Halp! - Clutch return spring mod and clutch push rod issues.

So. In the hairy thick of the clutch return spring mod. Would have been quick but ran into some issues .

Looking for some input regardless of the result to my pride if I am going about this wrong. Pics included, no reason to waste your time trying to describe . Will try to be thorough. Onward to the messy stuff:

- Got the torsion spring out, not much left of the bushings.
- Bought the #70 P/N 540210 extension spring mentioned as the one used by many in place of the brake return spring (Toyota did not have one in stock).
- Went to swap into place, ran into a few problems, listed below by pic# reference.

Pic link: http://imgur.com/a/4aH27

#1. Gap in the bracket the spring passes through different than pictured in other threads (year difference?). Bottom of the bracket sits JUST at the point where the spring passes causing it to brush the coils of the #70 spring when depressing the clutch. Swapped for the current brake spring to check for fitment, unfortunately the coil position runs too close to the bracket as well. Yet to try Napa's springs but their coil position is about the same. Other option is a Napa, non-shaped spring I can cut/bend to fit, however the tension is so high it would probably make shifting heavy-footed.

#2A-2B-2C. Previously replaced clutch slave and master cylinders last year. Aftermarket master has a clutch push rod and clevis with that plastic pivot point. Due to the play in the pedal continuing (as I did not know about the torsion spring issue then) it wore out the plastic ring causing extended pivot angle (#2A). Removed the ring (#2C) and shaped it back in, it now sits in-line with the master, as it did prior, without the excess play (#2B). This was not meant as permanent, I know it will ride with slight motion metal-on-metal. I read in other threads that a 2000 manual sedan has originally a fixed rod and clevis which can be swapped (junkyard grab). Toyota cost over $70 just for the fixed clevis and they are far out on when I would get one.

#3. Springs. (1)-Brake spring. (2)-#70. (3&4)-Napa

Questions:

Did anybody else run into the bracket fitment issue, if so, was there another spring they found worked? A buddy had his dad do his with the brake spring and the tension is pretty high but not ridiculous, may not be as bad as considered to do the non-bent option? I am willing to put in the extra muscle to shift but don't want to cause any clutch issues down the road if I mess my engagement point by not getting enough distance to the floor.

With the rod and clevis. Not a fan of metal on metal long term. Is the sedan swap worth it or long term stable for the master? My worry is the lineup with it fixed being off and possibly ruining the new master down the road, or again causing clutch issues. I can buy another master and steal the push rod, would leave a spare master, but the junkyard grab is more enticing.

Last thing I want is to start a domino fall that ends in new clutch. Did one once on a MK2, once being the keyword, hate em, never want to do another.

Input? Go with shaping a spring, fixed rod and clevis swap? Anything would help. The issues set me back on time before having to get her back on the road.

 

I've read about people cutting a channel in the bracket so the spring doesn't rub. I just got done doing this:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/successful-clutch-pedal-adjustment-bronze-bushing-mod.499079/

It may not be your end goal so I won't push it on you. I have a brake spring sitting around that I may use depending on how I like the new bushing when I get it dialed in with final adjustments.

 

Nice. Didn't run into that thread when searching. Had found an older one. Was actually gonna do pics or video as well as I saw it requested in some of the older threads, just ran out of time. Your torsion spring damage was same as mine. I wish I had known about the issue sooner, could have saved myself the headache. I am going to buy the spare master and straight spring just in the case I am shot on options by the end of today. A lot around here is closed due to holiday and gotta be roadworthy tomorrow. Did you end up with damage to the plastic ring on your push rod as well? I saw a lot of play in it in your video. Mine was really sloppy, not being able to see up behind it I didn't know it was cracked, was hidden within the play already there from the spring issue.

 

TBH I don't even know about the plastic ring on the pushrod. This is the first time I ever worked on a clutch in any way. The previous owner had the MC replaced about a year ago I think so hopefully the clevis part is alright, but I'll check it out today. The slop changed a lot when I extended the length of the clevis. It's what I did in the second video to get the pedal to return much better.

 

I got a new master from Napa, I think the push rod itself may have been damaged as it was no longer fixed into the master through the boot. It has been so long I don't remember if it was originally that way or if it wore out the ring on the rod itself and it slipped out. Didn't see any damage and with it keeping firm never would have been an obvious motion to notice.

I was gonna go with the brass too, saw so many people do the linear spring it seemed a better route.

Closer inspection, looks like the bracket base is just to cover the old torsion spring. Don't see why a shaving a bit would cause any issue.

New master, shave bracket, should be good to go.

 

Done and done. Inspection mirror found a worn spot hidden behind the boot that had allowed the push rod to slip out at just the right angle. Never felt it with the pedal play issue masking it. It separated once the pedal was disconnected. Too late for that master. Swapped everything for new. Used the #70 spring, little bit of convincing and it cleared the bracket without having to alter anything. Got the new master cylinder in. Everything bled and adjusted. She shifts so smooth I almost don't trust her. I'd call her a happy taco. Wish I had found out about the torsion spring issue sooner, would have pulled everything then and there and not had to replace as much, but glad to have it fixed. It was one of those things in threads it seemed people either fixed or lived with. Didn't know it had damaged so much over time before and after buying the truck. Now weary of any other 1st gen issues are lurking in the future I don't know about. Plastic bushings blows my mind.

 

Looks like I'm going to try to suss out my squeak by removing the torsion spring and replacing it with a brake pedal spring to see if that gets rid of the friction I can feel in the pedal. When you say it took some convincing to get the spring to clear the bracket, what do you mean? Did you have to bend or cut it at all?

 

It must be the newer trucks have different clutch pedal brackets.

I have never seen one in person

On my 2000

I just popped that big Clunky spring out installed a brake return spring out of a 87 Toyota parts truck no real problems

 

*Attempt 2. Image didn't upload into original album. And awaaaay we go:

Here is the link I got the following pic from. Do not want to swipe somebody's image without credit. Just did not get a good pic of mine before removing it. Looks like some of them were doing bushing change-outs or doing the spring swap. It was a cleaner pic of the spring. I numbered the pic #7 and inverted it so you see where you would be looking to get it out. I put an arrow where you press. After getting off any broken bushings you may have stuck or jamming it (mine were already toast) you can get it out by putting a heavy screwdriver between the bar and the bracket and pushing the spring inward. It will compress the spring through the hole and it will pop out. The tension is high on the bugger so I had safety glasses and wrapped the spring in a towel to catch it. It let the spring snap back and catch in the towel instead of saying hi to my face. That is not a lost eye I could make up a decent story for.

As for the convincing, for me the bushing were shot and a bit jammed. Once it came unhooked it took a bit of wiggle back and forth to slide it the rest of the way out. No cutting needed, just a few four letter words.

 

As for how it turned out. I used the #70 in the end. It has been about a week. Clean clutch movement through to the floor, much smoother than I ever got with the original spring. I really like the fact that you get a steady swing back up instead of the bit of stiff snap back the old spring had. I have been happy so far.

Also, as I think others mentioned in threads. The #70 spring I got from Ace Hardware. It ran about $2.

 

Yeah I was a bit thrown off by the other pics in threads. Mine seemed to have a more narrow opening. The #70 ended up being the only one with a diameter that fit.

 

I got the #70 spring. Does yours hit the pedal lever arm where the old broken bushing goes when you push the pedal in? It looks like I'm going to have to cut that thing off if I want the spring to not interfere with anything.

 

Mine hit at first. I had to finagle the spring a bit. I found that doing a mild twist to the ends, which ended up lining up the pedal and the tab under the dash better, got it to clear the bracket and didn't have to cut anything. The spring ends sit 180* out from one another so it did not line up with the tab which twists it about 90* at the pedal when installed. If you adjust the bend a bit so it sits coil facing up on both side the spring passes by without contacting the bracket. Hope that makes sense. It is late here, would be a bit dark to use the flash on my phone, but I will snap a picture of it tomorrow if that will help. Not an expert by any means on this. First time doing it.

 

I pretty much followed the other threads as best I could. Here is one of the ones I found had the best example using the #70 spring. I referenced this one when I did it. You can see how the ends sit opposite. For me it contacted the bracket just a hair. I had to install it so the coil up end was at the pedal, then do a slight twist on the tab end so the coils sat face up all the way across. That kept it from contacting when you depressed the clutch pedal.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/fixed-stupid-plastic-clutch-pedal-bushing-19137/

 

Thanks man I appreciate you hitting me back about that. Did you get any interference here from the clutch pedal lever arm where the old bushing would have sat (the plastic one)? This is the issue for me - not the bracket. It clears that no problem.

 

Wow, yours sits off center from mine. I had clearance issues with the bottom center of the bracket. It looks like your pedal is sitting far to the left? A lot of other people had bad side play before they fixed theirs. Does yours have the loose back and forth play? I am going to guess the pedal and/or push rod needs adjusting? For me the push rod and clevis were shot so my pedal had a lot of side play and was misaligned at the firewall. I just followed the tolerance adjustments listed for the truck in my manual after I was done and I don't have any play anymore.

I did notice that various trucks seemed to have a different shaped/sized bracket though. For this I am not sure, may be best to throw the question on the forum. I don't know how much knowledgeable help I would be for that since this was new for me. I would not ant to mislead or offer bad information having no prior experience with it. The people here are pretty fantastic when it comes to helping. I am pretty sure they would respond to help you out. Tons of them seemed to have done the same mod.

Late here, early morning, hope that helped steer in the right direction. I think the people would get back to you pretty quick on the forum

 

Thanks man! That's a pic from the writeup you posted lol. I know what I have to do if I want to fix my problem - just cut off the bushing post thingy and the spring will have no interference. The brass bushing has been giving me problems. It's looking like the Ace spring might be the way to go for me too. Wanted to ask before the point of no (free) return lol. Glad you got a cheap fix - I spent $60 getting the whole brass bushing and welding fix going. I'm at least better educated for my efforts lol.

Edit: The brake spring that I bought (that's too big to clear the bracket w/o mods) has a dampener. I'm wondering if I could rig up something similar in the Ace spring to give it a little smoother motion. I might look into that once I get the interference taken care of!

 

Holy crapbasket. I am so tired I didn't even notice. The pic I put of it is from another thread. Totally misread you. That's it, I tap out, 11 at night, gotta go to bed before I forget my own name
lol

 

People had success with the brass mod though, might want to keep that setup. I would throw out in the forum about keeping it. From what I saw in other threads a lot of people had great results doing it. Wouldn't want to burn the money spent doing it.

 

lol I think computers definitely rob us of much needed sleep. Thanks again brother! Buenes Noches