I was driving down the highway and when I went to change gears, the clutch became VERY stiff and hard to push. I continued on to my destination trying to shift as little as possible and when I got there, I checked the fluid and the springs on the pedal. Everything looks fine at first glance.

I swapped the my auto trans for the 5 spd 2 or 3 months ago, so the car has a new clutch, new slave cylinder, and a new throwout bearing. The clutch isn't slipping at all. The pedal feels like a really stiff sponge for the first 3/4's of the push, then the last inch or so, it feels like I'm trying to push the pedal through the firewall and the clutch isn't quite disengaging all the way.


Any ideas? The mastercylinder has been making a loud squeaking noise, when pushed, for a while now. Could it be that it's failed or failing?

Hi, did you also change the little plastic pivot on the side opposite the push-rod when you did the clutch? It wears and changes the amount of travel. Not sure about the hard petal..

Yes I did change that.

Hi, did you also change the little plastic pivot on the side opposite the push-rod when you did the clutch? It wears and changes the amount of travel. Not sure about the hard petal..


That would be my first guess. You still need to pull off the slave cylinder and make sure the pushrod didn't get bent or cocked. Maybe you can look through the hole in the bellhousing and see if the clutch fork rotated.

If I had to guess, I'd say there's an issue with the spring clip. Either that or the clutch release bearing is getting stuck on the shaft due to debris/grime. It may have twisted inside the fork as well, and finally bound up, not allowing for the proper travel.