Need some help... this is bothering me.

I've installed ClutchMaster FX200 + Lightened Flywheel + Cusco LSD for over a year or two.

Everything has been good, except last week my wife drove it to another city and took it to a mechanic to replace the reverse light switch that's near the shifter under the car.

Today when I drove it, I found the clutch engagement was raised quite a bit, causing me revving too high before car could move.

I used to have a clutch engagement that's around a third from the bottom. Now the engagement point is about a third from the top. It is much harder to drive now, causing me to rev high before moving.

Is it possibly that the mechanic touched something to cause this? Clutch slave cylinder?

I called the mechanic and he said he did not.

Please help.. thanks!

 

Assuming all is well, I can only say that you will get used to it. Different clutches have different points. One week and the newness is gone.

 

So the clutch engagement point can change to higher all of a sudden?

 

aside from the engagement point, do you notice any different feel with the clutch? i have an oem clutch, and its on its last legs, it feels like a honda clutch, and it has a different engagement point every once in a while, it changes engagement points like a girl changes clothes

 

The reverse light switch is directly located under the shift linkage on the transmission. The slave line runs straight up over the transmission. I cant remember on a stock intake system, but I beleive you would need to remove it to get to it from the top side. I don't think I've ever tried from the bottom, but it's possible.

I would try bleeding the slave cylinder and go from there.

 

Thanks for your answer!

The mechanic replaced the reverse light switch from the bottom with the car on the lift.

As you said, if the slave line runs over the transmission, maybe the mechanic damaged or pinched the slave line or slave cylinder. Am I on the right track?

I really think I should bleed it first.

But before that, I have to deal with the P1125 issue, probably due to the mechanic accidentally loosened the engine wire harness as well.

 

P1125 has to do with the Throttle body postion sensor. I would just try clearing it and see if it comes back. If it does, try reseating the 6 wire plug going into the throttle body. That also sits right above the transmission. Maybe he thought at 1st he would go through the top and discovered he could get to it without removing anything from the bottom.

The slave cylinder line is a hard line halfway from the slave cylinder to the top of the transmission, then it is connected to a hose line. the only thing that would cause your pedal to have less pressure would be air in the hydraulic system. The only other thing it could be would be inside the bell housing mechanics whether it be in the pressure plate/clutch disc/flywheel or the arm itself. Try bleeding the system 1st, if that doesnt do anything, try replacing the slave cylinder, it is cheap and 90% of the time the issue.

 

Wow! This gotta be the most detailed and logical explanation I have ever read!

I disconnected the throttle body tonight, and tried to test it's resistance between pins. However, my multimeter is giving me strange values so I am going to buy a new meter tomorrow.

I then turned key to position 2 (right before crank) and tested the voltages between pins on the connector itself. Very strangely, I got 10v between red/violet and brown/white lines, and other lines mostly 0.5v. I had my friend pressing the gas pedal but the volts never changed between any pin. Does it mean that the pedal actuator or the wiring harness is bad? Or I am simply not testing it right?

Just to clarify, I have both code P1125 and P1229. They were there for over a year and seemed to go away every time I reset the ECU or clean and reseat the throttle body. Yet it came back again after the mechanic worked on my car, I am thinking to resolve the problem once for good. I have no idea if it is the throttle body, the engine wiring harness or the pedal actuator.

Arggggg, the car is dead in my garage, I can't sleep...

 

More then likely its the TB. I dont have my electrical manual with me at work or I could give you the pin out voltages you should expect to see. Trying to troubleshoot it without knowing what to expect makes it difficult.

I am pretty sure Murphy's Law states that whenever a significant other takes your car into a shop to get work done, something will go wrong.

 

UPDATES!

I just tested the resistances on the TB.

Between pin 2 and 6, resistance was about 960 ohms, pushing the butterfly open, it gradually lowered to 450 ohms.

Between pin 2 and 4, resistance was about 600 ohms, pushing the butterfly open, it gradually increased to 1300 ohms.

Now, between pin 1 and 2, the resistance was about 1450 ohms, but pushing the butterfly open, it constantly jumped up then went down, spiked 100 ohms up all the times, then went down like a declining stock' price chart. Same thing happened between 1 and 6, resistance goes up, but frequently goes down 50-100 ohm or so.

I compared my findings against two other guys on this forum, theirs were more radical changes, from 600 ohms to 1300 ohm, then to open circuit, e.g.

Mine didn't look as bad as theirs, but can I still conclude that I need to replace the TB with a new one?

This is what's printed on the TB:

1354 1 503 358-03
408 238/627/001
III 08-05-03
Germany

Do I have a faulted version of the TB?

 

bump

 

Well, thanks for all the help.

I eventually replaced the TB, re-initialized it, reset the ECU, cleared the code and everything went fine.

I bought a new OE TB for $320+tax, about $360.

 

I had P1125 over a year ago, or was it two? Anyway, the car went into limp mode because of it and then was fine after shutting off and restarting. Still had the code, that was how I found out why it went into limp mode. Well, the car has been fine after that. Glad I didn't have to shell out $360 for a new throttle body.

Did you try checking the resistance values on the new throttle body to establish baselines or to see how far off your old one was?

 

My car was exactly behaving like yours. Started to develop P1125 over a year ago, sometimes with P1229 as well. Then went fine after restarting, or code clearing, or cleaning the throttle body.

The limp mode then gradually became more frequent, and at the end replacing the throttle body has resolved it. I see that your mini was earlier than mine, I believe that you might need a new throttle body in the future too.

No, I don't want to check the resistance values any more. The mechanic told me not to open/close the butterfly with hand as it will damage the delicate resistors inside and misalign all the manufacture calibrations.

So I didn't touch it. Well better safe than sorry.