clutch pedal repeatedly stuck, minimal load

[cab2g]

Ok, so I've heard all about the stories of people having their clutch pedal getting stuck about half way engaged under hard launches. But has anybody experienced the clutch pedal's range of motion being reduced by half (closer to the floor) but the clutch appearing to work properly?

Yesterday I started up my car after letting it sit for only about 5 hours in a parking lot. And immediately I noticed that when I released the clutch pedal it would not come all the way out, but it was engaging and disengaging pretty easily. I actually half liked it because the clutch wasn't grabbing at all allowing me for ultra smooth gear engagements. But the shorter range of motion was freaking me out. So during a 15 minute drive in the suburbs with intermittent stopping, I tried to pull the clutch pedal all the way out by sticking my toe behind the pedal and pulling towards me. Nothing worked. I didn't notice any clutch smell either. I took the RPMs up to about 5000 without shifting for about 5 seconds to see if the clutch was partially engaged, but no burning clutch smell was present.

The pedal would only come out to possibly an inch or so behind the level of the brake pedal. Towards the end of my trip, I give the pedal one last pull with my toe and it slowly comes back out, but with what felt like friction. I depress and release the pedal a few more times and it comes out slowly, but fully each time. Then after another couple minutes, the clutch pedal feels as springy as normal and the clutch is also grabbing much harder. Now the clutch pedal rests about an inch or so in front of the level of the brake pedal. So I'd guess I had lost a couple inches of clutch pedal play.

Any ideas of what might have happened? Again, this was under normal driving load, no hard launches whatsoever! Today the clutch pedal is behaving as normal.

[terry_b]

I know there is a thread on here somewhere that goes into great detail about "clutch pedal woes". Basically its a known/perceived problem - some deny it, others acknowledge it - where the clutch dust is actually entering the reservoir and causing some damage to the seals and other internals of the system.

I'll try to link the thread if I can find it, but there was a link to a study done, focusing on the 'Vettes mainly but it applies to our Camaros as well.

The "fix" was basically flushing the reservoir by taking the old dirty stuff out with a big syringe and replacing it. circulate the fluid through the system and repeat as necessary. You can also build a custom reservoir solely for clutch fluid.

[caverman]

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34085

Add a seperate clutch resivoir and keep the fluid clean.