88BlackZ-51

Issue with clutch, Car not driveable- On Saturday night, I had no choice but to let a friend drive my car. The total trip he travelled was approximately 5-6 miles. I drove that day, and I had no issues what so ever. The car ran flawless. Infact ever since the clutch was installed 3 years ago, I have not had an issue. The Centerforce Stage II clutch has approximately 9000 miles on it for information.

This morning I went to back the car out of the garage to head to the gym early, and I depressed the clutch to put the car in reverse. The clutch pedal was like mush, it was very soft. There is approximately an inch of travel near the carpet when the clutch catches.

My friend who drove my car drives a Mustang GT with a manual tranny, so it’s not his first time driving a manual transmission car. I called him this morning asking “WTF” is wrong with my car. He told me that he had a hell of a time finding 1st gear. He mentioned that he had to start off in 2nd at the lights. He also mentioned that the gearbox totally sucks, and he was never driving my car again, lol. This morning I fiddled around with the gear box, and indeed its got bigtime issues.

Would this be a hydraulic issue. My friend said that he didn’t smell any clutch burning. I checked the clutch fluid, and it seems to be down a little bit, but saying that I am not positive if it is or not.

I am thinking it might be the slave cylinder? Should I bleed the system, and see if the clutch pressure hardens. Has anyone had a problem like mine? I would appreciate any feedback.


Thanks.

RandyJ75

Relax, it sounds like a hydraulic issue. Check the clutch master, see how much fluid is in there. If it is empty, you have a leak. Look on the floor of your garage, if there is nothing there, then check the rug on the drivers side of the car. If you refill w/ more fluid, it should work for a while, but you are going to need to find the leak. May not be a bad idea to replace everything, the master, line and slave, and refill w/ the GM fluid.

Good luck.

engle1147

Sounds like you got some air in the line or the fluid is squirting out as you press the pedal. Either way if the level is gets lower over time you have a leak. Find it - Fix it.

Red Tornado

rick, if you engage the clutch, have a friend look to see if the fluid rises in the clutch fluid reservoir; if this occurs its a bad master cylinder. if not, you've either got a bad slave (most likely) and/or bad hydraulic line. get underneath & inspect for leaking fluid.

you have "issues" (like grinding, right?) getting into gear because the clutch isn't disengaging properly, or at all, from the flywheel. this is caused by weak hydraulics (fluid leak or air in the system).

88BlackZ-51

I will try this, thanks. Sounds like a cheap fix hopefully.

cv67

Agree with the above. Crawl under the dash and look at the top of the carpet, bet you see some moisture. Time for new hydraulics.

engle1147

I got this off of "clutch went 1/2 way to the floor" post. Your problem is a little different but there are some good parts links and tips in that post.

www.zfdoc.com "Bill has a tech tip on bleeding the clutch.Major pain to get all the air out. On my 96 LT4 if you remove the cap to the master cylinder and remove the part under the cap, you can have someone push the clutch pedal in(easy) and look for bubbles. A sure sign you need to bleed some more. I used the GM fluid as DOT4 fluid made a sqeeking sound(when it was cold out side) when I pushed in the clutch. Bleed again."

88BlackZ-51

Thanks guys. I will look at this closely on my days off.

88BlackZ-51

Update: Finally had time this morning to diagnose the issue with the clutch. I depressed the clutch, and I noticed there was some fluid dripping down the left side near the clutch pedal. To me that seems like a bad clutch master cylinder, so I yanked it out.

I believe its the o.e. clutch master so I went and ordered another one, and it will be in on Tuesday.

Two questions.

1) What fluid to I use?
2) What's the proper way to bleed the system?

Thanks guys!

jfb

The clutch hydraulics use DOT 3 brake fluid. Here is the GM recommended way to bleed the clutch.
1. Fill the master cylinder reservoir with new brake fluid.
2. Raise the vehicle.
3. Remove the clutch slave cylinder.
4. Hold the slave cylinder at a 45 degree angle with the bleeder at the highest point, depress the clutch pedal and open the bleeder.
5. Close the bleeder and release the clutch pedal.
6. Repeat 4 and 5 until there is no more air in the clutch hydraulic system.
Check and refill master cylinder as required during bleeding to prevent the entry of air into the system.

Be aware the C4 clutch is a bitch to bleed all the air out!!!! My mechanic finally gave up and I drove the car with a spongy clutch pedal, although it worked ok. On the 5th morning, the clutch pedal got hard and has been ok since. I would recommend a pressure bleeder on the master cylinder. If you do it as directed, have someone push hard on the clutch and open the bleeder wide to allow rapid fluid movement to move the air along. I personally think it best to supply fluid into the open bleeder and pull a vacuum at the master cylinder because air naturally wants to move to the highest point in the sytem, it doesn't want to move downward ANYWHERE in the system!

cv67

Get one of those 8$ hand pumps like you would for gear oil and a empty gear lube bottle. Fill it with DOT 3 and stick the hose on your bleeder. Pump away, it takes a few minutes and your pedal willbe perfect. No 2nd person needed.

88BlackZ-51

Will this one work. It is supposively the correct part #, but it doesnt look the exact same?

LD85

If the bore is the same and the stroke is the same, I would say yes,

88BlackZ-51

I called you, fyi.

88BlackZ-51

Fixed the clutch today. Thanks guys!

jhammons01

Ok, how?

88BlackZ-51

Replaced the clutch master, and bleed the system, that's how.