Mike,
It sounds like you and I are experiencing the same issue (the stiff clutch, not the farting, that sounds like a personal problem). It is very informative to know that Ken's pedal is noticeably lighter, that gives me hope that I can improve mine.
Here are the culprits I can think of in order of power transfer, not in order of likeliness.
- Bushings in the clutch pedal assembly (pin connecting to the master cylinder, side bushings for the spring, bushings on the pedal pivot bar, bushing where the spring applies force). These are about $20 total so I'll probably just replace them all and add grease. I don't think it's highly likely these are binding enough to cause the problem.
- Replaced factory coil spring with a linear spring. From what I can remember this only made things slightly stiffer, though since the bushing was destroyed perhaps that wasn't a fair comparison. I'm going to push the stock spring back in and use JB weld like Ken did. Or... might try to make a bronze bushing to replace the plastic one.
- Problem with the master or slave cylinder. I don't see any leaks or obvious damage, but I guess a seal could be leaking internally resulting in loss of pressure.
- Air in the clutch fluid. I just flushed mine a few weeks ago and it didn't help, but strangely I kept getting bubbles which I though were just coming through the threads of the bleeder nipple. If there were a leak I would expect to see fluid somewhere.
- Friction between the slave cylinder plunger and the clutch fork. This would squeak, but I can't see how it would make the clutch stuff.
- Lack of grease in the transmission, either on the clutch fork pivot or the throw out bearing. This could be the case, which would suck because you have to drop the trans to repair.
- Problem with the pressure plate. Also requires the transmission to be removed. I read one post where someones clutch got heavy and they later had a failure of the pressure plate. My clutch has 105k miles on it but is not slipping, I'm tempted to drop in a new clutch.
Can anybody think of something I missed?
- Matt