Sudden spongy clutch pedal-tough to engage first or reverse

[Squadrone Rosso]

I don't drive my Spider that often but took it out for a blast on Sunday and again this morning.

The clutch pedal feels spongy and it's hard to selct first or reverse with the engine running. All other grear are as sweet as and I can pull off in second or utilise the new fangled stop start technology to pull off in first (or reverse) if needed - ie, turn the engine off, select first or reverse and start the car up with the clutch depressed.

Any suggestions as to what the problem might be?

Cheers,

[Cosmo]

The clutch actuation is pretty simple with just a master cylinder and slave, hopefully it is something there and not the clutch itself. When I first got my Spider I thought I was in for a major gearbox rebuild as it was so difficult to engage the gears but it turned out to be just the adjustment on the slave cylinder. Have a look at that first, but "suddenly spongy" sounds more like an hydraulic problem.

[spiderserie4]

also make sure the clutch pivot lever is not breaking/twisting at the weld. This is normally the case if you find the clutch pedal is hanging lower than the brake pedal, cause if the weld is twisting you will not be getting full clutch movement.

We get that too, usually if the car hasn't been running for a few days or weeks.

Also the issue with getting into 1.st and reverse and grinding teeth. It goes away again after the car has been in use regularly. When we took it on a long Road trip, the car drove better then ever, so i dediced against taking it apart.

Don't suppose it could be as simple as that in your case too?

[Romeoman]

Worse case scenario with a right-hand drive Spider S4 conversion is the lack of reinforcement under the pedal box. This can result in the floor where the pedal box is mounted flexing under braking and clutch pressure affecting the operation of these controls. I have seen several Ellison/Bell & Colvill conversions and a few Seaking versions with this problem. Some serious welding and reinforcement to this floor area often cures the adjustment problems.