Jimny weird clutch problem

Hi,

I have Suzuki jimny (2011) (1.3 m13a engine) with manual transmission.

Last month I had the clutch changed (after clutch failure due to damaged clutch bearing and clutch plate), my local mechanic had changed the clutch kit with some cheap one (about 60$ price), and had the clutch pedal adjusted, after that all was fine for about 3 weeks when all of the sudden I had problem changing gear, it was so hard to shift gears, and the pedal itself was hard to press down, I returned to the same local mechanic and he told me it is the clutch cable that is causing the problem and it needs to be replaced, which he did, the problem went away for 2 days only, after that a new problem appeared which is a bit weird.

The new problem:

When the car still cold (like in the morning going to work) all is fine, I can shift gears smoothly, no grinding , the clutch pedel works as expected, but after being on the road for about 30 minutes or so , especially going through traffic and such, that's when the problem arise, shifting gears become more and more difficult as the car covers more miles, and the clutch pedal itself becomes harder and harder to press down till you feel like it is pushing your feet (resistence increase), and if I use my car long enough I reach a stage where i can not even change gears anymore.

When I turn off my car for few hours , everything would be back to normal again !!

Note: My clutch is a mechanical not a hydrolic one.

Help is appreciated.

Hi,

I have a couple of ideas based on past experience:
Could it be a poorly fitting thrust bearing not wanting to slide when hot as the tolerances become too small due to heat expansion?

Badly adjusted clutch cable i.e. Too tight and with heat and it's associated expansion doesn't disengage fully?

Poor tolerances/ fitting on replacement clutch kit. Was it a full clutch kit ( friction disc, pressure plate and thrust bearing) or just the friction disc? Was the fly wheel also inspected for any damage?

I'm sure others will be along soon with more ideas
Good luck

Thanks for your reply , much appreciate it.

I'm not sure if it was a full clutch kit , but I'm sure that the pressure plate, thrust bearing and the cable were all replaced, and the garage mechanic didn't mention any damage to flywheel.

Also are you suggesting that a poorly adjusted cable could lead to heat related problems, cause when the car is running cold I feel likely it is perfectly adjusted.

Also forgot to say that I have contacted the garage mechanic that did the repairs and he suggested that the pressure plate might need to replaced again since it was a cheap kit it might be faulty, does that make any sense or should just take it to another garage?

SolidSnake89 wrote: Also forgot to say that I have contacted the garage mechanic that did the repairs and he suggested that the pressure plate might need to replaced again since it was a cheap kit it might be faulty, does that make any sense or should just take it to another garage?

should have a guarantee if it is faulty ask the mechanic
don't know where you are based can you not get an exedy clutch kit
here in the UK exedy is popular choice

Jack

I'm based in Iraq , sadly not a lot of options when it comes to jimny, few even have this car here, no official Suzuki dealers either

I guess I will take it to another mechanic and see what he has to say about it, will keep you updated.

Many thanks

SolidSnake89 wrote: Also are you suggesting that a poorly adjusted cable could lead to heat related problems, cause when the car is running cold I feel likely it is perfectly adjusted.

Yes. I meant as in the cable works fine when cold but with the heat of the engine and gearbox causing a little expansion to every thing in the bell housing at different rates ( as the parts are made of different materials) the clutch cable doesn't quite disengage the clutch enough leading to the problems you described: clutch fine when cold, when warmed up difficulty changing gear, leading to not being able to change gear. I have seen a similar problem to this on a hydraulic clutch where the slave cylinder as it got warm and started to bind, new slave cylinder fitted and it worked great. If it only happens after 20-30 minutes of driving it must be heat related.

Hello.
I have same issue with my jimny, when engine is cold everything works fine but when it normal operation temperature shfiting is quite hard...do you have any tips for this ??

Is that only reason for hard shifting problems ?

When there is a differnce between warm and cold operation, yes.
Could otherwise be soft slutch cable brackets and/or bad clutch cable and/or you need to adjust the clutch cable.