I've got two questions...I did try to search for an answer but wasn't able to find one

I experienced some shifting problems with an immediate soft clutch - I subsequently found my car with a dry clutch master cylinder and found a leak. I just replaced the master and slave clutch cylinders and the car is a '86 with a 4+3 and 60k miles.

Prior to installation I verified that the master cylinders (old and new) are identical in size with the push rod extended.

With the push rod not connected to the pedal, the pedal returns to the stop where the cruise control switch sits; with the push rod connected the pedal falls short of the stop by 3/4 of an inch and in this position the cruise control switch at the stop is not touched.

The clutch pedal is visibly set closer to the floor than the brake pedal. What should I look at to correct this problem?

Second question is in regards to the clutch fork. What position should the clutch fork be in on the transmission when looking at it?

Should it sit all the way forward in it's opening (toward the front)? Or does it sit about 1 to 1.5 inches from all the way forward?

With the slave cylinder disconnected from the clutch fork, should there be any play in the clutch fork if you try to manually move it? I can't push it back by hand, though it does seem to have a little (half inch?) play forward and slight side to side play - is this acceptable?

Thanks in advance for any and all help with this!

 

Did you unmount the slave and hold it so the bleeder was at the highest postion, while you went through the bleeding process ?

 

I'm pretty confident that I did. I had the slave bleed screw set as the highest point, I may need to revisit to ensure that nothing is in the line.

 

Just re-bled the system and have verified that no air is in. Return of clutch pedal is still short.

However, noted that very little movement with clutch fork; thinking that I may have an issue with one of the bearings and that I need to drop the tranny to take a look.

Any thoughts or suggestion regarding the clutch pedal return?

 

Does the pedal still fall short of full return ?
If so, I don't think you will be able bleed it properly or get the full stroke required to move the slave's plunger the required amount.
When the clutch pedal is fully back, the res is allowed to gravity feed the master. After about a 1/32" of plunger travel, the port to res is closed and full hydraulic pressure is created.

http://dankai.shawwebspace.ca/asset/...155/clutch.pdf

You need to find out if the master's plunger is allowed to fully return to the retaining clip in bore.

 

Agent - Thanks for the quick reply and attachment. The illustration really helped - I did try to manually return the pedal and it didn't budge; my guess is that the MC may be defective.

Next step is to return the MC and see if a replacement does the trick.

 

Got the MC swapped and immediately saw that push rod on the one exchanged had a nice bend in it. New one was test fit and still runs short, but fits nicely without the spacer be.ween the MC and the firewall.

Since this is a hydraulic system and the pedal self adjusts, I'm still confused. How can the push rod extend out further when it's all the way out (both old and new)?

Before I re-attach and bleed, what problems will not including the spacer cause?

 

If the push rod lengths were identical, the pedal should return to the same position, as before. Maybe your clutch switches moved and the pedal is actually fully back ??

I would not mount the master without the spacer, find the problem.

 

Yeah, was thinking about that after posting. Will do it tonight after work; then bled back through the slave using a pressure bleeder to make sure the air is out. I dug into some other posts and saw that going from the bottom up should provide a better bleed and firmer pedal.

 

Put the MC in, bled the system from the bottom up using a diy pressure bleeder from the site link below. I skipped the cap and just clamped the hose to the bleed screw on the slave. Worked great, many air bubbles came out the mc, and now I have a "good" pedal (stiffer than before).

Pedal still not on full return (it sits off the floor about where the gas pedal sits or about an inch from full return) but tried it anyway and even though I have good feel, I have no clutch. Started the car, waited a few minutes and then tried to shift into gear - no go.

I think the next step is to drop the tranny and replace the entire clutch - my guess now is that the release/throw out bearing is bad.

The pressure bleeder plans. In place of the chrome tire stem I used a readily available rubber one from Autozone ($4 for two). The tank is exactly the one listed and I found that for about $10 at Wal-mart. Vinyl hose from local box store along with the barbs. My cost was less than $20

http://faculty.ccp.edu/faculty/dreed...eder/index.htm