While attempting to bleed the clutch tonight, the pedal went to the floor and stuck. Worse, no fluid forced out the slave nipple.

So I start thinking back - I remember that the clutch slave had the piston free to move (like out of the cylinder free and wiggling out of alignment) within the rubber boot. Should the piston be retained to prevent it from poppng that far out?

I removed the slave from the bellhousing and found no fluid - I didn't remove the boot though.

Either way, I guess I should buckle down to rebuild the master and slave cyls. Already changed the hose, might as well pitch to finish the inning.

Dave

 

Some(*) slave cylinders have a little ball (like a chrome BB from a BB gun) at the end of the bleed screw. The first time I bled my clutch, I didn't put the ball back in (it fell and I didn't notice) and the pedal would just go to the floor. When I found the ball and put it back in, it started behaving properly again. Did yours have a ball? Did you put it back in?

(*) I say "some" because my original one had the ball and the reman one I got from Mazdacomp had a larger bleed screw and no ball.

-Max

 

Thanks Max.

I have not removed the bleed screw, only loosened/retightened it. So if the ball is missing, it had worked before. Maybe the little bit of handling involved in my tranny drop messed it up.

I noticed new cylinders are around $100/ea, and rebuild kits are $20/ea. I was thinking of rebuilding both myself - is there a reason why I should spend more for a rebuilt or new? (assuming my cylinders aren't scored)

Dave

 

The pitting or scoring is the only reason you need to replace the entire unit. If the surfaces are in good shape, just grab rebuild kits. They are simple to do and cheap. You can pull you current ones apart fairly easy to check the condition of the cylinders.

the other reason to do it is if you don't think you can pull a circlip off the master and replace it But after the tranny this should be fun for ya

 

Well I ordered the brake slave and master cylinder kits. The car will wait another 5 days

Does clutch hydraulics have any relation to a slightly spongy brake pedal (can be slowly pressed to the floor)?

Dave

 

Air in the system, not really like a brake pedal though. It just wont feel right when you depress it and you'll probably scratch gears trying to shift since the clutch wont be disengaged all the wat. I'm assuming ur gonna bleed the brake calipers also?

Jeremy

 

I got both the slave and master from Ray @ Malloy for $140 shipped to my door. You might want to consider this as I have *heard* that the rebuild kits have a tendancy not to last too long.

When my master went, the pedal also had a "slightly spongy feel".

 

Moehler, I've heard both good things and shaky things about rebuild kits. But I'm rebuilding both the clutch master (kit = $18.25) and slave (kit = $15.94). I have to wonder though if their cylinders were scored, they got dirt in the works, or only rebuilt one of them.

The brake master rebuild kit was $75.44, so I skipped it. Mostly I'm being cheap so I can get the FD out of the garage and do oil changes on the daily drivers. If the brakes still feel a little spongy, I'll order either 929 cylinder or an FD rebuild kit and do that in the spring. The car brakes just fine - the only symptom is the pedal can slowly be pushed down a little more than I expect.

I bled the brakes well not long ago, so I'm hoping a good thorough bleed of the clutch end is all I need. Assuming I plug the clutch - reservoir pipe quickly and prevent much air getting in, I shouldn't need to rebleed all the brakes.

Dave

 

Does clutch hydraulics have any relation to a slightly spongy brake pedal (can be slowly pressed to the floor)?

Nope, you have a bad brake master cylinder.

Assuming I plug the clutch - reservoir pipe quickly and prevent much air getting in, I shouldn't need to rebleed all the brakes.


The clutch hose plumbs into the resevoir about halfway up the side, so that if you should blow a clutch hose or something there is enough fluid left in the resevoir to operate the brakes. Safety feature. You should not have to bleed the brakes until after you replace that bad brake master cyl.

 

Thanks Mike, good info.

To follow up, the pedal was not returning because of the large amount of air in the new sst clutch line. I used a Mityvac and to apply a vacuum to the slave bleed screw, and within 3 min I was pulling solid fluid down. If you use the pedal-pump method it doesn't seem to be doing anything when there's a lot of air in the line. So there was nothing wrong with the clutch slave or the hydraulics, just lots of air.

I have a clutch master, slave, and brake master rebuild kit coming ($18, $15, and $75). After I get the FD out of the garage to do maintenance on the daily drivers, I'll probably rebuild the brake master or even all of them.

Dave