Dreaded clutch switch

[JLCoolman]

Thread revival.

Replaced the white "plug" for brake pedal some time ago. 2005 with 52K miles now. It previously spent 7 years in S Florida....

Driving today, at first stop noted two small white "pebbles" on my NSX carpet driver's footwell under pedals. Second stop I reached down to grab them and toss them out. Umm, no. Not pebbles. Sh*t not this crap again Got her home and parked, with additional fragments having dropped. Don't yet know which of the two clutch pedal "plugs" ("stoppers", whatever) is deteriorating, but I know from NSXPrime it's gonna be a bee-yotch whichever. Anyone have any new advice and/or method(s)?

I have a photo of the fragments on the carpet if anyone wants to view it. Just need to host it elsewhere and link it up. As previously mentioned, I have extras. And so should you.
Mere days before it was to be placed into winter hibernation.

So, I guess this kills everybody's fantasy that the white stoppers might be immune to failure?

Noooooo. Not the white pedal stoppers, too. :frown:


Only advice is to find someone small and nimble to get in there, lol.
The rest is just a lot of random effort, prayer, and luck.

The tiny hole and some sort of wire/fishing line definitely seems to be a helpful trick to save on a lot of effort and trial/error.

 

[Sportsmind4me]

The method I used a couple of months ago to replace the clutch stopper worked to pretty good effect and without having to go too deep into my dirty word vocabulary. :biggrin: I had a friend press and hold the clutch pedal in with a 2x4 to a certain point where I had enough clearance to get up in there with a long flat blade screwdriver. Once I determined I had a big enough gap to be able to fit the stopper in the hole, I super glued the stopper to the blade and went in for the kill. The first attempt saw me knock the stopper off and it fell behind the carpeting somewhere in the footwell. In hindsight, I should've seen the potential for this to happen and covering up the gaps where the stopper could fall would've been a good idea. After about 5 minutes of searching, I finally found it and made attempt number two. Got the stopper successfully lined up with the hole this time and used the leverage of the screwdriver to easily pop it into place and then popped it off of the screwdriver with a light twist. Voila! Total install time including contorting myself in and out of the floorboard, getting the position of my led flashlight correct and formulating the game plan was about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. I think playing this game in my childhood days finally payed dividends!

 

[TomCat]

I am 61 years old and this worked in a matter of minutes:
1) drill a tiny hole through the center of the stopper
2) run some mono filament fishing line (I actually stole some "fine" floral wire from my wife's hobby box...so I could bend it and feed it through the hole) through hole with a knot to hold the stopper in place
3) fish the mono filament up into the stopper mounting bracket and use the mono filament to pull the stopper (lubricated with silicone spray or WD-40) roughly into place and hold it there
4) use the method of your choice to seat the stopper (I just depressed the clutch fully and it push the stopper into place)
Tom

 

[The King]

This seems like a reasonable way to deal with getting a new clutch stopper installed. Apparently this has worked for a few people. I wonder if drilling a hole in the stopper might weaken it, and cause it to fail quicker however. There is the added benefit of reducing weight also!:eagerness:

 

[Old Guy]

You can get monofilament fishing line down to 0.012" diameter. Numbered drill bits are commonly available down to #80 which is 0.0135". I don't recommend that small because they snap easily during use; but, something like a #75 in a pin vice should provide a suitable hole that won't weaken the plastic materially (ageing seeming to be the bigger issue). The 1/16" bit which is the smallest in the typical Canadian Tire twist drill set probably won't weaken the stopper materially; but, with a 1/16"+ hole you have to make really big knot to avoid pulling the typical monofilament line through the hole unless you get the mungo huge 100 - 200 lb monofilament.

 

[TomCat]

You can get monofilament fishing line down to 0.012" diameter. Numbered drill bits are commonly available down to #80 which is 0.0135". I don't recommend that small because they snap easily during use; but, something like a #75 in a pin vice should provide a suitable hole that won't weaken the plastic materially (ageing seeming to be the bigger issue). The 1/16" bit which is the smallest in the typical Canadian Tire twist drill set probably won't weaken the stopper materially; but, with a 1/16"+ hole you have to make really big knot to avoid pulling the typical monofilament line through the hole unless you get the mungo huge 100 - 200 lb monofilament.

I guess us old guys really stick together. I was amazed at how small the drill hole was (and how little physical impact it had on the puck). I used 26 gauge "floral wire" and my smallest drill bit (USA drill kit) worked and the thin/fragile bit did not break.
Tom