Excessive play in clutch pedal

Just recently developed a problem with my clutch pedal. When I push the clutch down, I’ve got about 1 inch of play before the clutch feels normal and starts getting resistance. The only thing I’ve noticed is that the rod coming out of the master cylinder seems like it’s too low for some reason. There’s a yellow mark on the rod, but it’s only visible if I hold up the rod where the rod is going into the receiving end of the clutch pedal. I’ve traced the fluid lines from the master cylinder to the reservoir, and it shares the same reservoir with my brakes, and reservoir is topped off. Ran my hands down the lines and I don’t see or feel any leaks. Any people here had this same problem/any ideas on how to diagnose? My mechanic isn’t open till Monday so I’d like to try and find a solution over the weekend.

 

Thats you're adjusting nut where you're finger was.

 

I don't have a 2nd gen FSM but the 1st gens have threaded adjustments for pedal height and rod free play.
Hopefully someone will post the proper illustration, untill then I hope this helps.

 

So I’m guessing that dictates how much free play the pedal has? I’m still trying to figure out how the pedal developed this problem to begin with. The nut is still fully tightened, doesn’t look like it backed off at all.

 

This is identical to what my 12 just started doing. Did you figure out what the resolve is?
Thanks

 

Most likely the spring in the master cylinder is broken. I pulled my old one apart at work and I found this.
While my truck was down, I decided to also change my slave cylinder under the truck since the rubber boot was already torn. Word of advice, definitely check what master cylinder you have installed first. I took the oem one out of my truck, went to oreillys to buy a certified replacement, and the threaded portion for the fluid didn’t fit. Returned it, went to autozone, got the same exact certified replacement, still didn’t thread on. I ended up having to fly to a different island (living in Hawaii problems, nobody would same day ship so I had to jump on a plane for a 30 minute ride to buy the correct part), buy the genuine Toyota master cylinder that looked completely identical to the one taken out, and it fit like a glove. To make sure you get the right one, double check the threads with the one taken out to the one you’re buying. Yours should be fine thread, and if it’s the supposed “certified replacement” which is wasn’t, it’ll be coarse thread.

 

I think I just ran into the same thing, pulled the old one out, it looked identical to the replacement I got from advanced auto, got the replacement hooked up to the brake fluid reservoir with that hard to get to clamp, thought I was in the clear, then spent the next 3 hours trying to get the threads of the hydraulic line to catch. I really didn’t want to undo the line to the reservoir again but I guess I should pull the new one out and see if the threads are actually different

 

Top is the one I needed, bottom is the one I got 3 times from 2 different stores and all 3 could never thread on. What I noticed is the bottom one, the threads are recessed just a bit too much to get started safely. I got it to catch but could tell I was cross threading after a few turns. So I found a store that confidently had the one on top that is identical to the one in my truck, and it threaded on perfect first try.

 

dang they did give me the right part. I’m now wondering if my fitting is flared out too much, going to try filing it down

 

That line has some play in it, try to thread it on the master cylinder without mounting the whole thing in place first, ie; don’t bolt the master cylinder up yet, let it free hang while you thread it on. If you can get it started that way, then you definitely got the right one. My hose looks exactly like that with that flared end, but you don’t want to file that down because that’s basically where your seal comes from, it’s in a sense a compression fitting. If you file that down, you risk hydraulic/brake fluid oil leaking from that fitting, then you’re replacing that whole line and thats another job in itself.

 

Ok well I don’t know if that’s good or bad news lol. I was basing the filing off muddinfuns post here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/clutch-problems.631955/#post-22955269

For the heck of it I tried getting the threads started on the old MC and had the same trouble, must just not be able to get the right angle I guess

 

yeah, it’s literally all about the right angle tbh. It doesn’t help that you’ve also got no space below that dash to move around. Per his post, you can also buy a new hydraulic hose, which I did get from my buddy who I bought the right part from, but thankfully I didn’t need to change out the hose to adapt the new master cylinder. If you have a Napa near you, check with them first if they have the hose with the fittings if you do end up having to change it out to connect the new master cylinder. It’s a pain in the ass, but changing out the slave and master cylinder was my first serious job by myself, so it’s definitely manageable to do, it just takes some time and finessing. If you’re master cylinder went out, you should also look at your slave cylinder too. While changing out my master, I decided to look at the slave and noticed the boot was already torn so I changed it out at the same time.