Clutch pedal free play

Having just purchased my first Tacoma (used 2014 2WD access cab 5 speed manual), I am wondering how much free play should be in the clutch pedal. Right now there is no free play and I am having no trouble shifting, nor is the clutch slipping at all. I haven't had a manual transmission vehicle for over 30 years, but seem to remember its not good for clutch life to have no play in the pedal. Hopefully someone knows whats up and can advise me. Thanks!

 

There should be a bit of free play. I don't recall the amount off hand.

I like your avatar. It's the logo of my alma mater.

 

GTFO!!! Are you a Yuma High Criminal????

 

Yep. 1990.

 

1985 for me. I'm in the Pacific NW, so not many Criminals up here. Whenever I tell people my high school's nickname they think I'm lying. Thanks for the info also. When I bought a house up here in 1994, there was a guy 2 doors down that was a Kofa King. WTF!! I looked at your pics and your rig is awesome. Love it up here, but really miss the Arizona sunsets (as seen in your pics). I really wanted a 4WD but they were too expensive for my current situation (3 kids in college and trying to help them out).
Thanks for the reply man, appreciate it,
John Price

 

Good to see another Criminal on here. Thanks for the compliment. I've been working on it for 9 years. The wife and I would love to move to PNW, but Prescott is pretty nice.
That's funny your neighbor is a Kofa King.
I'll find the free play amount for you tomorrow.

 

Pedal Adjustment:

 

The clutch is hydraulically controlled and self adjusts. 30 years ago they were the same but not too far prior to that they weren't hydraulic on American vehicles.

 

Hydraulic or not, there should still be pedal free play so the throwout bearing isn't touching the pressure plate fingers; see spec posted above: 5-15mm. A half inch free play is a general rule of thumb for all vehicles for forever.

 

Unless it’s something heavy chassis, then it’s 2 inches.

 

Thanks for the diagram, looks simple enough.

 

Absolutely not correct. I've always heard "approximately 1/2"", including on the Tacoma.

I think some people might be confusing clutch pedal free play with partial clutch disengagement (as in when the vehicle starts movement due to clutch pedal being released).

I've always needed to grab the clutch pedal with my hand to determine clutch pedal free play, versus using my foot.

 

Heavy chassis trucks are an entire different ball game. Lol I was just clarifying that it wasn’t 1/2 in for “all” vehicles.

page 9 for reference, 1 to 3 inches for trucks equipped with a clutch brake
https://www.eaton.com/ecm/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=581646

 

Gotcha. I misunderstood your post. Typical for me, yikes.

 

From the Tacoma shop service manual.

 

So after pushing the clutch pedal by hand, I'm pretty sure it has about 1/2 inch of free play. The reason I didn't think so earlier was because there is a tiny bit of pedal spring tension in the free play and that was throwing me off. After pushing it about a half inch I can feel a lot more resistance and I have to push harder to get the pedal to go farther down. Thanks for everyone's replies, I was just obsessing about nothing apparently ( I really want to take care of my clutch to hopefully ensure a long life).

 

Uh, no. The myth persists. The T/O bearing on the Taco is designed to ride on the fingers of the pressure plate and turns full time.

 

OP, do this as a quick check. With the engine off and the transmission is in neutral set the ebrake and open the door.

Then take your fingers and push on the clutch pedal gently and then push in more a few times just to get the hang of its feel.

Then release the pedal and push gently again with your fingers, there should be two distinct resistance points. The first should occurs at just a small amount of travel of the pedal where only the return spring of the pedal is being felt. Then there is some resistance. We are not talking much here just push it a little and it should be around 1.0 - 5.0 mm measured at the pedal pad. This is the actual free play gap between the back of the clutch pedal and were it just touches the engagement rod of the master cylinder. This is the Push Rod Play addressed in the FSM and it can be adjusted at that point if desired.

Now that you have established the first point of resistance, keep pushing with your fingers beyond that point and the next resistance point is the Pedal Free Play. This should occur at around 5.0 - 15.0 mm. There is a change in feel at the second point. I know this may be a bit confusing.

If you are having problems shifting. Make sure you push the pedal to the floor and don't do speed shifts. Also, when is the last time the transmission gear oil was changed? Finally, the 5-speeds had two OEM clutch suppliers: LUK and Aisin. Because of chronic quality problems with their clutches LUK was finally dumped as an OEM supplier in around 2013 IIRC was the last time the parts were used. You may have gotten an early build 2014 with 2013 problem parts, or your clutch is just tired having been rather exercised by the previous owner.

 

Thanks for the info. Based on what you posted, I think my clutch pedal is adjusted fine. I was initially concerned because of the slight return spring resistance when using my foot on the pedal, I couldn't discern the free play. Using my hand I could tell it was there. I have no problems shifting and no slippage. Not sure when the transmission gear oil was changed or when it should be. My truck has just over 63,500 miles on it.

 

Good. FWIW, I've had a couple of 2nd gen Tacos bought new and every one fresh from the factory was like that. In addition, I have checked a few for others here and have yet to find one out of adjustment. Not saying it does not happen though.