I finally installed the fresh engine in my girls s4 t2. Slave cylinder will not retract so I can bolt it back onto the bell housing with the rod sitting in the cup on the fork. The clutch worked perfectly for the 3 times it was driven before the engine was pulled for a rebuild.

Here's my trials and errors:

• I can't decompress the slave cylinder (while the hose is still connected) by pushing the rod by hand into it.
• I figured I would bleed out the pressure. Opened bleeder valve. Nothing. I took it out and nothing came out except rust.

What's the next step to try? Or is the unit bad? It. Worked before. I'm probably doing something wrong.

Thanks guys and gals.

 

sounds like a lot of crap and corruption in that hydraulic system.
Take the slave off the hose(and trans) and squeeze the rod into it with the bleeder off,to flush it of any crappy fluid.Also put a rag under the master and pump the pedal to flush the master out.It would be good to clean the Cup of fluid too.
Then put in clean fluid and start the bleeding from scratch.

 

and be sure the pedal isn't stuck to the floor. with the clutch pedal fully depressed the port is covered in the master cylinder which won't allow fluid to travel back upstream.

 

if all fails just get a new one there like 15-20 bucks.

 

Did you unloosen the bleeder first?

 

Thanks for the tips guys. I couldn't get the hose off due to rust. It was starting to strip where it joins with the hard line of the firewall too. So I found a small clamp and easily depressed the piston. I installed the slave cylinder and checked the fluid. Nothing but nasty black oily residue.

After a clean and new fluid, I tried to bleed it. I think the bleed valve is not working so I just unscrewed it until fluid came out from the threads. I did this a few times. It seems to have resistance on the pedal and its easy to shift when it's pressed in (car isn't running yet).

However, it seems rather soft. I went with a exedy stage 1. Does this seem normal or am I just used to a tougher clutch that I put on with my last car? Also, can I buy just a new bleed valve?

Anyways, thanks for the tips.

 

Is the slave pushing the rod all the way on the bellhousing?

What you did sounds like a very crappy bleed. I'd go ahead and at least replaced the slave cylinder and the line. You already know it was full of crap and you were having trouble wiht it. You don't want it to fail when your girlfriend is driving, do you?

 

and an exedy stage one will have a pretty stock feel to it. Not an aggressive clutch at all.