just one way.

3. Maybe a clutch plate spring is broken? But thr doesn't explain it getting worse. This means gearbox off again (but it should be quicker second time, right?)

4. Some sort of heat soak into the clutch fluid making the clutch fail? (Mr2 turbos used to get this when the clutch slave heat shield wasn't put back on, but I doubt this engine bay is getting that hot)


Any thoughts, ideas, or experience are welcome!

And of course sods law we had lovely weather all last week, and this week is forecast to rain.

Edited by Ian Geary on Monday 1st June 19:13

[littleredrooster]

I'm going with option 2, sorry!

I got roped into a similar problem by a mate many years ago and after much bleeding (from fingers and hydraulics!), pulled the gearbox off again to find that the clutch plate was in back-to-front.

[Ian Geary]

Ok, thanks for the reply.

It might have to come off again then.

[E-bmw]

Before you do that fully bleed the clutch as if the slave has been moved around/worked on it may have air in it which would also cause what you are experiencing.

[stevieturbo]

2. Highly likely, as they are almost always 1 way only.

[paul_c123]

The other possibility is the parts weren t the same (but they ll have been VERY similar looking).

[chris1roll]

I had similar issues with mh old MR2 years ago. New aftermarket clutch fitted, and the bite was almost on the floor and lots of grinding to engage gears.
If you revved the nadgers off it, the engine speed would overcome the drag of the clutch allowing a grind-free engagement.
The fix? Fitted a genuine Toyota clutch.

Managed to get the gearbox off in under 2 hours the second time, so there is that....


I posted in another thread a little while ago, that if a genuine clutch is still available, that's all I would fit for that reason (plus another aftermarket one in a different car that slipped under load from brand new!)