After 5 years and a little over 34K miles on my '04 6-speed I've noticed the clutch engagement point has moved toward the end of pedal travel.

In other words after pressing the clutch pedal all the way the down, shifting into first and starting out the clutch doesn't engage immediately after letting up on the pedal. Instead, the clutch starts to grab when the pedal is about 2/3 of the way up.

Question, is this normal wear and if so can it be adjusted? I haven't checked the Helm manual yet but wondered if anyone else has experienced this?

 

The clutch is hydraulic and there is no adjustment. Check the clutch master cylinder for adequate fluid. But it sounds like your clutch is nearly worn out.

 

Wow, you sure don't drive a lot.
Is that mostly local miles? Local is harder on the clutch with all the stop and go.

 

LOL - Actually, most of my miles are long distance highway between Phx and LA, otherwise I'd have about half as many. Had to help out with my dad being sick in the hospital 6 times since January.

But after thinking this over, I wonder if all my downshifting for stop signs and lights hasn't prematurely worn the clutch?

 

Do you blip the throttle when you downshift to rev match? If you don't, then yes, you are right that it could be one of the causes of a permaturely worn clutch.

 

That's pretty fast to wear out the clutch....even with downshifting.

 

You'd never know until you rode with hiptech. It's all about technique.

 

I had a friend who would hold the clutch at mid point for 0.5 seconds just to smoothen every upshift and downshift. Without aggressive driving, he wore it out within 12 months/12-13000 miles!

 

Let me rephrase, 34K on a clutch is not a lot of miles to wear one out if one was driving the car correctly. Which the OP may or may not have been doing.

 

i have 40 k on my clutch - although i've had the master cylinder replaced due to squeaking (Ugh - another thread), my engage point is normal; engages about 1/3 way out

 

Weird... My 95 Honda Accord has 180k on the clutch.. I replaced the slave cylinder once a while ago, but the actual clutch has been just fine.. That's part of the reason I wanted to buy in the Honda family, cause that car has been so great to me! I can't imagine going through a clutch in 12 months!! Yikes...

 

Agreed

On my own CL9, I've done 45k miles, 5 trackdays and when I took the clutch out, there was still a lot of life left in it.

 

Well, back in LA again and my Dad back in ICU, this time without my laptop so I'm on my sister's PC checking mail and found all your comments - thanks.

Based on initial response it would appear I've worn the clutch? Now, the painful part... about how much to replace? BTW, anyway to inspect the clutch and see how much material remains?

Also, what mods to my shift technique can I perform to make sure it doesn't happen again?

While I do blip the throttle to downshift, I've only perfected the technique over the last year or so. And aaronng may be correct about holding the clutch at mid point for about 0.5 seconds to smooth most upshifts and downshifts - guess I tend to do this when ppl are riding along.

The other problem is stop and go traffic where the vehicle speed is too slow to keep in first. How do you mitigate clutch wear when you're crawling up into first and back down repeatedly? (Yes, I try to coast as much as possible).

 

Just keep practising. I started similarly where I would keep my heel on the floor as I released the clutch so that I could smoothen it out. I wore out my expensive floor mats within 4 months and the "tread" on the clutch pedal was smoothened out! So I practised shifting by not letting my heel touch the floor, except when taking off from standstill in 1st. Because my heel doesn't touch the floor in any of the shifts (except 1st), the time that the clutch is half-released is almost zero. I was very jerky at first, but now after 3 years of driving like that, I shift as smooth as any autobox (unless it is a bad day and my quick clutch release misses the optimum RPM point).

Don't worry about trying to be quick in stop and go traffic. Because the amount of time you spend taking off and slowing back down is still much shorter than the time you spend changing gears in normal everyday driving. Personally, if the car is above 10mph, I put it in 2nd. Otherwise, take off in 1st until I get the speed I want, and if the traffic starts to slow down again, I clutch in and let the car coast under its momentum (and control with the brakes)