Dragging Clutch

[westwood]

I have a 2002 1.4 petrol corolla hatchback. I have an intermittent problem where it appears that the clutch is dragging (ie not releasing fully when the pedal is depressed). This makes it difficult, sometimes almost impossible to get out of 1st gear. Depressing the pedal a second time helps. Changing back to second from third can also be a problem.

This usually happens on a cold morning but not exclusively. It also interestingly happens on wet days. When it does happen I can feel the biting point of the clutch to be close to the floor and on the next depression of the pedal the biting point is back to normal.

I suspect that it has something to do with the hydraulics, I've checked the reservoir and the level is normal.

Any ideas?

[Bos]

It is possible that you may have an airlock in the system. Try bleeding it or draining and refilling with new fluid.

[westwood]

It is possible that you may have an airlock in the system. Try bleeding it or draining and refilling with new fluid.

I will try that at the weekend, would have been my initial thought but it doesn't explain why it only happens when the car is cold. Surely if there's air in the system then gear change would be difficult all the time.

[westwood]

Just to close the loop on this for anybody that might experience the same problem. The difficulty with changing gears got worse over time to the point that driving the car was a right pain in the neck. Changing down to third or second involved blipping the accelerator to make it go into gear.

Eventually I bit the bullet and did a full clutch replacment - clutch plate, pressure plate and thrust bearing. It's now like a new car, problem solved. The cause of the problem appeared to be caked in friction plate dust and grease around the thrust bearing causing it not to slide freely along its shaft. I could have probably gotten away with just cleaning it but having gone to the trouble of separating the gearbox and engine it's ususally advisable to replace the whole clutch - expensive here in Ireland, the clutch kit cost €250.