clutch problem diagnosis help...

[bharris]

So driving home Saturday my clutch got progressively harder to disengage until by the time I got home I could push the peddle all the way to the floor and not have the clutch move at all... I bled and refilled the system and it seems to be fine now but I'm left wondering... what happened? any guesses? things I could check? I couldn't find any leaks (but maybe there's one somewhere I couldn't find? how would I look further? I just did a visual and couldn't find any sign of leak anywhere I could reach or shine a light on...)

I'm not too worried as it seems fine now and if it happens again I'm now carrying fluid so I could just bleed it again but it would be nice to have some clue as to what's causing this little issue...

[JimC]

There is some chance that the slave is leaking fluid into the bell housing, but I think its more likely that the master is leaking down the inside of your bulkhead, under your floor mats, eating the metal in your footwells, and saying bad things about your mother.

[bharris]

does the odds of leaking into the bell housing go up if I recently had the clutch replaced or do I really need to look into defending the honor of my mother?

[JimC]

Hmm, seems like it could, since pulling the trans out involves getting the slave piston to disengage from the clutch release arm, and I could envision this stressing a seal that was getting old.

The fluid is still dissing your mom if its in the bellhousing, but its just not eating your bulkhead, the former of which is forgivable, the latter of which is not.

A slave is cheap an easy to replace.

[tdn]

You hit the nail on the head for me.....I've got clutch fluid all over the driverside footwell, eating the paint. Its a pretty slow leak. The reservoir came down about 1/4" over the course of a week. So does this mean I just have to swap out the master cylinder? Never done this before. Is it an easy DIY job?

[carlosz]

water neutralizes the corrosive nature of brake/clutch fluid, I would suggest pulling matt and carpet on drivers side and just hosing off everything wait until dry to reinstall but not before a new master cyl. is installed. once all is dry and clean I would protect by repainting the bare metal.

[JimC]

The cylinder fails fast, and doesn't usually last more than a couple weeks after it starts bleeding. Its an easy DIY job from the standpoint that there is nothing technical involved. Its a fiddly job, with bad access, but very easy.
Fortunately, the master is pretty cheap too. Just make sure your hard lines will come undone before you accidentally break one and have to wait an additional week for parts.

BTW - the routine is typically to just replace the master, slave, and at least the flex line all at the same time. No reason to tear into the clutch hydraulics any more than necessary. You can do all those parts for less than 200. Often if the master is going, the slave isn't far behind.

[evilfij]

Also plan on replacing the little hard line as that POS rusts bad. Try to save the "big" nut on the line as it is a $12 part or something silly like that. Me, I just ordered a stainless clutch line kit from ECR (maybe classic tube sells them too -- I had to ask Mike nicely because he normally does not do mail order).

Ron

[tgraham]

Is it an easy DIY job?

IMO, this task is a lot easier if you unlink the hood/bonnet stay at the base, allowing you to open the hood up to nearly a 90-degree angle. Mind the roll cage as you open it, though, and put some padding up there where it touches the cage. You can secure it with some bungee cords while you work.

Travis

[KevinNY]

X2 on ordering all the parts and doing the MC, Slave and hard and flex lines. Do it once and don't worry about for another 15 years.

[RickM]

Did you ever figure out what was causing this? I am currently having the exact same problem. I am headed home shortly to figure out how to drain and refill my clutch so I can get it to a mechanic who recently replaced my master cylinder. We shall see.

RickM

[tdn]

It was just a bad MC. Had a mechanic put it new master and slave cylinders and flex hose. No more problems. Knock on wood.

[RickM]

I had my slave replaced when I got the truck about 8 years and 20K miles ago. Had the same odd hard to find fluid loss this summer and wound up replacing the master. I am hopeful my slave has not gone out again but usually the slave drains in the cabin and that ain't the case. I have a wonderful honest mechanic and I am hopeful he will tell me that something did not get tightened down right and will get back on the road again.

[Santiago Montenegr]

The slave drains into the bellhousing.

[RickM]

Well since I guess I have hijacked this thread why not describe what is happening. I went to refill/bleed my clutch today to drive it back to the mechanic that had replaced my master, and the fluid level ws actaully fine. Could not even get it into gear. Had to start it in reverse with the clutch out and then had to start it in 3rd to get it down the road. The clutch was barely keeping the truck from stalling all the way there. He has my truck now so we shall see.

[RickM]

I posted up a bunch on this and now I have new info. I got my truck to my mechanic and he replaced my MC. Lately I have been driving the truck and it shifts fine but my clutch pedal has been dropping to the floor and sticking there. I took it back tot he mechanic and he recommended a new clutch, and he inpsected the system only to notice it all looked ok. He rebled the system and tried to tune it but suggested driving it till the clutch just goes. Anyway, I am thinking he just did not know how to tune the new clutch. Anyone know of a good description of how to bleed/tune a clutch?

[waveridin1959]

Very similar thing happened to me this week. I had a brand new clutch installed in may (plus MC/ Slave/ Flex Line) and the past month it has gradually started to drop to the floor. Monday it was engaging almost at the floor. No leaks anywhere. I am going to bleed it tonight and see if it fixes it. I hope it isnt a bad MC.

Someone correct me if im wrong, but i would get someone to push the pedal to the floor and you open up the bleed screw on the slave, then tighten, let clutch back up, fill MC, repeat.

I was going to use my motive bleeder on it, but i read on another thread it isnt a good idea to hook up a power bleeder to the clutch MC. You can also reverse bleed it as well.

[RickM]

I just got my truck back from North Texas British (should be "Rover"). The mechanic checking it told me that the clutch was fine, no fluid leaks but the master was poorly adjusted. Great shop for when I get way over my head.

[evilfij]

Also, consider adding the additional spring on the pedal. It really helps IMHO.