I made a trip to the mountains this weekend, and a funny thing happened on the way to the slopes...

The first inch or so of the clutch travel became quite light. And it continued to get worse and worse. Eventually, it got so bad that the clutch wouldn't return to its normal resting position. Reaching in behind with my foot would pop it back up.

Strangely, the action didn't seem to be affected?!? And now that I'm back home in flatter land (France/Geneva), it's 100% normal.

Any idea what happened? I'm afraid that something may break permamently on me. I haven't had a chance to check the fluid level, so I'm thinking the hills may have allowed some air to enter, but I didn't have problems shifting gears. Also, it was more like the return spring stopped working, but it doesn't explain how it comes and goes.

Thanks in advance,
Matt

 

It's a '99 5 door FWIW.

 

my MY98 uk did

my MY99 Sti5 does it

comes and goes on both cars

i think its a common fault with one of the return springs (theres 2)

 

Also mine, a MY98. Seems to happen most if you let the accelerator up too quick after a full bore run through a gear.

Sometimes the clutch pedal gets "sucked in" as I reach the top of the rev range.

My answer is to feather the throttle out better (- which also means smoother progress!)