When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Mudslide,
I looked into the slave opening with my scope and about all I could see was the cup for the slave rod to sit in. I looked around and saw the teeth on the flywheel, but couldn't get to the TOB/Pressure Plate area. Anyway, the slave is out again and I am waiting for more fluid which should be here tomorrow afternoon.
Thanks to everyone who has been following and offering input. It is really greatly appreciated.
Hawkeye, I can attest to the fact that the bleeder is so loose in the hole that I could not pressure or vacuum bleed as I wanted. I took it out and put some Teflon tape around it and put it back in. Yes, from yesterday to today I could see that it looked like it was leaking ever so slightly but I did not have it TIGHT. I am still in the process of trying to get it to work. It is out again for the third time for more bleeding in hopes I have a pedal and clutch tomorrow.
Hawkeye, I can attest to the fact that the bleeder is so loose in the hole that I could not pressure or vacuum bleed as I wanted. I took it out and put some Teflon tape around it and put it back in. Yes, from yesterday to today I could see that it looked like it was leaking ever so slightly but I did not have it TIGHT. I am still in the process of trying to get it to work. It is out again for the third time for more bleeding in hopes I have a pedal and clutch tomorrow.
Please keep us posted if the thread tape stops the seep.
Thanks
Hawkeye56
Looks like the clutch fork is all the way forward and could only move what looks like a 1/4” more so if it where right wouldn’t the fork be more forward towards the mounting hole for the slave ??
Mudslide, I have no idea where it should be relative to the slave mounting hole. Would I be able to push on it with a socket extension and see if it moves? My understanding is that the slave rod only moves very little, like a 1/8 to 1/4" in normal operation. The fulcrum point/ball is located very close to the push point so all the movement is at the other end of the lever on the TOB. Let me know if I am way off base as I am trying to learn as much as I can. Thanks.
... I went out and pushed on the clutch pedal. It sits 6" from the floor at rest. When pushing down it goes to 3" from the floor and stops. Before, it would go all the way to the floor. There really is no sense that anything has happened while pushing. I don't think it is actually moving the slave, but of course, you can see anything move. No bubbles are showing up in the master. I won't have more fluid until late tomorrow, so I guess I won't do anything today, except remove the slave and get it ready for another round of bench bleeding.
I have hesitated to post this because I'm quoting research that is not mine. Other slave replacement threads have stated that new slaves sometimes come with a plastic retainer strap to keep everything intact during manufacturing and shipment, then when you install them your bleed and clutch pedal pumping breaks that retainer strap and allows the slave to go out to full extension. See this forum article, three posts down I think...
When you have your slave off again shortly, take a look behind the rubber bellows around the slave rod and see if your new slave has this retainer strap. Or just perform the procedure that TomTom describes with the pedal pumps to break the retainer. If you have this plastic retainer in your slave, this can account for the limited pedal travel with the new slave in place; it will stay short travel until you break that retainer free once the slave is installed and bled with subsequent pedal pumps to full travel.
Again, this is not my research; I'm only posting this in case it's helpful for your specific case. I have not encountered this myself.
AJ,
When I first received the new O'Reilly's slave I took it apart to see if the seal on the piston was oriented correctly. This was info that ZFdoc had provided and a lot of the Chinese slaves come with the seal backward which contributes to a short life. I was happy to see it was correct and posted that information. So, I never saw any indication that these are shipped with a plastic retaining strap. I had taken the boot off and pulled the piston out, it should have prevented me from doing so. These are shipped with the rod not installed. You have to push the rod into the boot so that it comes in contact with the piston
I have read other threads and have seen people have posted about this and I wondered why I didn't see this. I have no answer and can't comment as to why.
I am waiting for my clutch fluid to be delivered and am going to try and bleed the slave by holding the bleed screw up to be the highest point and gravity bleeding it. If I don't see that working with air coming out the bleed screw, I will attempt to collapse the slave rod to force the air out while I am under the car. I really don't want to disconnect the SS supply line from the slave and bench bleed it again as it allows for a little air to enter while you are hooking up the supply again. I am hoping this will be successful and I have a working cluch. One other thing I have found of interest with these Chinese parts is the rubber top hat that goes in the master cylinder doesn't fit under the cap. The cap is smaller than the original cap. The original cap does not fit. I was going to use the old original cap to pressure bleed through the master cylinder, but it doesn't fit. The new Chinese cap won't screw down over it to seal the master. How unfortunate we have to deal with these parts which are not even parts manufactured to the OEM specifications. Sorry for the long post, but I hope I can pass on some information for everyone to lessen the learning curve.
I really don't know how you guys did this. When you first put the slave up into the opening you can fill the rod go into the center detent. So that positions the slave to move into the tranny opening. Before you apply any pressure to the body of the slave it is about 1/2" away from the studs. So you have to grab the body with your left hand since the O2 sensor is in the way for your right hand and push as hard as you can while aligning the slave mounting holes with the studs. This is applying pressure against the internal spring and hydraulic fluid back up into the master cylinder. So, you get it pushed in and now you need to get a nut started! The only way I found to do this is to jam a trimmed down 2X4 between the tranny housing and the exhaust pipe. Then you can add shims to push it far enough forward to get the nuts started. Bottom first as it is the easiest and then the top.
That's where I am at right now and I can only hope I have a good clutch pedal when I am done. I bleed it out the bleed screw with it at the highest point and had no bubbles coming out. I hope this helps someone down the road as I am at a loss to understand why this is so difficult.
I finished up last night and got the car on the ground and push in the clutch and had nothing. Couldn’t shift into first or reverse. Pumped the pedal a few more times and I started to feel resistance. After about a dozen or so I had a good pedal and could shift into gear. Took it out for a quick spin and all is good today. No leaks and fluid level is right on the full mark. I hope I am done with this project and it lasts a long time. At least if I ever have to do it again I know how to get it done. Thanks for all the support and comments. It really help get through this nightmare.
Hawkeye, as far as one day goes, it is not leaking. I did not pressure bleed yesterday. I gravity bled holding the slave up so the port was highest point with the supply line attached. I will keep an eye on it and if I see any drops I will reply to this thread. If you can without to much trouble I would wrap a couple of layers around the bleed screw. It made a big difference when threading it back in place.
I really don't know how you guys did this. When you first put the slave up into the opening you can fill the rod go into the center detent. So that positions the slave to move into the tranny opening. Before you apply any pressure to the body of the slave it is about 1/2" away from the studs. So you have to grab the body with your left hand since the O2 sensor is in the way for your right hand and push as hard as you can while aligning the slave mounting holes with the studs. This is applying pressure against the internal spring and hydraulic fluid back up into the master cylinder. So, you get it pushed in and now you need to get a nut started! The only way I found to do this is to jam a trimmed down 2X4 between the tranny housing and the exhaust pipe. Then you can add shims to push it far enough forward to get the nuts started. Bottom first as it is the easiest and then the top.
I'm guessing this is another reason why reverse-bleeding it with a Phoenix or Mityvac is a superior method. Heck of a lot easier to compress the piston when you're not fighting fluid pressure against the master cylinder.
Super glad to see you worked through the problem and were rewarded with a properly-working clutch!
Thank you. I didn't have any option, other than figure out how to at least get it installed. Other members have done it before so it was up to me to figure out how. The learning curve was steep, but I finally got there with support from the forum and perseverance.
