pontious

I went out to drive the 7 to work this morning and When i push the Clutch pedal to the floor it decided to not come back up. I pop the hood and sure enough the fuild res. is almost empty. I let the car roll forward and I see soem fluid on the ground where the car used to be. I do not see and leaks around the master or the slave cylinders.
I put more fluid in, bu tthere must be air trapped in the lines and the pedal still stay on the floor.

A few months ago I rebuilt my master and slave cylinders and they had been working perfectly, so I am familiar with their workings. I have not checked the carpet on the inside of the car to see if it was the master that leaked or not, but judging from the small puddle under the car I doubt it was the master leaking into the car. (It did this before I rebuilt it) Since I didn't see and signs of fluid in the engine bay where should I be looking?

Also, could cold weather have caused this somehow? It was only in the teens here over the weekend, so it was not that cold. The clutch worked fine Friday when I parked the car. Where else should I check for leaks??
Tonight I will bleed the system and see if it holds, but I would really like to know if I have a real problem or not., or if it coudl have been the cold somehow shrinking the seals and letting fluid spill out.... (Doesn't seem likely)

Anyway, I am rambling. Anything I have not thought of please let me know.

JamesBong

Have you looked at your flex hose? Is it origional? The rubber wears out, and may have become brittle from the cold. If you need to replace it, get a SS one from Mazdatrix. I just put one in mine, and I love it.

pontious

Yeah, I replaced the hose when I did the slave and master. And I didn't see any leaks around the hose or realy inside the engine bay. It is very odd. I am hoping it just leaked out becasue things where cold, but who knows. I can't imagine that happening..

I guess it coudl have been slowly leaking out the past couple weeks and it is just a coincidence..

JamesBong

Did you remember to replace the copper washer where the hose connects to the slave cylinder?

pontious

Well, I don't specifically remember replacing it, but I am sure I woudl have. I will check tonight to make sure.

I check the fluid levels a couple week back and things looked fine. It has been runnign with the new slave and master for 4 or 5 months now without problem. Do you think that the cold might be effecting things? I am just baffled why it happened all the sudden. Add to that I am nto able to look at it during the day, so I am trying to make sense out of it before I have had a chance to really look at the problem.

JamesBong

Ya, this is the first year I have ever cursed the early sunset. It's really hard to work on your car in the dark and cold. I guess I can't complain. I'm here in California, where cold is 40+.

Anyhoo, did you lube everything with brake fluid when you re-assembled? Have you bled your system again? Did you use a vacuum pump, or the hose into a bottle trick? When you rebuilt your Master cylinder, did you remember to put in the little clear plastic valve? (It goes at the end of the plunger and covers all of the little holes. When you pull your pedal up, push on it a couple of times, but not all the way down. Then press it to the floor and see if it comes back up. That's all the things I can think of re-checking at the moment. When you find where the fluid went, give us an update.

pontious

yeah, I am pretty sure I did. I will update you after I get a better look tonight. (hopefully I can drive around the bock in 1st and get her in the garage, so I don't freeze. NC is in the 20s or so at night. too cold for working outside