I just replaced my clutch release cylinder and bleed the system. I get clear bubble free fluid coming out, but the pedal no sticks to the floor, like the bleed nipple is open. Any ideas? Do I have to bleed the brakes now too since they shared the same resevoir? My brake pedal feels fine, so I don't think that's it, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

 

sounds like the clutch master cylinder is bad. The one on the firewall

Or your hose has a leak somwhere. But more likely to me is the master cylinder.

What made you replace the slave cylinder? The fact that teh pedal was sticking?

Also are you absolutely sure that the push rod is inside the cup on the clutch fork? If it is not inside you may be popping the shaft out the end of the slave. Causing your pedal to stick down just a thought. Not very likely but a possibility.

 

Nope, as long as the system is sealed between the clutch master and slave you should have no problem. Check and make sure you're not squirting fluid out of the hose (it might be ripped or cracked).

 

I replaced it because it had gotten so I had to push the pedal almost all the way to the floor to disengage.

When I put the new slave in, it took me about 10 minutes of jiggling to get it to seat, so I guess that it's seated right, I'd hope that it wouldn't seat firmly if the push rod wasn't seated in the clutch fork.

 

i hooked a power bleeder up to the system at 10 psi and saw no leaks, so I don't think that's it.

I just got off the phone with performance buyers club here in VA and John Duff happened to be there. He said to manually bleed the system pumping the pedal, so I'm at a standstill until the wife gets home and I can recruit her to help out.

 

well ****, i've got a whole shitstorm of problems now. I've got brake fluid leaking from the bell houseing near the access port, and when i stick my finger in the hole, i can feel it pooling. slave cylinder is dry, all other connections are dry. Hope the clutch fork isn't broken

 

Ahh, no worries man. I did the EXACT same thing as you. I replaced the master and the clutch release cylndr at the same time, went to bleed the system, and I just couldnt get the pedal off the floor. Pulled the clutch release, fluid was everywhere, and aparently I didnt get the push rod inside the cup, so the release cylndr "popped" apart when it went under pressure. Just pull it back out, reassemble the unit and give it another shot. Just make absolutley sure the piston goes in the cup and you should be good as new.

Hope this helps and good luck.

--Andrew

 

Thanks Slow 7, i'm getting ready to try this right now! How do you make sure the piston goes into the cup?

edit:// great first post by the way!

 

I did exactly the same thing last weekend Section 8. Power bleeder is not the problem either.

In my case I forced the slave in on an angle, I missed hitting the fork and tore the boot and because I used force, I scored up the inside of the slave. Fluid pours out of that bleed hole in the bottom of the bellhousing.

I think its a good idea to get some fluid into the slave before you try to install it, or at least that is what I am going to do tomorrow when I do my repeat job.

 

Thanks again guys, I re-installed the slave (boot had popped off!) and no fluid is leaking from the bell housing now. *sigh of relief*

Now i just can't get all the bloody air out! I'm calling it quits for tonight, gonna lower the car and bleed the brakes and clutch tomorrow.

 

Here's an update for those interested.

I started early Saturday morning with a 4 corner brake bleed just to rule them out, no air. I then started power bleeding the slave cylinder to get the first bit of air out. After I started getting fluid, I started manually bleeding the cylinder. Lots of air.

Lots of air.

Then, pop, the rubber boot came off again, and more fluid starts dripping from the bell housing.

Now I'm pissed. I pull the new slave out, and put the old one back in. I then proceeded to bleed 2 damn quarts of fluid through it using both my power bleeder and manually pumping, and there is still air in the system. I can't figure out where it's coming from. My best guess is that the clutch soft line is leaking, but I don't see any visable evidence of that, my next guess is that the master has gone bad.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

I had a problem once with the clutch pedal sticking to the floor...turned out to be only the clutch MASTER cylinder.

 

usually when the Master leaks you will have the paint on the firewall bubbling up or peeled off already. I would replace the hose with a SS braided line just for the security of it. It sounds like you are creating pressure,.. because you were able to extend the rod far enough to pop off the boot again.

Remove the slave from the tranny. Look up the inspection cover and push the clutch fork with your hand. See if it is actually moving to the clutch.( Not broken) You have to remove the upper inspection cover as well to get good acces to the fork.

Check the fork first for any problems. Again because it sounds like you are creating hydraulic pressure.

 

Ok, I'll check the fork tonight when I get home, and I'll check the FW for bubbling paint, but I haven't seen any, and the foot well by the pedals is dry too.

Thanks guys.

 

I am still doing mine Section8. I don't think it's your Master. When you pump up the system, if you have a leak it's gonna show.

Maybe you already have this covered but when I first tried the install, the piston would not move in the slave so when I forced it it, I tore the boot. Make sure the piston is moving and put some fluid inside. Be sure you don't have a leak in the boot.

On the fork you have an indentation where the slave fits in. Make sure you have that well greased up too. I don't see why the boot would ever pop off.

It just may take a while to bleed the air out of the Master and the slave. Once you pressurize the power bleeder however, if you don't see leaks, there aren't any. I did replace my clutch line just to be sure but I would think that once the system gets pressurized there would not be a question. It's leaking or it's not.


You have the fitting at the slave. the fitting connceting the slave to the clutch pipe, the fitting connecting the pipe to the upper pipe.

 

Well, I'm looking into the access hole, and I don't see any visable breaks in the fork, and I can see the shiney part of the piston that fits into the fork cup, I'm guessing that it should be seated in the cup all the way so I shouldn't see that? I haven't had the energy tonight to pull the slave back out again.

I"ll take some pictures if I can and post a bit later.

tcb100, please let me know how long it takes you to get the air out of the system, because it just seems rediculous to me that after all the bleeding i've done that there is still air in the lines. There can't be more than 2 feet of lines to bleed through.

 

Got some pics

 

I know what you mean about lack of energy. I pulled that sucker on and off 5 times last night and my hands have been in a meat grinder. No damn room.

I didn't have the enrgy to bleed it tonight. I will do it tomorrow without fail & let you know.

 

Well I was talking to a friend last night on instand msg and he looked at the bottom pic i posted and said it looks like my throw out bearing is not seated flush with the pressure plate, so I'm going to get under the car tonight and try to reseat it. I don't know if that will help my clutch bleeding or not, but I'll give it a shot.

 

If the throw-out bearing is flush against the pressure plate, that forces the wedge collar into the pressure plate which will release the throw-out bearing from the assembly.

It's a pull-type clutch so the throw-out bearing should be pulling back on the wedge collar to keep the assembly together.

Take a look at the video in this thread:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-gen-archives-73/dealing-pull-type-clutch-video-256126/

Once you see how the parts go together, you'll see that having the throw-out bearing against the pressure plate would be a bad thing (unless you are separating the tranny).

 

I'm downloading now, thanks for the info Mahjik. Does that mean that the fork and TO bearing are in a normal position in that picture then?

 

They look to be (however it's been a while since I examined my own ). It should pull back on the wedge collar (as you see in your picture), which how it holds the whole thing together.

 

Well, I put some teflon tape on the bleed nipple to the slave, and presto chango, no air now after I bleed.

Now I still have no pressure when I push the clutch pedal. My only guess now is that I need to replace the clutch master cylinder.

 

Well talk about a learning experience. I pedal bled tonight (didn't do that last night) and now I'm back where i started! lol

So at least the car is now driveable again, but now I still need to push the clutch almost all the way to the floor to disengage. Should I go ahead and try to put the new slave in?

I also think i figured out why the boot was popping off. The fluid resevoir is devided internally , one side for brake, one side for clutch. I didn't know this before when I was manually bleeding the clutch and sucked that side dry, and I think that's when the boot popped off the slave, and consequently sucked all the air into the system. Does that make sense?

 

Section 8, you and I are living parallel lives. I got the slave back in (again) and in the right position with the rod in the fork cup, bled the system until there were zero air bubbles & then some, and I have no pedal feel until I am three inches from the floor.

I have a new master, a new slave, a new clutch hose, zero leakage, no air bubbles and no working clutch. WTF! I'm going to fool with it some more today but what a pain this "simple job" is. Nobody mentioned how easy it is to miss the fork cup. Taking off the inspection plate is a must because the damn slave will bolt up just fine without the rod even hitting the fork.

I'm going to fool with the adjusting rod today & see if I can't get the free play out. Too busy last night to do that. Then bleed some more. Other than that, I am stumped.