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Time for a clutch?

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    Time for a clutch?

    Hey- first time user, thanks in advance for being awesome.
    I have an e28, my girlfriend drives an 86 325. Just recently we replaced her brake/ clutch fluid. Immediately afterward she noticed the clutch seemed to be engaging higher on the pedal than it had before... you can let the clutch almost all the way out before it catches. It works fine, just engages way out. We pressure bled the crap out of it, no change. So we drove it over to my mechanic, who really knows what he's doing with these cars (Ed Geiger, Hillsboro, NC) and drives a 325i himself. He felt it and said it seemed like it was the clutch disc being nearly worn out. The thing is, you'd think the clutch disc wearing would happen very gradually, and not all of a sudden make itself known like that. On the other hand, the car has ~215k and I have no reason to think the clutch isn't original, so it wouldn't be a shock were it to be dead. My question is, does it seem more likely to be time to get a clutch, or do you think there's something else going on? TIA!

    #2
    i dont think it would be a bad clutch disc. it happened right after you changed the fluid correct? how long before that was the fluid changed? mine engages pretty far out too, and the clutch is stock. and it has gotten the shit beat outta it, but still grabs very good. i doubt that is your problem, but i am no mechanic, so i would go with your mechanic, but you might save a lot of money just dealing with it, and if it gets worse then do something......

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      #3
      That was fast! The fluid was changed a year ago, little more, but before that your guess is as good as mine. The mechanic said he'd just run it and see what happens, and that'd be the thing except she wants to drive it to school, where we are now, so from NC to IN. Don't want to do that if we don't know when it might go out. I'm hoping it's just a fluid issue, though we did already try to bleed the system again with no change... just thought I'd see if anyone else had had a clutch disc suddenly go like this. Seems weird to me...

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        #4
        Originally posted by ismellfish2 View Post
        That was fast! The fluid was changed a year ago, little more, but before that your guess is as good as mine. The mechanic said he'd just run it and see what happens, and that'd be the thing except she wants to drive it to school, where we are now, so from NC to IN. Don't want to do that if we don't know when it might go out. I'm hoping it's just a fluid issue, though we did already try to bleed the system again with no change... just thought I'd see if anyone else had had a clutch disc suddenly go like this. Seems weird to me...
        it doesnt make sense that it would suddenly just give out. that cant be the problem. get in it and drive it around alot before she has to go to school. do everything to the clutch you can, and if it stays the same after a good two-three hours of driving then it will probably be ok. but if the grabbing point starts to get lower then it was probably the fluid. just use common sense, dont blow tons of money on replacing the clutch disc when all it really needs is some break in time.

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          #5
          ive heard of this happening before, not on my car but on a customers trans-am over the summer he said that one day he went to drive the car and the clutch travel was actually less than normal, turned out to be his pressure plate.

          i wouldnt rule out the possibility of it being the clutch so soon.
          Your signature picture has been removed since it contained the Photobucket "upgrade your account" image.

          Originally posted by TimKninja
          Im more afraid of this thread turning into one of those classic R3v moments, where Pizza gets delivered.

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            #6
            The thing about the clutch hydraulics being the issue that confuses me is that on my car when I've had air in the clutch lines the clutch engaged low, and the pedal had slack at the top. That's the opposite of what's going on now, where the pedal has some pop to it, but doesn't do anything until the very top. I don't think the master or slave can be going, since it's not spongy and doesn't leak fluid... the symptoms don't really fit anything except a worn out clutch, except for the fact that it happened suddenly (which doesn't fit at all). I've also tried swearing at it, running through the usual terminology- still nothing. Any help would be much appreciated.

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