Great car, spoiled by the clutch action (ZT 190)
 

I've had my ZT for almost a year now. It's a great car in almost every way, but I'm seriously considering selling it on because I can't live with the incredible sensitivity of the clutch action.

3rd, 4th and 5th are fine, but when it comes to 1st and 2nd, I'm able to drive the car smoothly only by being very careful when releasing the clutch. Slightly too little throttle? The car bogs down and jerks forward. Slightly too many revs at the point you finally come off the clutch? The car kangaroos forward like a learner driver.

As I say, I can drive smoothly with care, but I'm getting sick of having to nurse the car every time I pull away through 1st and 2nd gear. I have frequent use of several other cars and this is the only one I have trouble with, and I've been driving for something like 12 years.

So is this common for ZT 190s, or is it just mine?

I'm willing to change some components if that's the issue, but what do I change? Is there something that will improve the feel of the clutch? It seems to me the clutch begins to bite fairly early on as you are releasing it, but it doesn't finally bite fully until your foot is almost off the pedal.

(As an additional thing, when starting the car from cold, I am beginning to experience some clutch judder for the first couple of minutes of driving when pulling away from a standstill. Again, I'm not sure if this is a fault or a "feature". I'm aware it's a common issue with BMWs of a certain era.)

I'd be very grateful for any advice.

Sounds like clutch wear could be an issue. If the difference between bite and lockup is that wide then it should be easy to pull away smoothly though. May be well worth your while checking the engine mounts for excessive movement especially the bottom teardrop mount. Wear or damage to that allows the engine to move too much during take up and can cause jerky takeoff. As for the engine bogging down - depends what revs you are talking about I guess. Best ask fellow 190 owners what a good rev range for take off is.

No Tim, I'd say it isn't. I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to drive a ZT-T 190 and the clutch was superb.

It's a long time since I've had the dubious pleasure of dealing with manual drivetrains but the obvious things to consider are: is there air in the hydraulics and is the clutch plate in need of renewal? I seem to remember that on my BL Minis, a biting point near the floor and judder meant a worn out friction plate.

Simon

Check the lower gearbox mount.

As said, check the lower mount/tie but I agree with what's already been said, it shouldn't be like that.

My ZT190 has a nice action on the clutch & it bites & pulls away quite happily with hardly any acceleration at all.

Sorry, as I have a dizzle, I'm not sure about the KV6.

Could it be the idle control valve? My other car (non MG Rover) had similar symptoms - clutch judder, jerkiness, pig to get moving off at lights. The ICV caused the revs to drop too much or not be controlled well.

A quick clean got it unstuck. May need a new gasket also if not sealing well.

Could the throttle body also need a clean and be the cause?

These 2 cleaned could be quick and cheap solutions.

I’d be budgeting for a new clutch and flywheel.

Not so long ago I bought and used a throttle body rebuild kit in response to a suggestion on this forum, although that was suggested in response to a slightly different problem to do with fluctuations in the idle revs (which I still have.)

https://the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/s...d.php?t=280980

No difference was made to the way it drives though.
Thanks for all suggestions so far.

To me it sounds like the pedal bracket has bent. I've saw several of these now and acts like an on off organic clutch then.

Easily checked.

Thanks for all responses. I will check the gearbox mount and the pedal bracket and report back if I learn anything worth sharing.