Clutch doesn't feel the same

I know this may sound strange to a few, but hopefully others will understand what I mean. My clutch feels different, form how it did before. I cannot quite put my finger on it, but it has changed. The best description would probably be that there is less resistance when pressing the pedal.
When I first noticed the change, I also had issues with the bite point being erratic, and put this down to the master cylinder. I changed this, and the bite point stablised but it still did not feel the same so today I swapped out the slave as well. Having done this the clutch still does not fell like it used to, and still has what feels like reduced resistance. I have the later style circular clutch spring pedal (which is all in good condition) so it is not a heavy clutch to begin with.

I have done as much as I can without slitting the gearbox but am reluctant to do that if there is not actually any problem. I changed the clutch for a valeo 130 kit and hd fork and release bearing about 60k ago so it should be good for a while yet.

One thing I did notice when changing the slave is there was about 50mm of free play on the push rod (cable tied to the fork so could move it without it coming out). You could feel the fork moving back and forth and, when pressed, then coming up against the spring plate. Is this normal? How much movement should there be at the pushrod?

I would say if it feels different something is going wrong.

Last year I felt my clutch was getting a bit heavy, kept going for a bit but bought all bits needed for a cluch change and did it when convenient.
Found the fork had lost one of its pads and was pushing on the release bearing only on one side

It might be that your old master and slave were gumming up [was the old fluid black ? ] causing the stiffness.
With out the slave on there is some play if you work the fork by hand.
When released the clutch springs push the fork back and the piston back into the slave only as far as needed for the clutch to engauge. As the plate wears they move a little further to allow for said wear.
There is a good chance you have already fixed the problem as you say the bite point has stablised.

lynall said:

I would say if it feels different something is going wrong.

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That is my opinion which is why I was asking, although usually the clutch pedal does not get lighter as things go wrong which is what is throwing me!

tottot said:

It might be that your old master and slave were gumming up [was the old fluid black ? ] causing the stiffness.

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Mine wasn't stiff, it was easier and required less force to depress the pedal than it used to. It is currently working correctly but does not feel like it used to.

tottot said:

Last year I felt my clutch was getting a bit heavy, kept going for a bit but bought all bits needed for a cluch change and did it when convenient.
Found the fork had lost one of its pads and was pushing on the release bearing only on one side

Click to expand...

I think this will be my plan, I will buy the parts needed so if it fails catastrophically I do not have to wait for delivery, and as soon as there is a sunny weekend free I will replace the internals as well to be on the safe side.

.Lighter clutch can mean plate springs on the way out. You are still driving ok though?
When you do the job let us know what you find. Cheers.

What we have noticed at work on the trucks is the clutches dont really wear out as in the old days, its normally a mechanicla failure of one type or another, releasse bearing blowing apart is very popular as about 600k, the latest favourite of the tuedy scanias is to snap one of the friction plate springs and make loads of jingly noises! again 500/600k

I would just forget about it not feeling the same, if it operates the same. You can over think things and let them play on you convincing your self there is a problem when there isnt.

The main thing is whether you can still change gear satisfactorily - I assume you can. Or does it slip if you try to accelerate hard? If neither of these are a problem, then just wait and see. It'll soon become apparent if you get a problem! If yours is anything like mine the clutch release bearing can be slid a good way up and down the gearbox input shaft. There is however quite a stiff spring in the slave cylinder which makes it a bit difficult to put on as you need to force it up against the bellhousing to get the bolts engaged. So in practice this takes up the free movement.