Rusty Shackleford

aight i gotta 85' gs and the clutch has a leak somwhere.......i have no idea where but now my clutch pedal stays down i filled the holder with DOT3 as called for and i think i have air in the system.cuz its full but the cluth still dosnt work the pedal goes about half way with push back and i can put it into gear sometimes but the other half of the time it bits the gear so i cant dirve it....i want to put a new presureplate and a 4 puck in there and a new engine should i replace the lines with new when i install this stuff and will this be hard???and what are some sites i can buy stuff for cuz i know racing beat and mariah have parts but thats it can anyone help me with this problem...thanks ya'll later Rusty

Illswyn

You should bleed the system if you haven't yet. The reservoir being full doesn't mean the system is full.

Put a clear tubing on the slave cylinder valve, loosen it, pump the clutch till the line is not pushing air, close valve, top off master cylinder. If it still isn't working, then you have a problem.

There's a little more detailed explanation on a previous post, I believe LongDuck posted it. Search for his posts...they're all informative!

evita

The slave or master cylinder don't have to leak much to cause air to get into the hydraulic system causing the half pedal situation. Bleed the system at the slave cylinder well enough to cycle in new fluid throughout the whole system. It this does not help, and there are no visible external leaks, then I would check the rubber hose between the master and slave. I just replaced mine and it solved my mushy pedal problem. I had previously changed the master and slave because they were leaking, but this repair did not solve the pedal problem.

Rusty Shackleford

how do i bleed my system i know what u mean and thats what thought about doing and i dont see how to do it

rxtasy3

iTrader: (2)

u basically bleed it the same way u bleed the brakes.

LongDuck

Hey, guys - posting in again to try and help out...

On the Slave Cylinder (SC), you have a bleeder screw that projects out noticably at the front edge of the SC itself. When you attach your bleeder hose to this, grab a 9mm box-end, and you can loosen this bleeder to allow hydraulic fluid to flow from the MC (Master) through the hard and soft rubber line, to the slave cylinder. Go back into the passenger compartment and SLOWLY, VERY SLOWLY pump the clutch pedal back and forth. Be sure that you have enough hydraulic fluid in the reservoir that you don't run out. Keep it at the MAX mark. It will take about 30-40 pumps to fully changeout the fluid in the lines and SC, so take your time, be patient.

Once you get clear fluid coming through the bleeder hose, you're mostly there - you want to get all of the air out of the lines, since this is what will cause a 'mushy' pedal - also, that rubber softline isn't helping any when it gets deteriorated and starts to get really flexible. Once you get good, no-bubbles, fluid flowing, tighten that 9mm bleeder screw and you should be done.

The clutch pedal itself has a spring under the dash that 'assists' the last 1/4 to 1/3 of pedal throw. In other words, as you push down on the pedal, once you get it 2/3 of the way down, this spring jumps in and starts to 'help' you push the pedal the remainder of the way. This is to counteract the pressure of the Clutch Pressure Plate acting through the helical and finger springs that your foot has to overcome to get the clutch to disengage that last little bit.

Never reuse bled hydraulic fluid. When it gets discolored, it's bad - bled hydraulic fluid should be clear, not cloudy, and have no coloration at all. As it ages and absorbs water from the air, it will get darker, and less effective - usually this causes more problems with brakes than with clutch hydraulics, but both use DOT3 fluid, so keep that in mind.

Hope you get it bled correctly - take your time, it's not hard. Report back with success or failure. I always hate wondering if somebody got it fixed or not...