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Clutch and Grinding Gear

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Jeffry

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Replaced clutch master and slave a few months ago. Never was great, but now cannot go to first or reverse. Worry it is clutch, but could be bleed problem.
Question: How far should the slave rod push out of the slave cylinder? I get 1/4 inch movement. Suspect that is too little, but who out there may know? If normal....clutch.
The clutch has 50,000 easy miles.
My bleeding method with tunnel off is to open bleed screw 1/4 turn, push pedal and watch fluid flow out. Did that 5 or so times. Steady flow. Also took slave off and gravity bled under car.
If bleeding I read about pushing in the cylinder while bleeding, but not clear to me how it is done.
Also may be flexible hose too old.
Thanks.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
1/4 inch sounds like too little movement. I just bled mine, and I had to push back on the slave while bleeding to get the air out. You will need an assistant to push the pedal. My slave moves about 1/2 - 3/4 inch.
 
That is good to hear. My slave is off and hanging down. So put a hose in a jar, open valve, press in piston, push peddle down to force piston out, close valve, release pedal. Repeat a few times. Sound right?
 
Jeffry said:
Replaced clutch master and slave a few months ago. Never was great, but now cannot go to first or reverse. Worry it is clutch, but could be bleed problem.
Question: How far should the slave rod push out of the slave cylinder? I get 1/4 inch movement. Suspect that is too little, but who out there may know? If normal....clutch.
The clutch has 50,000 easy miles.
My bleeding method with tunnel off is to open bleed screw 1/4 turn, push pedal and watch fluid flow out. Did that 5 or so times. Steady flow. Also took slave off and gravity bled under car.
If bleeding I read about pushing in the cylinder while bleeding, but not clear to me how it is done.
Also may be flexible hose too old.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

Should have replaced the hose, as well. Sometimes they collapse internally, which can hinder the operation.
 
Sounds like it might need a new clutch disk too. ?
 
Just as a SWAG, rumors had it there was a bad batch of release bearings going a few years ago. The release bearing should last about the average lifespan of a clutch, about 100K miles--yes, highway only driving can increase that number, and city only could reduce it--but a poorly made release bearing could go in 50K miles (I heard of them being shot after as little as 10K miles). Did the grinding problems come on gradually, or did they start suddenly after cylinder replacement?
 
Here is my report for those who helped. Bled system including slave with the piece of wood to force slave piston in method. Now can get first/reverse without grinding, but just barely. Clutch does not slip and throw out is quiet. Let clutch out at all in neutral and gears are heard to spin. So clutch is basically on the floor.
My clutch pedal has 6 inches of total travel. First inch down is slop in my pedal lever attachment. Then the clutch master push rod starts in for three inches of pedal travel. It is not until the last two inches of clutch pedal travel that the slave rod starts to move. There is also a bit of slop in slave push rod pin/hole.
Keep bleeding or is slop significant?
thanks,
jeff
 
Have someone work the clutch pedal--slowly--while you watch the fluid in the reservoir closely for a slight rise in the level (and maybe a bubble or two). There is a small seal at the end of the clutch M/C piston--sometimes called a 'foot valve'--that seals the line to the reservoir that replenishes the cylinder when you release the pedal, if it doesn't seal properly you could get the symptoms you describe. I had one fail in my brake M/C on a long road trip and had to pump my brake pedal a couple times for the brakes to work (for over 1,000 miles).

The clevis pin in the slave pushrod could be worn, which would account for some of the slop (ditto for the clevis on the M/C side at the pedal).
 
As Bob said, any wear in the fork / clevis pin at either the master or slave cylinders is robbing you of movement of the TOB. At this stage, even an 1/8" could make a large difference.
 
Have used a quart of fluid but clutch catches just off floor. Got my look under dash. Not going there! Jury rig time. Made slave push rod just a little longer. Now clutch is nicely off the floor. Got the idea from another post. So thanks forum. Hope it holds....
jeff
 
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