Clutch engaging with clutch pedal depressed. | FerrariChat

Clutch engaging with clutch pedal depressed.

Discussion in '360/430' started by Fort Worth 360, Feb 24, 2014.

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  1. Fort Worth 360

    Fort Worth 360 Formula Junior

    Jan 3, 2008
    409
    Fort worth Texas
    Ok this popped up yesterday while on a nice drive - 03 360 3 pedal -

    Was driving for over an hour mostly highway - shifting up and down the gears just fine. Came into town - several stoplights, start and stops etc - everything fine. Park and have lunch get back in car drive for about 20 minutes; come to a stop sign. Clutch in come to a stop and the clutch starts engaging with the clutch pedal all the way down.Pedal did not feel much it at all any different. Shut the car off, put it into neutral; restarted the car and back to normal. Drove another 15 minutes and same thing. Shut off car, put into neutral; back to normal. Parked the car for an hour got back in to go home and drove for 45 minutes no problems - shifting up and down the gears effortlessly. Get home go into reverse, back up the driveway, get into garage and clutch engages with pedal all the way down -

    What is going on? I am perplexed. Air in the system? Italian Gremlin?
     
  2. Skidkid

    Skidkid F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Aug 25, 2005
    9,478
    Campbell, CA
    Full Name:
    John Zornes
    Those darn 3 pedal cars always have problems.

    ;)
     
  3. vrsurgeon

    vrsurgeon F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Dec 13, 2009
    16,436
    Charleston, SC
    Full Name:
    Curt
    Sounds to me like the clutch master cylinder might be loosing pressure. Perhaps bleed it in the engine bay. Might be an air bubble in the system, could be a seal that is seating and then unseating with loss of pressure. Worst case its a seal in the clutch pack.

    Unlike an F1. It's a simple system. 1) Air in the system. 2) Problem with clutch master cylinder or 3) problem with slave cylinder.
     
  4. Mozella

    Mozella Formula Junior

    Mar 24, 2013
    905
    Piemonte, Italia
    Yeah, I had the same problem last year with my manual 360. I have to do several back-and-fill routines to get out of my garage and headed down my driveway. That involves partially releasing the clutch to get moving backwards, and then depressing the pedal all the way to shift in to forward, etc. If I never fully released the clutch during these back and forth maneuvers, the pressure would slowly bleed off and pretty soon the clutch was starting to engage with the pedal fully depressed. This is NOT good when maneuvering in close quarters.

    It tuned out that the master cylinder was bypassing. Changing the master cylinder and bleeding the system solved the problem. I think I made a "lessons learned" post several months back. The part is inexpensive and the job isn't very hard if you have ordinary owner-style shop tools and can remember "lefty loosey, righty tighty".

    EDIT. I found my previous post about the "clutch pump" here: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/technical-q/419256-360-clutch-pump-change%85-lessons-learned.html
     
  5. Kevin Rev'n

    Kevin Rev'n Two Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 29, 2009
    24,322
    Honolulu
    Full Name:
    Kevin

    Sheeze Moz! I wish you were my neighbor. I could use a handy quick reference type guy nearby! Should I retire to your neck of the woods or are you thinking about coming this way to the beach, swaying palm trees and plentiful Asian women? :)
     
  6. FerrariDublin

    FerrariDublin F1 Rookie

    Jun 14, 2009
    3,454
    Dublin, Ireland
    Full Name:
    Greg
    Before swapping parts etc I'd recommend a thorough bleeding session. It could be a little clutch dust has gotten to disturb a seal in the slave cylinder. By pumping and bleeding and pumping and bleeding you can often resolve these anomalies.

    Good luck.
     
  7. Fort Worth 360

    Fort Worth 360 Formula Junior

    Jan 3, 2008
    409
    Fort worth Texas
    Thanks for the comments - I will begin to examine everything and work logically through!
     
  8. slracing

    slracing Formula Junior

    Jan 13, 2011
    436
    Europe
    Do a quick check of the fluid junction box(black),externally on the right side of the gearbox. Known to leak and should be easy to inspect. If leaks are present buy the Hill Engineering upgraded version. Good luck!
     

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