GT3 Clutch

[GordonMasson 128]

OK couple of questions about the clutch.

Firstly how heavy should it be

[Loose Cannon 582]

Mine had recently had a clutch in when I bought it and was heavy as hell, and nothing has changed in 16000 miles, it's PITA in traffic. I believe late 1998 models on shared the V8 clutch which is supposed to be lighter, unless I'm confusing that with the improved gearlinkage of the same vintage.

[doct93 2]

Mine is light for the first 15,000 miles after a change, then heavy like a thing which gives me ankle ache for the next few thousand.....

Up to you - physical pain or financial? I find you can get several thousand miles of pain before it starts to slip!

Tim B

[Paula&Marcus 0]

Hi Mark,

No, the GT3 has the "normal" single disk 4-Cylinder clutch like the SE and the S4.

Compared to the S4s-clutch this one is not heavy at all. BTW, the original S4S-clutch is a pain, IMHO. Its too heavy and it does not hold up well.

Cheers

Marcus

Mine had recently had a clutch in when I bought it and was heavy as hell, and nothing has changed in 16000 miles, it's PITA in traffic. I believe late 1998 models on shared the V8 clutch which is supposed to be lighter, unless I'm confusing that with the improved gearlinkage of the same vintage.

Edited August 21, 2008 by Paula&Marcus

[Advantage 910]

Gordon, it sounds like there is definitely something amiss with your clutch. The pedal is firm, but shouldn't be causing you any discomfort to operate it. (Louise gets out after a few hours without limping!)

More than likely, the splines on the input shaft are dry and grease-free so you have to put extra effort into overcoming the increased friction. Unfortunately the only fix involves pulling the gearbox away from the engine to clean and re-lube the shaft, so by the time you've paid for the labour rates to do that you might as well plop a new complete clutch assembly in there.

Mind you, if you know which way to hold a spanner and you've a couple of afternoons free over the Bank Holiday weekend it'll cost no more than a small tub of copper grease....

[Loose Cannon 582]

Is there an easier way to reduce pedal effort, an enlarged master/slave cylinder or something? Given my training I should know more about hydraulics but it just went in one ear and out the other unfortunately.

[jonwat 383]

I had the assistor spring fitted to my S4s because, as Marcus said, it's way too heavey.

If I were you I'd find out why your's is so much heavier than it's supposed to be & get it fixed.

Cheers,

John W

[GordonMasson 128]

How does the assistor spring work then and where does it fit?

I think the weight of the clutch is down to the clutch its self ... perhaps because its near the end of its life.

With regards to the splines needing greased, i dont think thats the problem because its heavy to hold down as well as when your pushing it down.

I did wonder if you could change the size of the cylinder to assist ... i was trying to get my head round that myself but i think you would limit the strokeon the slave cylinder???

It would be nice to have a clutch that was light to operater though ... i know its handling less power but my S1 is like a Fiesta's to operate

Any hydraulics bofins out there?

[910Esprit 508]

Even if the clutch plate was welded to the input shaft it would not affect the pedal effort, which is simply moving the clutch cover plate away from the clutch plate. i.e. greasing the shaft will not cure the problem.

Wouldn't an 'assistor spring' pre-load the release bearing? which is not a good idea.

Maybe you have answered your own problem Gordon, and you have a non-standard master or slave cylinder?

On my S3 I can see the edge of the clutch plate through a hole in the Bellhousing, do you have this feature on a GT3? If so, it is possible to judge the amount of wear and consider whether that needs replacing. The leverage required to operate a clutch does seem to alter as wear takes place.

cheers Steve

[arbell9 21]

Hi Gordon, why dont you pop down and we can compare clutches, its a good excuse for you to hoon!!

Mine is not heavy as you suggest, there is certainly resistance and its no where near as light as a modern car clutch but not unbearable.

I have the braided clutch hose on mine and it improved things slightly at best (probably more kidology in my mind).

Cheers

Alex

PS are you still glad you bought the GT3?

[jonwat 383]

The assistor spring is simply a spring that helps you push the pedal to the floor, i.e. as the pedal comes back up it stretches the spring, but because the pedal moves in an arc, as it reaches the top of it's travel the spring pulls it back down again which means the release bearing isn't preloaded all of the time.

I agree with Steve that greasing the splines to stop the clutch plate sticking wouldn't reduce the pressure.

As for the hydraulics it's all relative, you'd have to reduce the bore diameter of the master cylinder to reduce the pedal effort but that would mean the pedal would have to travel further to produce the same amount of slave cylinder piston travel.

Cheers,

John W

[GordonMasson 128]

It

[arbell9 21]

It

[doct93 2]

Yes, it should feel dead as a dodo below 3000 rpm!

The chip upgrade really helps the standard stumble, also reduces clutch wear (!) as it seems to pull better low down, hence less high-revving hill starts!

Tim B

[Dave Mann 0]

Not sure if anyone can help with this but the clutch arm on my GT3 has just snapped and needs replacing - am going to replace clutch etc at the same time - anyone any ideas on where I can get the bits from for my friendly mechanic - I also have had a heavy clutch (which is possibly why the arm has broken) but it has not been unbearable to drive.

Would appreciate any help as I have now not driven the car for 3 weeks and I am getting withdrawal symptoms!

I concur with the poor pulling at low revs however apart form the GT3, I have also had an old JPS (long time ago) and 2 Lotus Sunbeams and all had exactly the same issues.

If there is an easy tweak to the ignition mapping (rechipping) to help this I would be very interested - I have had this car now for 7 years and just love it!

[karluk29 5]

any parts first call for me is sj (sjsportscars), always sort me out with next day delivery.

as for pulling off (oooeerrr), mine is a joke under 2000rpm, aslong is you get it moving then its ok creeping along but if you ever put your foot down it will nearly stall. and pulling out quickly from a juction forget it, i have chip 10 and its awesome apart from when i had my clutch changed 2 weeks ago mate disconnected the battery and the chip has never been correct since, just standard boost etc etc. WOT = 0.9bar when it should be 1.1bar

[ajheath 100]

Yes I agree below about 3000 rpm big lag. I am defo getting an 11 chip from Marcus for this winter's project work. Anyone good with a soldering iron as may fat chipolata fingers are not delicate enough to install a new chip?

[doct93 2]

I didn't bother soldering mine in - just desoldered the old one and press fitted in the new - that was 4 years and 35,000 miles ago.....

Tim B

[Paula&Marcus 0]

Hi Adrian,

JFYI, if you dont like to mess around with the MemCal and its internals, there is a very elegant Chip-Adapter for you.

Look:

Just put the new chip onto the adapter and pop the whole thing into your ECU.

If you like you may have a look here: Chips-Page

Its quite low down near the bottom of the page.

Marcus

Edited September 18, 2008 by Paula&Marcus

[ajheath 100]

Brill Marcus, I'll have a look in the piggy bank. For fast road use would you recommend 10 or 11?

[Paula&Marcus 0]

Hi Adrian,

... hihi ... #11, of course !!!

Cheers

Marcus

Brill Marcus, I'll have a look in the piggy bank. For fast road use would you recommend 10 or 11?

Edited September 19, 2008 by Paula&Marcus

[DJW 677]

Thread resurrection

Also have heavy clutch on my GT3 . It's as heavy as clutch I had on a 911 GT3 which had 415bhp, so appears OTT for 240bhp in the Lotus ?

Since last post in this thread, have any others come up with modifications to improve things ? At the mo it's the only annoyance I find with the car.

Dave

[Barrykearley 6,558]

Dave

Have you changed the red pipe from the clutch master to slave cylinder???

[Loose Cannon 582]

It's a characteristic of the car unfortunately. Red hose makes little difference , mine improved slightly with better adjustment after a new fork. Servo assistance would be a possible solution, but I'd be happier if this was separate to the GT3s pumped brakevacuum

[Chillidoggy 4,271]

During my rebuild, I replaced my flywheel, complete clutch and had previously replaced the slave cylinder, and red hose with braided line. I bought PNM's uprated S4 pressure plate with a standard S4 driven plate, it doesn't slip, and works a treat. It doesn't fell any different from the S4's or GT3' I drove. I wouldn't say it was a heavy pedal given the torque capacity, but the previous clutch, which was knackered, was heavier for sure. I'm quite happy with the pedal load, and the wife is, too.

If the clutch requires a high effort, then, assuming your master and slave cylinders are of the correct bore, then it has to be the clutch itself, and changing the other components won't make any difference, in my view.