Renault transaxle - "grabby" and hard to drive...

[Erich]

Hi everybody,

I am new to this forum and GT40s. I drove a GTD40 today with a Renault transaxle and few things really stood out:
- incredibly "grabby" clutch. It was really hard to drive off a stoplight and I stalled it a couple of times. Is that "normal"?
- the clutch itself is very hard to push. It doesn't feel anything is wrong per se, but you really have to push the pedal hard. Normal?
- is there a "short-throw" shifter available for the Renault transaxle. Driving it as it was it reminded me of my moms Renault 20 years ago...

Any help/advice or pointers are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Frank Catt]

Rico, first possibility and first to check is the hydraulic actuator for the clutch, most problems you describe result from a problem in the slave cylinder, and this is the easiest thing to change, then check the master cylinder. Next is to pull the gearbox and check the flywheel face, this can be overheated and have raised hardened " hot spots " which can make the clutch very juddery, reface the flywheel on a surface grinder ( do not try turning on a lathe- it will make it worse. There are many upgrades and alternatives to the clutch parts available, and this depends a lot on the performance of the engine and your proposed usage of the car. Frank

 

[Bob Putnam]

Grabby together with hard-to-push might indicate a bad hydraulic/mechanical ratio to disengage the clutch. How far down do you have to push to disengage the clutch? If it disengages almost immediately, you might be able to fix the problem with a smaller clutch master or larger clutch slave cylinder.

 

[Erich]

Gentlemen, thank you so much for your feedback/help. As far as when the clutch engages/disengages - it's almost all the way down to the floor.

I plan to use it as a road car (vs. a track vehicle) only. The engine is a 302/347 that makes a little over 400 hp/425 ftlb torque.

 

[Howard Jones]

I live here in California with you. Where are you? I'll send you a PM with my Phone #. Give me a call and we'll talk clutchs, Renaults, etc.

 

[Erich]

Great - thank you so much Howard. I just responded to your PM with my contact info.

 

[Malcolm]

If the car is still on a cable shift system, if it is badly set up, then that will not help your situation either. The cable systems can be set up to work well but when neglected or not set up they are very stiff and hard to use.

 

[Erich]

Thank you for your feedback Malcolm. I will make sure to check this...