Clutch bite point all over the place

[JonRB]

Hi folks

I've got a bit of a strange intermittent problem on my Chimaera 500 at the moment.

I've been doing quite a bit of stop-start traffic work lately as I'm using the Chimaera for trips to work at the moment (the Corrado has a puncture and I haven't got round to fixing it).

I've noticed that the bite point of the clutch is all over the place. Usually fairly high as normal, and then suddenly it is only a few millimetres off full down. Occasionally the car is straining forward against the brake even with the clutch pedal fully depressed. Then the traffic permits me to get up to 20 or 30mph and then when I hit traffic again the clutch bite point is back to normal.

Occasionally when the problem manifests the pedal comes up more slowly than normal, like it's sticking, but other times it feels normal other than the bite point being different.

I know intermittent problems are the worst and are often more difficult to diagnose, but does anyone have an idea what this might be?

Cheers
Jon

[Wicker Man]

My tuppence says new cluch master cylinder time. If you're lucky.

I take it that you've had a look in the footwell to check that the linkage looks OK and that the carpet isn't fouling.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

I've had that problem twice:

1) Clutch was fecked. This was accompanied by increasing resistance from the unit...i.e. twas also getting harder & harder to depress

2) Master cylinder

[Ribol]

Sounds like you have a hydraulic problem, if it was the clutch itself it would not be intermittent. Master Cylinder or Slave Cylinder likely to be leaking and letting air in.