LOW IDLE!! and clutch question.
 

Hey...for a 1st Gen 12A engine,

if I am not wrong, the normal idle should be around 750 - 800??

My car idles at about 450-500!! Is there any way to fix that?? What might be wrong??


Another question I have, is that I find the friction point of the clutch pedal to be too high up. (meaning, I have to release the clutch almost all the way before the clutch grabs). Is there any way to adjust it such that the clutch bites at a lower point???


Also, there is a lot (and I mean alot) of free play on the steering wheel before the tires actually turn. I remember reading some instructions off a certain site that tells you how to remedy it. Does anyone have that site handy? How hard is it to perform for a total newbie with not many tools on hand and no garage???


Thanx in advance.

there is a idle screw below the accelerator pump, kind of hard to see it thru the hoses but its there, need a flashlite to find it, turn it clockwise a turn or so,;; the steering slop (which i havent done so dont quote me) turn the 40mm nut spanner clockwise, (cap with4 holes)..the rpms can also be raised by turning in the tps screw adj, located in front of the carb behind the thermostat on block ,,just remember how many turns you did in case it dosn't do what you want and return the screw to original position,,be sure to adj your air/fuel mixture when you get your idle where u want it, you may want to turn the idle speed back alittle ,,,,,,,good luck,,http://pittdp.homestead.com/underhood.html not sure about your clutch, but have you replaced the slave clyinder or the short hose between it and the master clyinder and bleed them, made a big difference in my clutch.....

Before messing about with the steering nut, check your center link. That's the bar that connects the wheels to each other. I'll bet it's sloppy. Replace the idler arim bushing. Cheap, and easy. First get yourself a Haynes Manual....the '79-'85. Auto Supply houses should have it, and even some book stores. Follow Donna's advice on carb work, she knows what she's talkin' about....Been there, Done that...

Denny, from the 'ol corncrib....:)

A relatively old thread that I would like to bring up.........

I was about to do some work on my car, so thought I would bring this up again, since I did not get an answer I was looking for regarding a certain clutch question.

my friction point for the clutch pedal is really high up. Basically, I have to release my clutch pedal all the way up before it starts grabbing........which is really bad off the line, and really incovenient on slopes.........

Is there an adjuster that allows me to change the "bite height" of the clutch pedal?? I am pretty sure there is. and, so far, I have not found any problem with my clutch master/slave cylinders......

And since I am a newbie when it comes to the actual hardware of the car, pics will really help...........if you guys can actually draw a circle around the screw showing me where it is.............then all the better..........:D

thanx......really appreciate this.

Re: LOW IDLE!! and clutch question.
 

<Piercing stare>

Did you steal my car?

no one knows??

there's gotta be someone who knows how to adjust the clutch........

Hey! If you're back is in good condition there are a couple nuts way under the dash that are in line with the clutch master cylinder that you can adjust to get it to engage somewhat closer to where you want it to. I am guessing you have a '79-82 RX-7, those clutches engage much higher then a '83-89 clutch I know. That or you have a lot of air in your hydrolic lines, but you did bleed it didn't you? Otherwise you will grind gears often since it will not fully engage sometimes maybe.. When you put it in gear with the clutch engaged, the car doesn't slightly move forward at all when warm right?

actually, I have an 83. The clutch is performing just like any regular clutch out there that is pretty much wearing out.......still works, just not as grippy as I would have like it.......but I can't shell out the money now to change it. Besides, I wanna do the flywheel together with the clutch, and FWs are really expensive........

1st gear slips alot if I do not let out the clutch fast enough if I wanna move off at a slightly faster pace. and its hard to let the clutch out fast cuz the biting point is so darn high............

so, you know where the adjustment screw is??

Woah, speaking of clutches...I was gonna write a question about mine...Today i was driving and everytime i pushed the clutch in (to the floor) i was still having trouble getting it into gear, no grinding though, just rough (thump thump, instead of all smooth). Im thinking that it has to do with the hydraulic system, but my dad insists that it doesnt. Hes a pretty good wrenchhead with lots of car experiance, so I understand where hes coming from, but whouldnt it make sense that if it didnt have the right amount of fluid or something, that the clutch wouldnt work right (ie - disengage properly and make it hard to shift)? My dad says that the only thing that matters is the fluid in the line that actually moves the clutch arm thing, and everything else is just a big resivor and it doesnt really matter how much is in it basically. Now this makes sense to a point, but i think that if it was designed to have a certain amount of fluid then it should have that amound of fluid in it...but thats just IMO. So if anyone knows whats up with my system, please help. Basically, im wondering why it might be hard to shift, and also can someone out there explain step by step how the clutch system works, like you poush in the pedal which activates this thingy which activates this thingy...so on and so forth? Or can you point me in the direction of a good webpage that could?

Sorry this is so long, I just had a lot to say, and nothing better to do :).

~T.J.

PS - No, this didnt just happen all of a sudden, its been this way as long as ive had the car (about 8 months), I just didnt really know what to do about it, in case you were thinking it worked fine before and a leak develoved overnight or something :)

It's easy. There are two clutch pedal adjustments. You can adjust the pushrod that activates the piston in the master cylinder and there is also a stopper bolt that controls the pedal height. If you want the clutch to grab lower just turn the pushrod in till the clutch grabs at the desired height and then adjust the stopper bolt to remove the free play.