Clutch going.. going.. gone!

[-Jc.]

Hi Guys,

For the last couple of weeks, the clutch bite-point has been getting closer to the carpet. Yesterday, it was so far down that I couldn't get it in gear and now, the pedal's become really soft -very little resistance to being pressed, and it's not working at all.

I've read a few threads on replacing seals and bleeding the clutch, which I like the sound of because they're cheap, but they may be beyond my tinkering abilities.

I've checked the reservoir, which looks empty. The rod which goes into the cylinder by the pedal has fluid on it, but there's no evidence of a persistent leak on the carpet below. I've no idea where the slave cylinder is, but there's no pool of fluid under the car to suggest a major leak.

Where should I look next? Is it worth filling the reservoir to see if that fixes things -and if so will I need to bleed the system?

If anyone's had this happen to them, please share the fixes!

Thanks! -Jc.

[mikei]

hi jc you have nothing to loose by adding fluid. you may find that with a few pumps the pedal comes back or you will have found your leak be it around the pedal box or at the slave cylinder which is on top of the gearbox. needless to say if all the fluid is gone you have a leak somewhere

[4Aaron GE]

bleeding the clutch isn't hard, you just got to make sure you have a long enough length of hose. It takes about a metre to get from there to a bottle down by the RR wheel. I would suggest another half metre if you can. If you can get a check valve in there to ensure you don't get any bubbles going the other way, it's a good investment to your toolkit (You should be able to get one at an aquarium supply store).

The only issue is that getting to the bleeder screw is a huge pain, unless you have small hands.

[kungfuyou]

I had the same problem recently and it turned out that the seals/rubber on the push-rod in the master cylinder we beginning to fail. A temporary solution for you will definatly be to fill up the reservoir and bleed the system through. If the reservoir has run dry you will also need to bleed the master cylinder too (after you have done the line). There are a number of way to do this...i go pretty good results just jacking the front end of the car as high as i could (or park on a steep hill), disconnecting the pedal from the push rod (there's an r-clip on the retainer) and gently depressing it as far as it would go with the cap off the reservoir to allow the air to escape.

I made my own bleeder out of a log piece of hose and an empty jar, so its simple enough to do. I put a ring spanner on the slave bleed nipple first and the hose on top of that so i could open and close it while my 7 year old depressed and lifted the pedal. Took about 20-30 mins once i had made the bleeder. Thankfully, i have average sized hands :-)

If you need any advice on servicing the master cylinder, let me know. I undertook that job with very little mechanical knowledge and after a bit of research (youtube is a great place to start) and a lot of patience i managed to get it fixed up and back on the car.... after a few weeks! It was well worth the effort as my understanding of the clutch and brake system is much better as well as giving me the confidence to tackle the more complex jobs i need to do.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

[-Jc.]

Thanks for all the replies and good advice.

It's off to the garage for me to get a big bottle of DOT4 and back home via the pet shop for some pipe. I'll start by topping it up and trying the bleed to see where that gets me.

Just one question -the bleed nipple on top of the gearbox -how best to access that? is it reachable from the boot or will I need to go in through the panel under the rear shelf?

Thanks! -Jc.

[4Aaron GE]

I got to it through the boot panel. That said, going in from above might be a lot easier. It felt like it was in there pretty deep. I had to go in without using my eyes.