[s-cars] Clutch Pedal Replacement - hints that might help for this bugger of a job

[Mike Miller]

I wussed out a couple months ago and paid $170 (2 hours) to a shop to 
replace mine.

--mike


On 10/9/2012 6:44 PM, McCall, Randy wrote:
> Driving to a meeting last week with my S6A  with about 178K on the clock, shifted into fifth, and the clutch pedal went and disappeared to the floor and didn't come back.  My clutch isn't very stiff, so I wasn't thinking it would fatigue and fail, but it did and the R&R job is not at all fun.  Fortunately I had saved a pedal cluster from the wrecked S6 I previously had, so I had the parts I needed, but this job was far from the easiest job I've done - limited room to work (take out the fiberboard baffle between the electrical blocks and the clutch pedal, as well as the metal mount for it - makes for more room to work under dash), and very limited space to work from.
>
> There's a nice set of pictures and general procedure in the Quattro fans archives (http://forums.quattroworld.com/s4s6/threads/15562.phtml), but that write up suggests first running the seat all the way back, and then using zip ties to pre-compress the overcenter spring once you get it out.  First of all, take the damn seat out and get a nice pad for the floor board to lay on!  Us older human's aren't made to contort that much and still be able to unwind again...
>
> Second, I have no idea how one would use zip ties to do this with rounded corners on the plastic end caps that hold the spring and provide the forks to mount to the clutch pedal frame pin and the clutch pedal pin.  But I did find an excellent approach to make this job just a bit easier for re-assembly.  Using a bicycle spoke (I believe a 15gauge stainless spoke), I cut and made two external clips to hold the spring compressed - compress the whole spring assembly in a vice, then bend the short ends of the spoke to form a kind of hook on each end of about 1/8' - shorter is better, and past 90degrees to about 60 degrees (acute angle).  Put both spring clips on the outside of the end caps and relax the vice.  With the spring nearly fully compressed, it was a piece of cake to get it back in; I imagine it would have been practically impossible without that step. I left the spring circlip on the pivot post for the fixed end of when I pulled the pedal off - the plastic spring plate j
>   ust slides out of there.  If the spring is nearly fully compressed and held that way, you can slip it back on the post, then get the forked end around the pedal post with little difficulty by depressing the clutch pedal to the floor (this was before I hooked up the MC pin).  Since its an over centering spring, the spring's more relaxed at each end of travel, and by moving the pedal back towards the middle it compresses the spring a bit allowing one or both of the spring clips to fall off - I used a screwdriver to pop the other off.  Given how far back in the belly of the beast that spring is, trust me it was a lot easier than trying figure out what to do with zip ties or wire, or other things I thought up along the way to keep that assembly compressed.
>
> So if that damn pedal breaks on you, and you are looking in there thinking - what the hell?  It's not quite as tough as the brake booster R&R if you have the right tricks!
>
> Cheers,
>
> -Randy
>
>
>
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