Quicker gear changes

[jaybee]

Hi all,

Just thought I'd post up a bit of info on something I did to my Stivo last weekend.

Ive been looking through these forums for a while and noticed a lot of people talking about not being able to shift at high rpm and I also suffered this problem. It seems the common solution is a clutch replacement. Which does work as ive replaced a few stivo clutches at work under warranty for this concern. But if your car is out of warranty, it can be a costly exercise. And I didn't believe that this is the only fix. As my car has only 19000kms on it and with the 'conservative' way I drive my car, I know my clutch wouldn't have worn out yet.

So I decided to adjust the clutch. Im sure many of you mechanically minded people out there are thinking "but is hydraulic. You cant adjust it". But you can adjust the clutch master cylinder pushrod throw. Its an adjustment at the clutch pedal which, if wound out, will incease the amount of fluid displaced therefore causing the slave to throw out further and in turn, disengage the clutch further. So I did this, jumped in the car, let it warm up then went for a thrash. And i tell you what! It is so much more fun to drive. All the way to the limiter in 1st, pop in the clutch and then a nice smooth (and fast) shift to 2nd and you're still in lift. Absolutely brilliant. I highly recommend this to anybody having this problem.

If anybody wants more info on how to do this, shoot me a PM and ill work out some pics and insrtuctions.

Oh and the other little 'mod' I did at the same time was remove the air intake tube to the air box. It looked as though its only about an inch and half in diameter, so I pulled it out, went for a drive and was all excited about my car again. Its much more throaty and definately has a little bit more pull to it.

These are two of the best changes Ive made to the rolla and best of all, they cost me NOTHING!

~Josh

[and1]

Hi all,

Just thought I'd post up a bit of info on something I did to my Stivo last weekend.

Ive been looking through these forums for a while and noticed a lot of people talking about not being able to shift at high rpm and I also suffered this problem. It seems the common solution is a clutch replacement. Which does work as ive replaced a few stivo clutches at work under warranty for this concern. But if your car is out of warranty, it can be a costly exercise. And I didn't believe that this is the only fix. As my car has only 19000kms on it and with the 'conservative' way I drive my car, I know my clutch wouldn't have worn out yet.

So I decided to adjust the clutch. Im sure many of you mechanically minded people out there are thinking "but is hydraulic. You cant adjust it". But you can adjust the clutch master cylinder pushrod throw. Its an adjustment at the clutch pedal which, if wound out, will incease the amount of fluid displaced therefore causing the slave to throw out further and in turn, disengage the clutch further. So I did this, jumped in the car, let it warm up then went for a thrash. And i tell you what! It is so much more fun to drive. All the way to the limiter in 1st, pop in the clutch and then a nice smooth (and fast) shift to 2nd and you're still in lift. Absolutely brilliant. I highly recommend this to anybody having this problem.

If anybody wants more info on how to do this, shoot me a PM and ill work out some pics and insrtuctions.

Oh and the other little 'mod' I did at the same time was remove the air intake tube to the air box. It looked as though its only about an inch and half in diameter, so I pulled it out, went for a drive and was all excited about my car again. Its much more throaty and definately has a little bit more pull to it.

These are two of the best changes Ive made to the rolla and best of all, they cost me NOTHING!

~Josh

That's good to hear mate!

Although the clutch adjustment issue has been noted and someone did write down your method beforehand already.

[Lupetto]

Hi all,

Just thought I'd post up a bit of info on something I did to my Stivo last weekend.

Ive been looking through these forums for a while and noticed a lot of people talking about not being able to shift at high rpm and I also suffered this problem. It seems the common solution is a clutch replacement. Which does work as ive replaced a few stivo clutches at work under warranty for this concern. But if your car is out of warranty, it can be a costly exercise. And I didn't believe that this is the only fix. As my car has only 19000kms on it and with the 'conservative' way I drive my car, I know my clutch wouldn't have worn out yet.

So I decided to adjust the clutch. Im sure many of you mechanically minded people out there are thinking "but is hydraulic. You cant adjust it". But you can adjust the clutch master cylinder pushrod throw. Its an adjustment at the clutch pedal which, if wound out, will incease the amount of fluid displaced therefore causing the slave to throw out further and in turn, disengage the clutch further. So I did this, jumped in the car, let it warm up then went for a thrash. And i tell you what! It is so much more fun to drive. All the way to the limiter in 1st, pop in the clutch and then a nice smooth (and fast) shift to 2nd and you're still in lift. Absolutely brilliant. I highly recommend this to anybody having this problem.

If anybody wants more info on how to do this, shoot me a PM and ill work out some pics and insrtuctions.

Oh and the other little 'mod' I did at the same time was remove the air intake tube to the air box. It looked as though its only about an inch and half in diameter, so I pulled it out, went for a drive and was all excited about my car again. Its much more throaty and definately has a little bit more pull to it.

These are two of the best changes Ive made to the rolla and best of all, they cost me NOTHING!

~Josh

Hey mate, Im kinda keen to give the clutch adjustment to my Camry. Reckon you can post it up for me? or pm me with the info? cheers :)

[chicaboo]

Hi all,

Just thought I'd post up a bit of info on something I did to my Stivo last weekend.

Ive been looking through these forums for a while and noticed a lot of people talking about not being able to shift at high rpm and I also suffered this problem. It seems the common solution is a clutch replacement. Which does work as ive replaced a few stivo clutches at work under warranty for this concern. But if your car is out of warranty, it can be a costly exercise. And I didn't believe that this is the only fix. As my car has only 19000kms on it and with the 'conservative' way I drive my car, I know my clutch wouldn't have worn out yet.

So I decided to adjust the clutch. Im sure many of you mechanically minded people out there are thinking "but is hydraulic. You cant adjust it". But you can adjust the clutch master cylinder pushrod throw. Its an adjustment at the clutch pedal which, if wound out, will incease the amount of fluid displaced therefore causing the slave to throw out further and in turn, disengage the clutch further. So I did this, jumped in the car, let it warm up then went for a thrash. And i tell you what! It is so much more fun to drive. All the way to the limiter in 1st, pop in the clutch and then a nice smooth (and fast) shift to 2nd and you're still in lift. Absolutely brilliant. I highly recommend this to anybody having this problem.

If anybody wants more info on how to do this, shoot me a PM and ill work out some pics and insrtuctions.

Oh and the other little 'mod' I did at the same time was remove the air intake tube to the air box. It looked as though its only about an inch and half in diameter, so I pulled it out, went for a drive and was all excited about my car again. Its much more throaty and definately has a little bit more pull to it.

These are two of the best changes Ive made to the rolla and best of all, they cost me NOTHING!

~Josh

Josh, please tell me your located in Brisbane! :o I have the document for how the clutch should be set, and noone has done it properly for me yet. It's driving me nuts...

Gav.

[jaybee]

That's good to hear mate!

Although the clutch adjustment issue has been noted and someone did write down your method beforehand already.

Yea I was just notified of that in a PM. Hadn't seen it anywhere before so i thought id throw it out there.

Hey mate, Im kinda keen to give the clutch adjustment to my Camry. Reckon you can post it up for me? or pm me with the info? cheers :)

I'm not sure whether its worth it for you depending on what problem you are having. This is just designed for the Stivos with hard shifting in high RPM. Let me know what symptoms you are having and we may be able to work out the fix. Or here is the info somebody just sent me about the adjustment. You never know, it may be what your Camry needs.

Josh, please tell me your located in Brisbane! :o I have the document for how the clutch should be set, and noone has done it properly for me yet. It's driving me nuts...

Gav.

Sorry mate. I'm located in God's Country. AKA Sydney's Northern Beaches

[Guni]

Any pics or step by step guide that you can share with us up here instead?

Cheers.

[Lupetto]

My Sportivo in High Rpm will shudder a tad when i hard change... i have to ease into the gear.

[Kenji]

My Sportivo in High Rpm will shudder a tad when i hard change... i have to ease into the gear.

likewise but only 1st -2nd

[jusuo]

instead of replying to someone's PM with a step-by-step guide of how you did your clutch adjustment, you should post it up in your thread so everyone can benefit :)

[jaybee]

instead of replying to someone's PM with a step-by-step guide of how you did your clutch adjustment, you should post it up in your thread so everyone can benefit :)

The link I posted earlier has a step by step with detailed photos. Its not my documentation but its pretty much the same as what I did...I can get some more specific photos of exactly what I did if people want. Just have to wait a week as ill be out of town this long weekend

~Josh

[jaybee]

My Sportivo in High Rpm will shudder a tad when i hard change... i have to ease into the gear.

likewise but only 1st -2nd

I've never experienced this shudder before. I'd have to fault it myself before I could say what it could be. Maybe if you're heading to my area one day you could take me for a run.

~Josh

[123R-Prozak]

i tried doing this adjustment after work, and man how the hell do you get to that '12mm' on the push rod !!!i decided to go and take the pedal assembly off when i came to a hault due to the top bolt was a p*rick!! so i left it, came home and thought id ask you nice blokes..

its really embarrising when i cant go from 2nd to 3rd in high rpm, its as if there is no 3rd gear and imm hitting against a wall !!!!

[Woodsie]

This is a very useful tip. I just adjusted the clutch of my fishing car (03 Hilux) as per the post and am pleased to say it has improved the gear change from 1st to 2nd quite noticeably.

[pirate125]

Can anyone tell me how they were able to access the lock nut?

I tried using a 12mm flare nut wrench but could not get the wrench on properly to break it loose since there was a bracket at the bottom holding the clutch start switch that was preventing me from angling the spanner properly so that I could grip the nut. It doesn't seem possible to take that bracket off either. HELP!!!

Edited September 21, 2009 by pirate125

[123R-Prozak]

Can anyone tell me how they were able to access the lock nut?

I tried using a 12mm flare nut wrench but could not get the wrench on properly to break it loose since there was a bracket at the bottom holding the clutch start switch that was preventing me from angling the spanner properly so that I could grip the nut. It doesn't seem possible to take that bracket off either. HELP!!!

late opinion i know, but the way i did it was i removed all the bolts holding the clutch pedal bracket, and somehow got a spanner in there and losened the nut, fitted the assembly agian, ( top bolt is very fun ) and adjusted the rod till it was good, then then nipped up the bolt with spannner, didnt go super tight as didnt have the room to do so so just nipped it... its all good...

[pirate125]

Can anyone tell me how they were able to access the lock nut?

I tried using a 12mm flare nut wrench but could not get the wrench on properly to break it loose since there was a bracket at the bottom holding the clutch start switch that was preventing me from angling the spanner properly so that I could grip the nut. It doesn't seem possible to take that bracket off either. HELP!!!

late opinion i know, but the way i did it was i removed all the bolts holding the clutch pedal bracket, and somehow got a spanner in there and losened the nut, fitted the assembly agian, ( top bolt is very fun ) and adjusted the rod till it was good, then then nipped up the bolt with spannner, didnt go super tight as didnt have the room to do so so just nipped it... its all good...

Thanks for the reply. I will try to do it this weekend and update this thread.

[123R-Prozak]

Can anyone tell me how they were able to access the lock nut?

I tried using a 12mm flare nut wrench but could not get the wrench on properly to break it loose since there was a bracket at the bottom holding the clutch start switch that was preventing me from angling the spanner properly so that I could grip the nut. It doesn't seem possible to take that bracket off either. HELP!!!

late opinion i know, but the way i did it was i removed all the bolts holding the clutch pedal bracket, and somehow got a spanner in there and losened the nut, fitted the assembly agian, ( top bolt is very fun ) and adjusted the rod till it was good, then then nipped up the bolt with spannner, didnt go super tight as didnt have the room to do so so just nipped it... its all good...

Thanks for the reply. I will try to do it this weekend and update this thread.

????????????????????????

[pirate125]

I was finally able to do this over the weekend and I I took off my clutch pedal bracket assembly and still could not get the locknut loosened so I had to end up taking out my clutch master cylinder and I was able to loosen the locknut quite easily once I took it out. Afterwards, I put back on the clutch pedal assembly, clutch master cylinder, bled the clutch system, adjusted the pedal free play and then bled it again.

My shifting has really improved now and is no longer as "notchy".

[123R-Prozak]

Good effort mate! Glad it kinda worked, u put the hard yakka to do all that work lol

[izzy]

Anyone know a mechanic that can do this?

[T_Money]

did mine over the weekend and now i have some crazy buzzing in 1st and second in the shift lever. I think i need a few more rubber o rings :P