Good day fellas. I come seeking advice on what I should do about a particular clutch issue I've run into on a 2002 Camaro Z28 convertible with just under 160K miles. The issue is upon shifting gears, I only need press the clutch in about an inch in order to release a gear and change into another. As you can imagine, this is quite annoying as its hard to gently go from a stop to rolling without very slow and delicate petal play. The rest of the clutch petal is all nothingness. So far, the mechanic I've taken it to twice before has replaced pretty much the full gambit. Clutch plate, pressure plate, flywheel, pressure bearing, pilot bearing, slave cylinder, and master cylinder. The first time I brought it in, he stated that these components were worn down badly and suggested replacement and I agreed. So the first trip was only clutch, flywheel, and bearings. A week later, I brought it back for the same issue, not resolved. This time he replaced slave and master. Two months down the road, Im finding myself bringing it back to the same shop as before in hopes he will honor his 6 months warranty and cover and fix the issue I originally brought it in for. At this point, Im very disappointed in the service of this shop, which is highly recommended and reviewed highly by a number of places online. I'm at a loss for what to do at this point. What would you guys suggest?

 

With a hydraulic clutch there is no adjustment for feel. There is no spec on how it should feel and how high up the pedal the clutch should engage. Everything that could go wrong with the installation would add travel to the clutch. I cannot think of anything that would cause the clutch to disengage too soon. This means the mechanic did not make a mistake. I know nothing about the shop you used but if a customer said they did not like the way a clutch felt I would check to make sure everything was working as it should and give them the car back. I cannot return a parts to the manufacture because the customer says “it doesn’t feel right” or it is hard to drive. I need a problem, it makes noise, it shakes, the car will not go, car will not shift right. I need something that indicates a failure.

I have driven several cars that are like to described. I would suggest you just get use to it. On most cars with hydraulic clutches the engagement of the clutch is about 1” some are at the bottom of travel some are at the top and everything between.

 

If you don't like the point where is disengages then try and adjustable master cylinder and put it where you like it.