What Clutch Part Broke?

[honestabe]

On my way home today (San Francisco to Portland, Oregon) I stop in Weed, California to fill up. As soon as I start my car, my clutch pedal has no resistance and goes almost all the way to the floor. Instead of having several inches to engage/disengage the clutch, I have about an inch to do it in. If I put the clutch all the way to the floor as hard as I can, I can barely shift gears (very hard to do). I checked the resevoir and it was almost full, so I topped it off and that helped very little. Keep in mind I have a high performance clutch that has only 3000 miles on it.

Question is, did the clutch master cylinder or clutch slave cylinder blow? I'm thinking the slave. I haven't had a chance to crawl under the car yet, I will do that tomorrow. I'm quite exhausted from driving 12 hours today on 3 hours sleep and talking my way out of 1 speeding ticket and getting another speeding ticket reduced to a fix-it ticket for no front liscence plate.

Adam

 

[IJ.]

If it's the Master the carpet will be wet.

 

[BlackMKIII]

Slave. Been there, broke that.

 

[Kckazdude]

That usually sounds like the slave. My luck has always been that when one goes, the other isnt too far behind.

 

[Brady]

i bought a slave and master cyl from driftmotion for pretty cheap i would endorse

 

[honestabe]

Ok, so where exactly is the clutch slave located and are there any tricks or tips for replacing it?

 

[adampecush]

Its on the driver side, bolted to the transmission. It has two bolts to the transmission, and the one flare fitting to the clutch line.

 

[honestabe]

Thanks Adam.

 

[aznwaterboy]

Yea it's gonna be the slave if your reservoir is full and if the pedal has no resistance. I'm surprised that part broke on the way home, at least you had supplies with you right? BTW I'm the asian guy with the black mk3 you met at the taco place on tuesday. Replacing the slave cylinder takes like 15 minutes, just make sure to bleed the clutch after replacing it.

 

[honestabe]

How do I bleed the clutch? Fill and pump until no more bubbles? Also, I guess it was the master cylinder. I just got done replacing the slave and as soon as I started the car I went from having a little play room at the bottom to no play room and the peddle going straight to the floor. I looked at my master cylinder and I noticed the fluid that had ran along my firewall. The seal was good and strong enough (probably thanks to the rubber mat on my firewall) that instead of the fluid coming inside the car, it just leaked onto my firewall in the engine bay. Luckily I have a dually I can borrow, and a local parts guy that hooks me up ($25 for a brand new clutch slave cylinder). I just ordered a new clutch master cylinder and brake master cylinder from him, so I should be picking them up within an hour or so.

aznwaterboy, it was nice meeting you. Word of advice, when you do your swap, replace all the belts and hoses, especially the front and rear main oil seals due to their ease of access. And if you're going to stay using the stock twins for a bit, get a y-pipe from 935 Motorsports and install it before you install the motor. You'd be amazed just how quick and easy it is to replace things on the motor if it's on a stand. Trust me, it'll be a very smart thing to do and it will also give you peace of mind knowing that all those parts are new (meaning you don't have to worry about replacing them for quite a while).

Adam

 

[suprarx7nut]

Just make sure to extensively bleed the system when you're done. I and many people I know have "completed" the job only to find out the pedal still goes to the floor because not all the air was evacuated when we tried to bleed it.

 

[Poodles]

could also be the throwout assembly...

 

[mhopemk3]

Could also be the bolts that hold the clutch fork hanger in place. I sheared mine off..

 

[honestabe]

Let's hope that it's not the throwout assembly or the bolts that hold the clutch fork hanger in place. I'm going to bleed the clutch in a few minutes. Then get to work on the brakes (replacing the master cylinder).

Adam

 

[mhopemk3]

Let's hope that it's not the throwout assembly or the bolts that hold the clutch fork hanger in place. I'm going to bleed the clutch in a few minutes. Then get to work on the brakes (replacing the master cylinder).

Adam

Really checkint the fork and assembly is no big deal. You just have to pull off the dust cover on the driver side of the tranny and take a look.

 

[AJ'S 88NA]

I wonder if they make heavier forks and such for these Heavy Duty clutches?

 

[mhopemk3]

I wonder if they make heavier forks and such for these Heavy Duty clutches?

I'm not so sure there is a problem with the fork. I just sheared my old bolts right off..

 

[Poodles]

the fork is a very heavy duty piece...

personally, I don't think a 3200lb PP belongs on a car...

 

[honestabe]

The clutch I'm using is a rated at 405 HP/Ft lbs. of torque, so it's not too heavy. I have a few more power upgrades (single turbo, fuel system) to install before I'll upgrade the clutch again.

I'm not 100% sure that I'm bleeding the clutch right, so I'm going to wait until tomorrow morning when my mom's fiance will be able to help me work on my car (former crew chief for 2 4.5 second nitro dragster teams recently).

Adam

 

[GrimJack]

You need two people to bleed it, or a speedbleeder. Procedure is simple - open bleeder on the slave, push pedal down, close bleeder, lift pedal, repeat until you get no bubbles coming out of the bleeder anymore.

I'd replace both parts at the same time, replace one and you're just going to be replacing the other in a couple months and going through the pain of bleeding the whole thing again.