Clutch issue?

[Weller66]

Hi my daughter owns a 2006 1.3 petrol yaris, the issue is, low clutch pedal bite, the clutch bites about 2inchs off the floor, have to push fully to start.

changed clutch, still same issue.

Changes gear fine either hot or cold, so no synchromesh.

Now thinking maybe the clutch slave cylinder, any help or advice please.

Edited August 27, 2019 by FROSTYBALLS
Topic title edited to reflect subject

[stantheman1]

Doesn't sound like there's an issue to me in fact sounds perfectly normal to me!

[Stevie J]

Mine does exactly the same. Seems its a common issue with early mk2 manual transmission cars. Clutch pedal biting point is far too low, but its been like it since I had it, and seems the slave cylinder doesnt quite push out far enough. I bled the hydraulic system to the slave, and still the same issue. Honest John highlighted this as an issue as well in his reviews, where clutch does not always completely disengage the drive when fully depressed and it seems its juts a design flaw. I have to just put up with mine now, and make sure the clutch is mashed into the carpet when changing gear. Getting reverse without crunching it needs a bit of time and patience.

[scannerman]

My wife was having problems with the clutch not fully disengaging, crunching in first, plus low bite.She had mats fitted, so I cut off the part of the mat that was under the clutch pedal, problem resolved. Two inches off the floor for a bite isn't necessarily a problem, I've driven many different cars, the bite varies in each type. As long as it disengages and doesn't slip, all should be good.

[Stevie J]

Yes, make sure any mats are removed from behind the clutch pedal, because anything that stops the clutch pedal making it 100% of the way to the floor of the footwell could cause the clutch plate and flywheel not to completely disengage. As said, the biting point is so low that it can make a difference just that fraction of an inch of extra padding on the floor (ie, car mats), to whether the flywheel is disengaged enough from the clutch plate to enable changing gear without as much resistance. Diligence must be made to ensure that clutch pedal is FULLY depressed as far as it will physically go, with no mats under it,  every time you change gear, especially getting into first from neutral, or reverse from neutral. I find the problem to be worse on damp days, or when the transmission is hot - some days the clutch can be worse than others, and I notice baulking going from first into second, and neutral into first, even with the clutch pedal fully down. I hate the transmissions in the Mk2, and on my Mk1, it had a fairly high biting point, and on my mother's mk3 (2014 1.3) the biting point is much higher too, so its definitely a Mk2 model issue.