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Adjust Clutch Pedal Height?

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Location
Decatur
#1
On my previous cars, there was a threaded shaft with locknuts where you could vary the clutch pedal height of engagement. I look on my ST and it's all plastic. I couldn't even identify the master cylinder on the other side of the firewall, it's so buried. Anybody ever mess with trying to set this?
 


OP
F
Messages
50
Likes
6
Location
Decatur
Thread Starter #2
Well I'm thinking there's no simple way to do this. I'm trying to limit the travel of the pedal and lower the take-up point.

There's a mod on here where you remove the little spring on the clutch assembly. This makes action more linear, tho a little heavier. But it adds what has historically been termed as "free play" at the top of pedal travel. Free play has historically been say 1/4 inch, but I think folks see more like an inch or more of pedal flopping. All the pedal springing is then done by the clutch springs on the pressure plate, thru the hydraulics.

There are 2 complicating small factors I know of. There is a switch at the top of travel for cruise control cutoff, etc., and one at the bottom for starter/ignition enabling. These may need to be adjusted somehow.

Anyway I want to mess with it all, but get claustrophobic down there. So I'm thinking I can just pull the 3 big nuts that hold the entire clutch pedal assembly to the firewall, pull it all out and mess with it easily. CAN I?? If so, I could also easily mock up a board to bolt it to if I needed to hold the pedal in for spring removal, etc.

Once out, I plan to remove the spring. Then, rather than living with free play slop at the top, or perhaps replacing the spring with a weaker one, I want to add a stop that prevents the pedal from rising past a 1/4" free play from what the pressure plate dictates as engaged. So the pedal sits lower - probably below the brake pedal - and travel falls from maybe 6 inches to 4.5 or 5. (To set this I'd put it back in with out the spring and find the right stop thickness.)

Then, since my pedal currently engages kinda high, I'm thinking of adding another stop so that the pedal won't go as deep towards the firewall, like .5 inch to 1 inch. ( I already kinda tried this by just putting a piece of wood back there - liked the limited throw better) Because once you reach the point of release, there no need to travel down much further.

Overall this might cut pedal travel almost in half, plus be linear & heavier. The take-up point, relative to the firewall, would be exactly the same - we're stuck with that (short of cutting down the plastic push rod). But with the lower stop it would "feel" lower, I think.

NOW - SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME HOW FORD HAS DESIGNED THIS SO THIS STUFF WON'T WORK. A major question is whether the return level dictated by the pressure plate & slave cylinder is consistent (other than slowly higher pedal over time with wear) Somewhere I thought I saw something about automatic compensation, but no details.
 


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