pavell

Hey guys

I've got. 99 c5 fixed roof coupe, 6 speed with 55,000 miles

Last night my clutch pedal was not working correctly it was only returning up halfway all of a sudden. And then I could not get it into any gear and the clutch pedal was stuck on the floor . After I did a quick search of the forum I was able to pull the pedal back up with my foot and then the clutch started working OK again . I sure as hell hope that it is not the slave cylinder that is bad because I hear that it is a huge job to replace . Upon checking the clutch master cylinder level it seemed that there was sufficient fluid although there was a lots of residue and gunk in there. The fluid was absolutely filthy . My course of action is to order a new clutch master cylinder and swap out all of the fluid.

Do you guys have any opinions and am I taking a risk by not doing the slave master as well ?

73Corvette

Sounds like your on the RIGHT track

dadaroo

The slave can inject a lot of clutch dust. Recommend you siphon out the master fluid. This make take many tries and pumping the clutch to mix the fluid. It may help. This is a common issue. Bleeding is the right way to do it to get good clean fluid.

If you end up needing to bleed the system I can provide two ways to do it.


Mr. Sam

Bill Curlee

Replacing the master cylinder is the easiest and quickest step in an effort to resolve this issue without popping out the drive train.

It may be 100% problem resolved OR It may not be the issue.

Change the Master and see what turns out.

IMHO, you should see a good result as they get pretty nasty inside and the seals inside fail.

Bill

Christian327

Same thing happened to my 99 (with similar mileage) earlier this year. Changing the master cylinder/fluids worked for me.

pavell

thank guys...i got the new master in this weekend. will report back when i take it for a test drive.

pavell

Guys I replaced the master, and fluid, drove for 200 miles, clutch now again is sticking to the floor . What do you think ?

Bill Curlee

WELL,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, You either have a defective slave OR something wrong with the pressure plate..

55K is NOT a lot of mileage on a clutch BUT, I don't know if it was ever abused.

There is a way to MINIMIZE the disassembly of the drivetrain and just replace the SLAVE BUT,,,,,,,,,,, Its just a Band-Aid to get you down the road with a MINIMAL out lay of cash.

HOW DO YOU DRIVE YOUR CAR?

What do you want it to do performance wise?

What is your repair budget?

What are your LONG TERM C5 Performance goals?

Bill

pavell

I would like to fix it right. I drive the car as a daily driver, no track use at all. My repair budget is to do it right the first time! I understand a clutch and pressure plate job on a c5 corvette is around 3k?

Any other things I should do while I'm in there? I was thinking to have a shop do clutch, pressure plate, and obviously slave cylinder. Would it make sense to do the heads and cam now?

The car currently has long tube Headers and a tune.

ZZ06

Well, as stated either slave or PP. The fact that you drove it for another 200mi has me suspecting the slave cylinder. I broke 2 fingers on my PP in my 01Z at 88k miles and it would NOT go into gear. After trying to bleed it, it was not much help as it went into gear a few times and wouldn't anymore in the same sitting. If you plan on going H/C down the road, it would be best to plan accordingly for the clutch you wish to run now. LS7 is great choice and wouldn't change how it drives at all. And yes, change ALL components out and DO NOT FORGET to purchase a speed bleeder. Best $50 one can spend doing a clutch job. If you really have the funds to do H/C, then why not. But that job has no relation in changing the clutch and will require a lot more down time. Not unless you want the shop to pull the motor down with the rest of the drivetrain (which normally isn't a requirement) I would suggest something like that if you were changing...lets say an oil pump, or having the steering rack pulled for something else.

Bill Curlee

Every C5 owner wants MORE POWER.. Right now you have a DAILY DRIVER issue that keeps you from daily driving.

START THERE and build it properly to support more power later down the line! You can always go back and do the heads & Cam at a optimum future time.

Unless you have a SPECIALITY SHOP that deals in C5/C6,,,,,,, BE VERY CAREFUL who you deal this JOB out to!

There are SO MANY PIT FALLS that will make you wish that you researched this a LOT better after its all said and done when you have vibration issues and clutch engagement problems due to shop mistakes.

Who ever you hire to do the job, they MUST be familiar with "HOT BALANCE of the pressure plate and flywheel & Salve Cylinder shimming and measurements for proper shimming!!!!! You should be comfortable that they understand the importance of these procedures and how to address them.

They MUST change out the following components:

Pilot Bearing
Slave Cylinder
Pressure Plate

You SHOULD:

- Have them add a Slave Remote Bleeder kit!
- Disassemble the Torque Tube and check/change the rubber couplers and bearings if necessary.
- Change out the differential output shaft seals
-

Depending on the clutch / flywheel that you purchase. You may need a new flywheel and that SHOULD be matched balanced to the old flywheel! The old flywheel must be SAVED and matched marked to where it was attached to the crank show you can reference the new hot balanced flywheel to the crank in the correct position.

There is a LOT more to a clutch change than having someone just SLAP in a new one. If you want it installed CORRECTLY, all stated above should be addressed!

Hope this helps you understand what needs to be accomplished to do the job correctly.

Bill

pavell

Thank you everyone. Looks like I will go with a monster stage 3 clutch, should be able to hold heads and cam in the future.

jimmyLSX

If you plan on Only heads and cam and DD the car, and no fi in the future, I would go with the stage 2 clutch, the stage 3 will chatter and screech if you dont abuse it on the daily. Also follow tips suggested, the first time I installed my clutch I didnt bother with looking over the forums tips, had to pull out everything a second time, The second time around I followed everything suggested and everything is still smooth 10 months and 6k miles later.

ZZ06

pavell, take it from someone who OWNS a Monster stage 3, the 6 puck is no joke. It is grabby and doesn't want to slip easily. The pedal is more stiff. Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying this to scare you. Just want you to know that this clutch isn't for the faint of heart. I haven't had any issues out of mine. At the time my stock clutch dumped on me, I was only boltons. After the clutch reached 500-1000mi, I started getting the howl when slipping and chatter. This clutch was designed to take a punishment. I knew at some point though that I would have a stroker. This was in 2009. Still running strong with the stroker I have now. I no longer hear anything now, and my guess would be simply age of the clutch coupled with the power the car is making now. Id buy another Monster in a heartbeat. If it were my car, and H/C was the be all end all for my performance, stage 2 100%. Its rated to hold way more than any stock cubed LS1/6 H/C is capable of making........without the giggle juice at least and even then unless its 150shot+ being ran nightly, I still wouldn't worry.

T_Vert

I can tell you that I went w/ a c7 z06 clutch in my car which runs 11.50s @ 120 and it has held up to tons of passes (on drag radials) and about 20k miles thus far. Stock pedal feel. I'm around 400 RWHP.

Dave

pavell

Thanks guys I ended up going with a c6 z06 clutch

User 3518

I had the same problem with my 97 C5. Had to replace the actuator and slave cylinder.

T_Vert

I actually meant to say c6 sorry.

Dave

pavell

c6 z06 clutch feels just like stock, hopefully it can take my 350HP of fury haha.

pavell

new story for the movie:

car also has new GM master cylinder put in at the time of the clutch and slave cylinder.

I was now again starting to have trouble getting the car into 1st gear, I checked the clutch fluid after about 500-800 miles of driving, the fluid was completely black with some small residue!!!

I syringed out the fluid in the reservoir and replaced it with fresh fluid, car is now easier to put in 1st gear.....

any thoughts? ??