Thread: Tdci clutch pedal squeak

I think i'm the only one who's still interested in this thread but i'll keep kicking it down the road...

I had another look inside the clutch pedal box and believe i've found the culprit - its neither the spring nor the pivot but the clutch cylinder actuation rod, right at the top of the box.

The rod is threaded and passes through a hole - in part number 7 in the pic - as it does so the threads 'saw' slightly at the hole.

This accounts for the noise, the 'notchy' feel of the pedal movement and also the recurring nature of the problem. I tightened up the two nuts on the threaded rod to stop any movement but theres virtually no space to swing a spanner and within a few days the noise is back.

So, i dont have a fix... its a pretty crap arrangement really

Keep it going Sam, I'm watching, and just waiting till I can get into mine to see whats happening in there.

You would be surprised if you knew who reads these threads.

I am taking all this on board, as those squeaks can be a real annoyance.
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Hey Sam, I'm interested mate, I've still got the bloody squeak it was gone for the past 2 days and then today it was back, slightly. I seem to think it could be heat related as the components heat up and swell slightly

Mine, most of the time starts when things get hot, possibly due to the heat coming from the exhaust turbo etc......grasping at straws here, I know........

I was excited when you thought you found it, the said it was back.

I understand what you're saying about the feel as I reckon I can feel a difference in the feel of the clutch when it is squeaking.

Mine is always worse in hot weather, or after a reasonable drive and things in the engine bay have warmed up. Expansion/ contraction of metallic parts is definitely a factor.

I'm going to open up my pedal box again and have a better go at tightening up the opposing nuts which clamp together the threaded actuation rod.

With all this talk of spraying lubricant inside the pedal box like holy water it could be making these nuts loosen off and therefore be making the problem worse not better ...

Had another play with the clutch pedal box today...



My clutch pedal is now free of squeaks, creaks, and any 'notchy' feeling during operation. On a simple level, all i did was tighten the nuts on the actuation rod which are either side of the silver bush you can see in my picture above. Devil is in the detail however...

Some observations:

- I first removed the fat nyloc nut and removed all previous lubricants from the end of the threaded rod. I pushed the clutch pedal in and jammed it with a block of wood to gain better access.

- the two slim nuts on the clutch cylinder end are too narrow to get any spanner (that i own or have ever seen) on. This drove me slightly crazy. I ended up with the needle ended mole grips on the inner nut. Theres no room to rotate the spanner either. This also drove me crazy.

- the threaded rod and nuts are not metric. Once i'd removed the nyloc nut i thought it would be better to put a double lock nut arrangement on this end too but found that M8 nuts were binding up. It seems that Barbagello Land Rover Perth found this too from the way the threads on the rod were slightly chewed. I ended up putting the old nyloc back on. 13mm spanner.

- The rod spins. In order to get the fat nyloc sufficiently tight i had to get the mole grips on the rod itself. This is a factor in getting the nuts tight enough.

Tightening up these nuts against each other - even until they squash the silver cylinder a little - will stop the rod moving around (even slightly) inside the cylinder, sawing at the cylinder and therefore eliminate the creaky notchy operation. My guess is that most creaky clutch pedal boxes have had too much back and forth adjustment of the nyloc nut (therefore loss of torque) and too much lubricant thrown at them (more loss of torque).

Hopefully i wont be back in a weeks time with more damn creaks

Sam

From now on you will be known as THE CREAK MASTER

Good work Sam,, ah Creak Master

With the spanner situation, you could always hack at an old one with an angle grinder to both flatten out the rounds to allow turn, and grind the flats to make it skinny enough. This will be know forthwith as Special Tool # ?

Why they don't have flats ground on the end of the bolt is anyone's guess, and unless you actually remove the bolt and do it yourself, locking pliers look like the answer.

We'll done, I look forward to attacking mine around Xmas sometime.

Thanks for the report.