Clutch slow to return

[SWRT]

So this is on the car with the bad throwout bearing.
I was driving it a bit yesterday because it hasn't been
driven much, but I realized vs the other Festiva the
clutch pedal is very slow to return to the top after
you reach the grabbing point. It will go into gear,
but it's just very slow. Any idea what that could be?

[bhazard]

Well you said it has a bad throwout bearing....

[SWRT]

Yeah, but would that slow the clutch pedal while it's returning to its resting position? The throwout bearing is quite bad. Sounds like it's almost bouncing around in there.

[nonamekid]

are you missing the spring that pulls the clutch lever away from the pressure plate?

[Movin]

If the bearing is that old everything that moves inside the bell housing could be dirty enough to add the extra resistance you feel.

[SWRT]

Haven't taken it apart yet.

And that's pretty possible that it's nasty

Thanks

[88FestivaLX]

Mine was doing that and it was the actual return spring on the clutch pedal arm (under the dash). Couldn't find a replacement anywhere. So I got an outdoor spring for a gate and bent/fabbed it to make it work. It was a pain, but it's still working! Although I have recently started to get an irritating squeak from it.

[tooldude]

It could be the return spring, or the clutch cable or release lever bushings could tight. In this case, the bearing support tube could have a depression worn in it and the floppy bearing could cock at an angle and drag on it. You should not drive the car until it's fixed, just run the engine occasionally if you need to. If the bearing shell separates, the release fork can get into the spinning pressure plate and cause a lot of damage that can be avoided. Worst case, the trans housing can be broken. I have seen all the above conditions.

[SWRT]

Daaaang. And I'll check the return spring. I'm hoping to have time to work on this
car soon. I'll only have to drive it once more about 15 minutes to a friend's house
to be worked on so hopefully it wont blow up before then If it does there's a junk
Festiva that I may be able to pull parts off of. Thanks for all the responses guys!