Scout5.7

Something is wrong with my clutch on my vette. Seemed to be fine before. Now I drive it and it is really hard to get in and out of gears. Reverse is almost impossible. And I have to have the clutch to the floor. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Is a new cylinder needed for sure or can it possibly just be a fluid leak?
Im not only a newbie to vettes but also do minimal work myself. Im trying to learn more before I take it into a mechanic and get ripped off.
I would even be willing to do the work myself if y'all thought it was doable for someone like me.

Scout5.7

Also....
no signs of fluid. no new smells. Had the car only one week. I've driven manual before on two previous cars I've owned so there's no way I destroyed the clutch in a week. There's only 65k on the car. No idea if anything has been replaced.

antfarmer2

Fill the reservoir with fluid pump it a few time on on your way. Then keep your eye on it.

Scout5.7

gracias! That worked! I know it's probably not a long term solution but it works for now! I'll update the thread with any new information. Thanks again!

Scout5.7

Since this post, I've had to refill it TWICE. Once about a week ago. And now today. So obviously something is happening. And it's starting to happen faster. Next step?
I will replace the master cylinder and slave if needed. Just want to make sure that will fix it. Going to try and do it myself also.
Still no signs of leakage.

Scout5.7

Look! Clutch master cylinder replacement for dummies! Should probably replace the slave as well, right?
http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/84759/

96GS#007

Likely the slave cylinder. Remove the slave from the bell housing and check for signs of fluid. It's not unusual to find fluid inside the rubber bellows of the slave.

cv67

replace both at the same time, bleed and enjoy
Its not that bad

Scout5.7

Autozone parts any good?

DGXR

Those are OK. They will work fine for a while, and are the quickest way to get you back on the road.

However, the *best* way to fix the problem is to take out the cylinders (if they are originals) and have them reconditioned by Jim Jandik of Power Torque systems:
http://www.powertorquesystems.com/index.htm

If they are not original cylinders in the car right now, you can buy some reconditioned original parts from Jim (probably), or just buy from Autozone is fine.

Scout5.7

Interesting! Checked them out, a little pricey to be honest. About double the price of Autozone parts. Is it worth it?

jay23ls

I've heard most if not all available clutch parts even from Luk are made overseas and quality is not as good as it used to be. Jim must have seen that a while ago so he's stocked up on parts and rebuilds some

If I was doing the work myself I'd get the parts re-built or reconditioned from someone like Jim but I couldn't afford that turnaround time since I took it to a shop.

Maybe someone here has a comparison between auto parts store quality vs everything else.

Scout5.7

I wonder what exactly is wrong with them and if I could just take them apart and clean them? Probably not that simple.

Scout5.7

This seems like the most likey situation here. There are no signs of leakage either in the engine bay, under the car, or in the footwell. At first, it seemed to have needed fluid. So I refilled the reservoir twice. This last time, it didn't need fluid (but the clutch engaged right off the floor). So, i dumped some out and refilled it. Out the cap back on, and pumped the pedal. It works again. I'm confused. If I didn't really "fix" the problem, all I did was pump the clutch, what's the issue now? Is it possible slave is that filled up with fluid?

confab

Foreign or not, there are tremendous differences in quality between clutch components.

I know South Korean parts (I have seen LUK, Valeo and Sachs) are far superior to those made in china.

I have seen China hats fail so badly the owner broke the clutch pedal. I had one particular instance where a China hat failed so badly it contacted the bearing retainer and spun it in the case, ruining the case. I have seen early China slave cylinders from places like AutoZone blow their retaining clips and leave people without a clutch at all at stop lights. (In fairness, the newer parts have been revised and seem better, but the quality is still very low)

I am one for doing a job once, and these parts get a workout. I would replace them with LUK, Sachs, or VALEO parts, or dealer parts, and be done with it for another 100-150K

IMVHO.

confab

PS: They have the capacity of a large syringe. You really need decent quality parts here to avoid headaches.

Don't be cheap. It'll bite you.

cv67

Bought a set from NAPA long time ago got 6 yrs out of if before it was parked
Guy that works with bill aka ZFDoc does a nice job on them.

confab

PSS: We have pressure bleeders and stuff here. If you are doing this at home you may reach a point where the new components bleed out well, but then only work when you pump the pedal a few times.. All new, but you are pumping the pedal! Maddening!!!! OMZ, right?

Drive it for a half hour (Even if you have to pump it to make it work) and bleed it again.

Doing this the pump/crack bleeder way, sometimes you get air that is so low in volume it adds up and costs you pedal, but it is essentially foam. And working the clutch helps it collect in one place where you can expel it with bleeding.

9T3VETTE

Absolutely. Save yourself the headache of having to do it over again and spend more $$. Powertorque systems is the best resource.

Scout5.7

powertorque, like from O'reillys? They are the same price as the Autozone specials.