Bite point

[MrRegieRitmo]

I seem to have developed a little curiosity in that at several points during a journey, my clutch biting point will change from low to high & along with it, the pedal from soft to hard for no reason that I can fathom, often whilst manoeuvring... Engaging gears is no different to normal & it appears to have stopped jumping out of gear which is nice, it's just sometimes taking longer to push off from a standing start because the bite point has suddenly become much higher, so I'm revving for longer before the car actually moves. Further down the road, it will soften up again & return to normal with a lower bite point again. Is this anything to worry about or a symptom of the cold weather or something, knowing how much the weather plays havoc with our vehicles!?

[dollywobbler]

Doesn't sound right at all!It's alright, I don't charge for my useful posts!

[RedSparrow]

Not a K11 Micra is it?They are sods for that!

[Mr Lobster]

Hi Mr Ritmo, Did you ever get anything done relating to the jumping out of gear? I'd guess the two probably are related. Possibly clutch cable / pedal problem.

[MrRegieRitmo]

Hi Mr Ritmo, Did you ever get anything done relating to the jumping out of gear? I'd guess the two probably are related. Possibly clutch cable / pedal problem.

No, it stopped doing it. Think it's done it just once in the past couple of months! Wish it would make up it's mind...

[dollywobbler]

I can't remember now - is it a cable or hydraulic? My Metro had this - the further you drove, the stiffer and less likely to disengage the clutch became.Once had a BX where the bite point changed and then got a bit clunky. The cable then snapped and I have to drive across Birmingham with no clutch. Exciting!

[MrRegieRitmo]

It had a replacement clutch cable back in June & once properly fitted had been fine ever since. I don't seem to be having any trouble engaging & once it's in, it stays there (this time!), it's just a case of the peddle feeling like it's switching between higher & lower; harder when it's higher & softer when it's lower. Obviously when it's feeling higher, it's taking longer to find 'bite'

[ChinaTom]

My mother's Megane did this once. Took it to the garage and they found a massive build up of dust and crap on the clutch. They cleaned it up and it didn't happen again. The car had been driven about 10 miles every two weeks for about 4 years and this was blamed for the problem. It may be up for sale soon - anyone fancy a 1997 1.6 RXE with sunroof and a/c with less than 30k on the clock, let me know.

[Station]

Probably due to the mechanism the operates the clutch on the lever? Or something stupid like the release bearing.

Is it a rwd gearbox? They have forks that look like this:

 

 

With the fork on the release bearing:

 

And the fork usually levers on the spring:

 

 

If the fork is loose, it's probably become unseated, esp if you've done something with the cable.

 

I had a mare with this, and I had to adjust it in this cavity:

 

 

I had to take the gearbox out TWICE as I messed it up the first time, and then I broke the fork the second time (new fork).

[daverapid]

What car is it?

[MrRegieRitmo]

Renault 9 sorry!

[meggersdog]

sounds like the clutch fork to me.It is probably moving about on the fulcrum point.The high and low bite point might be because one side of the fork is coming in and out of the release bearing making the pedal hard by pushing the bearing at an angle.It is possible the retaining clip has broken

[Timewaster]

I remember from my parts counter days, that Renault 5, 9 and 11s are arseholes for clutch cable problems.There were 2 different cables which looked pretty much identical and I believe the difference was the colour of the plastic ratchet on the pedal.There was a recall but lots of cars seem to have been missed.The wrong cable would fit, but not last very long and would often cause engagement problems.I know it was black or white ratchets, but can't remember which was which Isn't there a "reset" like there is with Ford ratchets by lifting the pedal up as far as possible?Does this ring a bell with anyone?