replace master and slave
 

Hey guys.. searched around and couldn't find anything.. how hard is it to replace the master and slave cylinders? Could anyone provide some instructions?

What year? Is the engine stock? Its a fairly easy job, but its even easier if you have a 79-82 or an 84-85 GSL-SE :).

~T.J.

85 GSL.. The master looks easy the slave however is burried behind the freaking oil cooler and its 15 miles of hose....

Yeah, thats why its easier on the other cars, they have the front mounted oil cooler.

Basically, looks are deceiving. I personally think the master is harder. Its a pain in the ass to get those bolts out when your up under the dash if you dont have a universal joint for your ratchet, or some of those ratcheting wrenches. The slave can be tricky as well, but not too bad if you have that universal handy and some extensions. Pretty much all you need to do is unbolt it all, and throw the new pieces in. Nothing too tricky :).

~T.J.

I did both on my '83 GS in 20 minutes

Ok cool.. im almost done.. Heres what it came out to: 20 minutes to unbolt the master, 5 minutes to unbolt the slave and put in the new slave and master. 20 minutes to put the nuts back on the new master (im a tall guy getting under the dash is pretty dificult for me)... and then! a 15 minute trip to pepboys for a set of flare nut wrenches.. I also needed to replace the slave line with a steel braded line... 10 minutes of struggling with the connection between the hard line and the rubber line... Guess what? The fucking nut got stripped despite the fact that I was using flare nut wrenches.. 10 minutes to get the hard, line which is now siezed inside my flare wrench, out. Now I just need to go out to a junk yard tomorrow and see if I can pry off a new hard line... 15 minute trip to junk yard... so my total time an hour and a half... yay.. so how do I bleed the clutch?? hmm..

Similar to how you bleed the brakes. Pump the clutch a few times, but then hold it down. Open the bleeder and let the air out like you would a brake pedal. Do that a few times. Then, this is where it gets a little tricky. When youre sure you got all the air out, have someone slowly and steadily push the clutch down while you open the bleeder, but you need to close it before they hit the floor with the pedal so you get ALL of the air out.

Or, do it the hose and jar way. Get yourself a small clear jar and a section of hose that will fit on the bleeder. Then, put some clutch fluid in the jar (about an inch deep or so), attach the hose to the bleeder, and put the other end under the fluid level in the jar. Then, open the bleeder and have someone pump the clutch pedal. When you stop seeing bubbles come out the hose in the fluid, all the air is out, and since the hose is under the fluid, anything it sucks back in will just be fluid and not air so you can simply close the bleeder and youre done.

~T.J.

don't pump bleeding!
 

I don't think you should pump the brakes or the clutch when bleeding - it just fragments air into millions of tiny bubbles throughout the system. I know it seems easier (more flows out faster from the bleed), but you can end up having to bleed again to get rid of that mushy feeling.

Most factory service manuals now specifically warn against pumping while bleeding.

Slow and steady with a partner is tedious, but it is the right way to do it.

--BTC

You know, I never even thought of that... Good advice :).

~T.J.

i dont see how it is hard for people to work under the drivers side dash... i swapped my auto pedal assembly for a 5speed pedal assembly and put the master in in about 30 min total..

im a decent sized guy too..

-greg