I Need Major Help With A Clutch Problem!
 

Hello All,

I have a pretty serious problem that I'm hoping that someone can help me out with. I own a 89 TII.

OK here's what happened.

I was coming home from work (25 miles) when I was leaving San Jose the clutch started to feel scwooshy like something was wrong. There was still good pressure on the clutch (as far as I could feel). On the drive home I was kicking the shit out of a GTI and everything was still OK, at least that's what I thought. When I was about half way home there was some traffic and I tried down shifting,

OH SHIT, I couldn't get it back in gear!! There was NO PRESSURE when I pushed on the clutch! So I pulled over. NOTHING, I could push the clutch down all the way, still nothing. I waited about 30 seconds. I was finally able get it back into first, second, third, and I left it in fourth (I really didn't want to get stuck). When I was going throught those gears there was nothing from the clutch until it was almost to the floor.

So when I looked this morning, there was a huge wet spot on the under plastic piece and the clutch reserve tank was empty completely.

Ok, what should I do to figure out where the leak is? And what steps would you suggest I take? Now I don't really have a rack to put it on, would it be safe to drive?

Thank You!

Rick
home - psycheus@home.com
work - rtm@frys.com

It could be 1 of 3 things:
Clutch master cylinder
Slave cylinder
Clutch Hose.
Check the hose for any leaks, as they tend to break after a while. You may want to have someone push down on the clutch pedal while you look for a leak. Holding the pedal down will pressurize the system, and you should see fluid squirting. JUst make sure you have plenty of fluid before you do this. If you wind up replacing anything you'll have to bleed the system.

Careful
 

Hi,
When you're doing your testing, be careful where
the fluid goes. I believe that clutch fluid is
pretty hard on painted surfaces.

Good luck
Brian