Any help???
I am not getting full clutch release. I bled and i bled there is no air in the system. new master, new slave cylinder and new clutch. I press the pedal and the slave cylinder starts moving right away. However it just seems like there is not enough stroke to fully disengage it. I am guessing when i say i get approximatley an inch of travel out of the slave cylinder while pressing the pedal. If i put a pair of vise grips on the slave rod at a certain spot (so the rod doesn't fully retract into the slave where it would normaly stop at) i have a perfect clutch. As soon as i remove the vise grips... it goes right back to where i started out at.
Anyone with similiar problem???

quote Originally posted by TheLuber: Any help??? I am not getting full clutch release. I bled and i bled there is no air in the system. new master, new slave cylinder and new clutch. I press the pedal and the slave cylinder starts moving right away. However it just seems like there is not enough stroke to fully disengage it. I am guessing when i say i get approximatley an inch of travel out of the slave cylinder while pressing the pedal. If i put a pair of vise grips on the slave rod at a certain spot (so the rod doesn't fully retract into the slave where it would normaly stop at) i have a perfect clutch. As soon as i remove the vise grips... it goes right back to where i started out at. Anyone with similiar problem???

You should be getting a little more than 1" of travel. I don't understand how the vice grips could help, too busy to think about that one right now.

Just some questions that might help people here diagnose the problem:

1. What year Fiero?
2. What transaxle do you have?
3. Did you use the original push rod?
4. Was the slave identical in size?
5. Is the banjo installed correctly?

Mike

quote Originally posted by Nosferatu187: You should be getting a little more than 1" of travel.

Amount of travel depends on whether it's a Getrag slave or other.

quote Originally posted by Nosferatu187: You should be getting a little more than 1" of travel. Originally posted by TopNotch: Amount of travel depends on whether it's a Getrag slave or other.

Archisms:
To properly operate the stock Fiero Clutch you need 1.15" of travel in the hydraulic system to properly engage and dis-engage the clutch.

The Fiero Store
The Fiero's hydraulic clutch needs a minimum 1.15" (slave cylinder rod must travel 1.15" for full disengagement) of travel for full clutch disengagement.

????

Mike

My fiero had this exact problem just before i put it away last winter.
all of a sudden it was hard to get into gear, then one day it stopped all together.

I'd push the clutch in and the slave rod would move only a bit, not enough to move the throwout arm.
I read all the suggestions posted on here from our wise community and went through every possible cause.
You might want to check these out too.

Bent clutch pedal - The stock aluminum pedal can bend over time causing shifing problems.
Upside-down Banjo - according to V8Archie, some 87-88 Fiero's were assembled with the banjo upside-down (this part is the connection between the pedal and the master cyl)
Leak - You might have an invisible leak. Pull back the carpet & look.

Check out http://www.v8archie.com and click on "archisms" on the left side of the page. He has some great tips on clutch issues there.

In the end, after i had checked everything twice and bled the clutch for 2 days with my dad with no positive results, I decided to put a band-aid solution in place.

I didnt have the resources to make a longer rod for the slave so I just got a 1/4" thick steel washer and put it between the rod and the piston in the slave making the rod come out just a bit longer so it could push the thorwout arm all the way (Similar to your vise grip method, )...now it shifts even better then before...for now at least!

Of course band-aids are meant to come off at some point...so I should look into a new slave soon.

Maybe you got the wrong slave?

[This message has been edited by Dougie Murder (edited 05-01-2010).]

I recently replaced my pedal, and *ahem* the PO lost the sleeve that goes in the tube (that's my story and I'm sticking to it) making it difficult to get the pedal tight enough not to twist, but not so tight I can't depress the pedal.

When it comes loose after a few weeks (which is does... a lot) I get the difficult shifting issues. I'd recommend checking the nuts and bolts down there (Three of them, two holding on a U shape bracket thing, and 1 through the top of the pedal assembly for the clutch and brake that they pivot on) to see if they're tight. Even just a little out of alignment on the pedal assembly can make the banjo not depress enough.