Clutch wobbles in Maruti ALTO-LX

[Sennil10]

Dear Friends,

I am new to this forum and you know what made me come to this forum? My clutch, which has been giving trouble from the 6th month of making the vehicle on road. I have even replaced the clutch from MASS(Maruti authorized service center) I being a Mechanical engineer feels very depressed with this problem. I have adjusted the clutch wire below the radiator, number of times but with a very short lived result. The car do not take off easily in 1st gear, I need to make the car adequately rolling before release of the clutch completely. If i do it in a jiffy, the car(Transmission) wobbles for few meters and then it goes smooth.

It would be of great help if any one can clearly tell me the steps of adjustment for a clutch leading to delight.

Good luck !

Nilanjan

[Hanukkah]

I have this problem too. I thought was just the clutch lining... but just can't imagine a 1 yr old car to need clutch replacement.

[Sennil10]

Originally Posted by Hanukkah

I have this problem too. I thought was just the clutch lining... but just can't imagine a 1 yr old car to need clutch replacement.

What have you done? Still crying on the road or sold off your lovely car with a nasty clutch....:

[Hanukkah]

I have yet to fix the poblem. But I adjusted the clutch cable free play and it was minimized a bit.

The new clutch you put, is the friction material sintered?

[Sennil10]

Originally Posted by Hanukkah

I have yet to fix the poblem. But I adjusted the clutch cable free play and it was minimized a bit.

The new clutch you put, is the friction material sintered?

Well good morning ! There is some one who talks about Alto clutch problem. Maruti auth service is not able to appreciate this problem. I replaced complete assembly, don't know it is sintered or not. I believe there is something called re-inforced clutch which gives better life and stability. I also adjusted the cable and adjusted the play, however the confidence one should have while using the clutch, specially in a heavy traffic is still not there. I being a mechanical engineer can't appreciate a clutch like this.

I have decided to go to some third party and do the job in my presence. If that also fails, the best thing I can do is sell the car to some poor fellow, who will join this forum.

I live in Calcutta, by the way where do you live.

Rgds

Nilanjan

[Hanukkah]

I'm in the Philippines...

Anyway I went to the dealer and asked if they sell clutch lining seperately from the pressure plate... but they don't. They sell it as an assembly, clutch lining ang pressure plate. I'm thinking maybe should replace both.

I'll be bringing down the clutch soon and see if rebonding the clutch lining with a better friction material would fix the problem.

[Hanukkah]

Just an update about this problem...

I talked with the dealership about this. It's not the clutch or pressure plate. Its just the car. Other sub compacts here also experience this (Hyundai i10).

If it is the clutch then you should also feel dragging or wobbling in 2nd... 3rd... etc.

This wobble or dragging only happens when taking off from stop. Just step on the accelerator more when taking off.

[technova]

Hi all

I have observed that the problem is due to the clutch not fully releasing. That is the reason the Alto clutch is not smooth and wears off soon.
Suzuki has to make some alteration in the design to improve this. Are Suzuki Engineers listening?

First, solution for the users of Alto.

Even if you fully depress the clutch pedal, unless the travel is sufficient for the clutch to release, it would not be effective. You would normally find the clutch pedal to be in level to the break pedal or a little above it. The clutch pedal travel in this case needs to be above 7 inches. 1" clearance from floor and 1" inch of free play thus making clutch pedal effective range to 5" travel.
The clutch pedal freeplay needs to be .6" to 1" and the clutch release arm needs a free play of 2 to 4 mm. The clutch pedal travel of 5" relates to approximately 0.7" of travel of the release arm. If the pedal is low, there is not sufficient pedal travel and so the clutch doesn't disengage completely.

Setting for proper clutch operation.
1. Set your clutch pedal height about 1.2 - 1.5 inch above the break pedal.
2. Set the clutch release arm free play to 2 to 3mm.
This can be done by tightening the clutch release arm adjustment nut with a light hand to a point where it doesn't turn any more, remember, use a light hand or you will overtighten the nut resulting in slipping of the clutch.
Then, loosen it 3 half turns and you will find the play at the release arm to be about 2mm and the clutch pedal play to be about .6 to .8 mm. The pedal travel now will be sufficient to properly release the clutch plate and this will also make gear shifting smooth.

This will set the pedal height significantly high than what it should be.

Next , What Suzuki Engineers need to do.

The clutch pedal lever fulcrum is at a point which is not giving sufficient movement for the side of the lever that is pulling the clutch cable for a normal range of travel of the clutch pedal. To increase the pedal travel, the clutch pedal height is set very high that is normally not comfortable for leg movement. This is also the reason why many Alto owners find the clutch engaging high on its travel back to normal position. Or if the pedal setting is low, the clutch wobbles and clutch release and gear changes are not smooth.

If the fulcrum of the clutch pedal lever is moved a little towards the pedal end, it would increase the movement of the side that pulls the clutch cable for a lesser movement of the clutch pedal, say 4" of clutch pedal working range ( the movement of pedal in which the clutch action is felt exclusive of pedal free play and the clearance to the floor before clutch biting is felt) to give 1" of clutch release arm movement.

This would now make for a proper clutch height setting and sufficient clutch pedal and release arm movement for smooth clutch and gear gear shifts.

Regards

Please let me know of you feedback on Clutch working with this change.

[Sennil10]

This is extremely helpful and worked well on my ALTO. Can I repeat this on my Zen also? Does any one has the sectional view of complete clutch mechanism for ZEN?

Cheers !

Nilanjan

[technova]

Hi

This concept and adjustment is applicable to all cable operated clutches.
The concept of having sufficient pedal travel to get the needed
movement of the release arm or the slave cylinder will also be true for hydraulic clutches. Just the way in what need to be adjusted may vary.

Nilanjan, It will also work for your Zen.

Also, you will observe that the reverse gear engagement which is always difficult in almost all Alto and that always engages with a 'thud' will now be very smooth.


Regards