Help asap: Strange clutch engagement

[AGlobalThreat]

Well I noticed yesterday my car was getting hard to put in and take out of gear occasionally. I didn't think much of it, I figured maybe there was some air in the system and just kept driving. Well this morning when I left for school I noticed I was getting lots of trouble trying to put the car in most gears. It would go, but occasionally grind and I'd have to repress the clutch and most of the time give some muscle to get it in gear. Well the first full stop I came to, I almost completely stalled the car when the clutch engaged with the pedal maybe 1/2 inch away from the firewall. That's when I realized the problem is that the clutch is engaging way too early with the pedal. There were no changes made lately that should affect this and it came out of nowhere aside from the small problems yesterday. Just pressing the clutch pedal normal will result in hesitation when putting it in gear and occasional grinding, but if I push the clutch all the way in and point my foot slightly, it will push the pedal completely against the firewall and I can feel the pedal get stiffer and the clutch engage, and then it goes smooth into gear. I don't like this because 1. leaving stops is hard, 2. shifting is hard, and 3. I don't intend to do any WOT runs with the car like this, so no fun. :cry:

Is this just a simple pedal adjustment? I have about an estimated 3 inches of freeplay in the pedal before it actually engages the clutch. I am fine with adjusting the pedal and I can do it for free, but since the problem came out of nowhere, it makes me nervous to adjust the pedal in case the problem automatically goes away and it returns to normal, because then I would be burning the crap out of the clutch just driving around...

I'd appreciate as much input as possible and possibly some opionions before I adjust it, and I hope the car remains driveable and the engagement point doesn't keep getting farther and farther back.

The reason this confused me so much is because the pedal is the same height, same position, and I've made no changes.

Cliffs: Have to push clutch pedal completely back and point foot to press the pedal against the firewall to get the clutch to engage. Total PITA while driving around. Can adjust for free, but want to make sure that's the problem and I won't burn the clutch.

Thanks.

Craig

 

[SupraMario]

check your slave, it may be starting to go bad,
2 you could check the petal for free play but i doubt this is the problem,
last thing i would check would be your master.

 

[MK3Brent]

Are you losing fluid?

 

[AGlobalThreat]

Not that I know of yet and I haven't had time to check, probably won't have time to check for a bit. I know this may sound like a dumb question, but where is the slave cylinder located?

 

[MK3Brent]

on the driver's side of the tranny... look for the hoses going to it.

It also has a bleeder next to it.


Check your master cylinder for fluid first.

 

[SupraMario]

if your low on fluid it will do this,
but if your not it still may be the slave,
even if the slave is getting fluid, it still may not be able to push the fork to disengage your clutch.

 

[MK3Brent]

I replaced my master this past month... that's a job I don't want to do again for a while.

 

[tissimo]

i would say master cyl is going out

 

[AGlobalThreat]

K well yes I do look like I have a leak and it was empty. I plan on just refilling it and driving home then fixing it or replacing it. Thanks for the help.

 

[billspreston01]

find the leak, could be the master or the slave. My car was doing that not too long ago so I replaced the slave cylinder and it was still doing it, so I replaced the master and...problem solved! Replacing the master isn't that hard...a little pita, but I've done more tricky things.

 

[AGlobalThreat]

find the leak, could be the master or the slave. My car was doing that not too long ago so I replaced the slave cylinder and it was still doing it, so I replaced the master and...problem solved! Replacing the master isn't that hard...a little pita, but I've done more tricky things.

K well it was leaking on my shoe so that's the master then correct?

 

[AGlobalThreat]

K well I made it home fine, I put some (Passed dot3 and 4 and keeps going cuz its that good ) brake fluid in there, drove home. Felt better than this morning but the engagement still felt all whack, just not as bad as earlier. On the drive home, no grinding, not as much hesitation, not once did i have to repress the clutch, although it was still engaging way early. I noticed After the drive home, no fluid on my shoe, none under the car. I looked around, and it looks like the rod getting pushed into the firewall by the pedal (The master cylinder rod) is seeping out a TINY bit. I wiped it up, pumped the clutch a bunch, and nothing really came out, maybe a tiny tiny bit but not even enough to make a drop or have it seep down, fluid was also just as full as when I filled it. I'll check it again tomorrow before I leave.


Any different suggestions/opinions now?

 

[GreenChevelleSS]

Might need to bleed the air out if the master was empty or near empty and that would cause it to have some syptoms like you stated since the air can compress more than the fluid...

 

[juhanis]

K well it was leaking on my shoe so that's the master then correct?

if its leaking on your shoe its the master cylinder. if its leaking, its time to get a new one. i would recommend getting a oem one. i bought one at kragen with a free lifetime warranty (i realized too late that i should have gotten an oem one). so, i just end up bringing mine back about every 8months. usually my clutch engauges wierd and slips a little under high boost or it leaks when the master cylinder is messed up.

 

[pimptrizkit]

i susgest fixing the leak/ problem asap, having a clutch that isn't fully disengaged will prematurely wear the synchros....

i had this happen on my celica and killed a perfect w58.. of course it's not dead yet, but shiftin sucks in the morning when it's cold..

 

[Dachande]

Changing out the master cylinder is pretty easy, it shouldn't take you long. There's the clutch line, 2 bolts if I remember, and then just a cotter pin to undo it. It simply slides out through the firewall.

 

[AGlobalThreat]

Instructions on how to bleed the clutch master cylinder?

 

[Dachande]

The bleeder is on the slave cylinder on the driver side of the transmission. Open it, stick your eye near the hole and then have someone compress the clutch pedal. :biglaugh: Bleed it like you're bleeding your brakes and it shouldn't take but a few minutes to purge the system of air. Just get a towel or something so you don't get the ground all messy.

 

[SupraMario]

^^ HAHAHA
to bleed system, have someone pump the clutch, then open it, while the clutch is on the floor close it, when they pull the petal off the ground it should be stronger than before, repeat this until system is completely purged of air.

 

[AGlobalThreat]

Its leaking out of where the rod goes into the firewall

This will be the 2nd time I'm replacing the master cylinder I guess. It isn't leaking very quickly at all, so I'll just stay on top of checking it and bleed it a bit.

Is there any way to FIX the leak? Rather than replacing the whole unit? And where should I get one? SF? Dealer? I really didn't want to have to spend more money on the car.