uniquesdw

Here's the scenario.....The car has been running great and driving as it should. It sat for two weeks while I traveled for work. On Friday night I wanted to take the car for a drive and noticed first thing that the clutch seemed much easier to push than normal. The clutch is not original, but I am not the original owner of this car and don't have the records on when it was replaced. The clutch operates, but again it pushes much easier than before and all the clutch action is in the bottom half (near full depression) of pedal travel. The car still drives and there is no slippage of the clutch. The only issue was that it did hang going into reverse, which it has never done, one time. Otherwise all seems normal....Any thoughts?

SJW

Check the hydraulic fluid in the clutch master cylinder reservoir. I'll bet it's low. If it is, top it off, reinstall the cap, and work the pedal up and down repeatedly. The problem will probably go away. If it does, look for leaks, and monitor the fluid level for a while to see if it continues to drop, which indicates a definite leak.

To access the reservoir, remove the screws on the front edge of the ECM, lift it carefully out of its mounting bracket, and set it aside. You don't need to disconnect all of the wiring harnesses -- just be careful. The reservoir is under the ECM. If you add fluid, don't fill it all the way to the top, or you'll probably have some spill over the sides when you reinstall the cap.

Live well,

SJW

techvette

Check the slave cylinder for signs of a leak. The same goes for the master. The clutches on these cars are VERY sensitive to leaks / air in the lines.

larryfs

The ZF is real sensitive to a bad clutch.

the syncros will get destroyed in no time.

uniquesdw

Excellent advice! I had looked at the reservoir a few weeks ago without removing the ECM...You can shine a flashlight and check the fluid level, and it seemed ok.

It was down just a bit, probably no more than a few tablespoons but that did the trick. Topped it off, pumped the clutch about 15 or 20 times and it's back to normal. I couldn't find any signs of a leak on the system, but there were a few drops under the car....It had been sitting on an incline for the two weeks I was gone.....I'll keep my eyes on it and over the Holidays will have a local trans shop that does other work for me take a closer look at it for leaks.

Thanks for the great advice! I'm sending you wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas! Cheers!!!

uniquesdw

I just noticed that you are in central Maryland. I lived in Chester, MD on Kent Island for a few years back in the 90's....Absolutely loved it there!!!!

SJW

If there's a leak, it's almost surely either leaking around the piston seal in the slave cylinder, or around the piston seal in the master cylinder. If it's leaking around the seal in the slave, the lost fluid will probably end up inside of the bellhousing. If it's leaking around the seal in the master, the lost fluid will probably end up on (or under) the carpet beneath the pedals.

Glad to hear it's behaving normally now. If it begins happening again, stop driving the car until you get it working correctly, or you'll probably shorten the life of the synchronizers. They don't like it when the clutch doesn't fully disengage while you're shifting gears.

Thanks for the good holiday wishes. Here's wishing you the same.

Kent Island is a nice place. There's been a lot of development on the island in the past decade or two, so it now probably looks quite a bit different than you remember it. I live around 30 minutes from the island, if traffic is moving well across the bay bridge.

Live well,

SJW