Clutch

[ciddyguy]

Hey Chris or anyone else,

I have noticed that for N. America, nothing is mentioned of the clutch or what type it is. I know it's very light and in my poking around the engine bay the other weekend, noticed the absence of a hydraulic clutch reservoir but can't obviously see a cable either in there somewhere.

Having had cable clutches before in my 83 Civic and in the 88 Honda Accord (that generation Accord all had the cable clutch for some reason) and the cable went right down from the firewall to the front of the motor on the driver's side where an adjustment nut was located and easily accessed and thus the periodic adjustment of said clutch could be performed.

The downloadable US manual says nothing of the clutch and the Euro manual you Chris had as a download as well shows the clutch reservoir for ALL the motors from the 900cc twinair to the 1.4L 16V and it was on the passenger side, perhaps towards the center of said firewall between the motor and said firewall.

Since this clutch is so light, is this a cable actuated unit or is it hydraulic and the US manual also doesn't specify any service intervals for said clutch AT ALL in any of the service intervals listed.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

[Alvon Elrod]

The clutch is hydraulic, and shares the reservoir with the brakes.  The output of the reservoir to the clutch master cylinder is higher than the output to the brake master cylinder, which means if you were to lose fluid, the clutch would quit working before the brakes quit working.

Alvon

[ciddyguy]

Alvon Elrod wrote

The clutch is hydraulic, and shares the reservoir with the brakes.  The output of the reservoir to the clutch master cylinder is higher than the output to the brake master cylinder, which means if you were to lose fluid, the clutch would quit working before the brakes quit working.

Alvon

Ah, OK, thanks Alvon.

Now I don't mind either but was curious and drive a hydraulic unit in my truck that much heavier than the unit in the Fiat. :-)

[rossonero404]

Just an observation...clutch throw seems a bit long, any way to possible shorten the distance?

[ciddyguy]

rossonero404 wrote

Just an observation...clutch throw seems a bit long, any way to possible shorten the distance?

I doubt it being hydraulic but one never knows though as generally speaking, the hydraulic units are self adjusting. My truck's clutch throw is a tad long too and it's also a hydraulic unit, but I have no issues with a long throw clutch and was able to fairly quickly get used to the clutch in the Fiat.

Cable actuated clutches of yore did require periodic adjustments by you, the driver and at least on the 83 and 88 Hondas I had, they were very simple to do. A plastic nut is used to make the adjustment and you felt the actuator arm the cable connected to on the clutch fork and pushed in on the end until roughly a 1/4" free play was achieved and that brought the throw out to roughly half way up or perhaps 1/3 of the way up, it's been several years since I drove either so don't recall exactly and the actuator fork was right up front, driver's side of the motor where it enters the clutch housing and was very easily accessible.

[Fiat500USA]

ciddyguy wrote

Hey Chris or anyone else,

I have noticed that for N. America, nothing is mentioned of the clutch or what type it is. I know it's very light and in my poking around the engine bay the other weekend, noticed the absence of a hydraulic clutch reservoir but can't obviously see a cable either in there somewhere.

Having had cable clutches before in my 83 Civic and in the 88 Honda Accord (that generation Accord all had the cable clutch for some reason) and the cable went right down from the firewall to the front of the motor on the driver's side where an adjustment nut was located and easily accessed and thus the periodic adjustment of said clutch could be performed.

The downloadable US manual says nothing of the clutch and the Euro manual you Chris had as a download as well shows the clutch reservoir for ALL the motors from the 900cc twinair to the 1.4L 16V and it was on the passenger side, perhaps towards the center of said firewall between the motor and said firewall.

Since this clutch is so light, is this a cable actuated unit or is it hydraulic and the US manual also doesn't specify any service intervals for said clutch AT ALL in any of the service intervals listed.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Hi ciddyguy,

I missed this post.  One of the changes to the US car is the hydraulic clutch setup. The European car has a cable.  The engineering goals were to make the clutch easier to use.  After years of driving an Alfa GTV6 with a dual disc setup, I am happy with the 500.   Love the Alfa, but that clutch grabs high and releases low. A lot of fun, but a lot of work to drive smoothly.

The 500 clutch is easy... easy... and the power steering...ahhh;)

[sjmst]

I find both the clutch and shifter to be perfect for me. I guess the clutch could be a bit faster on the take up, but I like it. Way better than my 2002 BMW 3 series. The first gear enagagement was awful. Almost everyone stalled it.

[jakeliu]

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[csluyuan]

The clutch is hydraulic, and shares the reservoir with the brakes.  The output of the reservoir to the clutch master cylinder is higher than the output to the brake master cylinder, which means if you were to lose fluid, the clutch would quit working before the brakes quit working.