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I recently bought a new Suzuki Dzire manual transmission and I have this weird behavior with the clutch’s biting point. When I start the car in the morning everything’s fine. The biting point is about midway and the car is really easy to drive. But after about 15 minutes the clutch’s behavior changes and the biting point becomes really low, very close to the floor but I am still able to change gear but it’s so annoying. Why is this?

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  • Without knowing more it will be difficult to pin this down precisely. After a quick read it sounds like you may have air in your clutch system (assuming it is a hydraulic clutch actuation). As the car and engine compartment warm up the air bubble(s) grow, forcing you to squash bigger bubbles to actuate the clutch. Question: is this car new to you or a new car? If it's a new car I recommend taking it to the dealer to square away.
    – Tim Nevins
    Jul 17, 2019 at 20:33

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My suggestion is (as I don't know for sure), this is perfectly normal behavior. As long as you are still able to completely disengage the clutch via pushing the pedal down, and you have no issues shifting (it's not hard to get from one gear to the next) when you press the pedal down, it's only the bite which is changing. This can easily happen as the clutch pressure plate and flywheel heat up after you start using it. The metal grows a little bit, due to the heat, and the distances between the two are a bit tighter. This will cause the bite point to be lower in the pedal travel.

You will most likely find, though, after the clutch is completely broke in (along with the other car mechanicals), this will not be as noticeable. There might be a slight variation, but for the most part, it should start behaving along the same lines even when it gets hot. If this truly is a completely new car and it doesn't change or feel better, take it back to the dealer and tell them there's an issue with the clutch and give your reasons why. They may be able to do something for it under warranty.

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  • I would say that if the vehicle is new, the dealer should be able to improve the clutch function. The pedal/biting point behavior you describe is not normal for a correctly set-up manual transmission automobile. Aug 17, 2019 at 3:31

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