Is your 308 clutch a hard push?

Mine is a little heavy but not a problem. It's similar to one of my old Volvo's that had a cable activated clutch. I must admit though it is lighter than my old 63 Corvette mechanical linkage clutch assembly.

 

Heavier than my 328 but I do a lot of lower body fitness routines so the clutch is no problem. Maybe yours is a bit heavier?

 

Normal for the early cars. They used a different mechanism in the later cars that supposedly reduced the effort required on the pedal. I think the change happened around 80-81.

 

What he said

 

Ok I'm glad this thread came up. Let me tell you my 84 308 QV clutch pedal is quite stiff, I've compared it to other QV and mine is by far stiff. I tried lubricating all the mechanism and it's still hard to the foot. So I took my car to one of our local independent Ferrari shop here in SoCal. (Joe) who happens to be a 308 guru as his personal car is a 308. After he examine my clutch he found out that I have the Daytona pressure plate, he said back then in the 80s Ferrari Dayton clutch can be fitted to the 308 aas one of the option. He explained that the Daytona clutch has bigger diaphragm fingers and much heavier and bigger springs and it's actually better but the downside is that it is harder on your left leg. So I guess I have to live with it until it's time to replace my clutch.

 

V12 pressure plates were often used in a misguided attempt to make clutches last longer. We did a test and found it just was not true. There is no benefit of any kind to using the V12 clutch.

 

Mine is light as a feather.

 

No kidding. Just learn to drive a stick and it will last seemingly forever.

I bought my car with 57,000 miles on it 13 years ago. I have no idea the clutch's history and I have paperwork going back to the day it was sold. No record of a clutch replacement

I am NOT saying it wasn't replaced at some point. All I know is I have no receipt for it in the history.

I track my car a minimum of 3 times a year. That's al least 40 events +/-. It has 108,000 miles on it now too.

And I have NEVER replaced my clutch. It performs like new still.

I don't use it to slow down, I don't use to to hold still on a hill, I don't rev it up and let it go, I don't sit at a stop light with my foot on it for "neutral", I don't coast with it. I double clutch up and down on the track.

Basically I only push it in to shift gears. That's all you have to do.

 

You might also check/lubricate (if it's still round ) the cable pulley in the engine compartment -- if the cable is sliding over the pulley, rather than rotating the pulley, that will add to the pedal effort.

 

I would think that if your left leg is strong enough to elevate you out of a 308, the clutch shouldn't be a problem. Assuming you use your leg to elevate yourself out of the car, and don't do the two arm pull your self up and out method. Or maybe you don't weigh 200 pounds like I do and use the leg exit method.

The clutch pedal effort is on par with an early ZL1 3200 pound pressure plate clutch, but harder to actuate than any new car i have been in.

Doug

 

As mentioned above, the early 308's had a rather stiff clutch -- requires 60 pound of force. It varies some from car to car, of course, depending on adjustment. With the revised set-up on the later cars, this was reduced to 34 pounds. On both '77's I've owned, I had my mechanic put in the mod to get the updated level of force. 60 pounds of effort was more than I wanted on a routine basis.

 

Comfortably heavy, and I like it that way.

 

75 gt4...neither the previous clutch nor the recently replaced one are stiff at all. I don't notice any difference from any of the other dozens of standards I've driven.

 

Mine is quite easy....never given it a second thought.



PDG

 

Everything is relative. All the 308s I've driven have been roughly the same clutch effort - it's just a heavy clutch car and you get used to it. I know that after a few days of driving the 308, a modern car feels like wet tissue paper. Personally I like the 308.

 

Being a soccerplayer helps

 

There was a linkage modification designed, if I recall for the Japanese market, to reduce the force needed to depress the clutch. This made it to all cars around 1981 or so.

There is a write up in Forza, circa 1998 or so, that explains the modification. Maybe it was earlier and I bought the back issue of Forza around 1998, I don't recall. I do remember when I read it that the modification seemed pretty straightforward and easily reversible.

I have an '84 QV, so my clutch feels fine - stiffer than my Hummer, but no where near as stiff as a couple of my friends '78 and '79 308s.

I will try to find the Forza issue, not sure if I still have it but if I do I will scan and post the article.

Phil

 

Mine was hard to push till we put in a new one. Now it is very easy. Used to be a bear in town with stop and go traffic. The car is much easier to drive with a lighter clutch pedal.
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What clutch did you have before?

 

The clutch in the car was factory original. 30 years old. Was lots harder to push. Had 34K on the car at the time the clutch was replaced. Engine was out for gearbox work so we just replaced the clutch too.

 

This is it, and as Steve M says be sure your cable has not jumped off any of the pulleys.

The later pivot arm can be installed but the early effort is no big deal if operating properly.

I'm guessing it's jumped out.

And I HAVE worn out a few clutches.....but I was showing off!

I left one car with JRV who called and said:
"You got the last mile out of that one, it won't even roll over my air hose!"

 

My car had 50,000 miles on it when I bought it, and it had a heavy clutch. I had to replace the clutch with in a year after I bought it. I found the previous owner or mechanic put in an incorrect pressure plate which also caused other problems. I have a correct one now, It's fairly easy, wife dosen't complain all that matters.

 

"You might also check/lubricate (if it's still round ) the cable pulley in the engine compartment -- if the cable is sliding over the pulley, rather than rotating the pulley, that will add to the pedal effort."

Anyone have a picture of this cable pulley? I had the left rear wheel well out this past weekend to change trans oil, and didn't see anything that looked like a pulley for the clutch. I didn't look too hard, but I would think this is the area it would be in.