how to change clutch master and slave on zf6. pics included
 

ok, some of you may remeber my how-to on changing out the brake booster a few months back. heres my next installment. lately my clutch has been acting up. getting caught up going into gears, having to pump a few times to get into a gear. it was worse in cold weather. that led me to a bad clutch slave. it was recomended i change the master while im in there, so here we go. parts were purchased at advance auto parts, 150 for both with a 1 year warranty. remember, im just a kid and by no means a master mechanic. just sharing with you my experiences.

start by getting the front end up so you can fit alway under there
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0297.jpg
next, move the ecm out of the way. its 2 7mm bolts, just pull it out and set it on top of the engine
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0298.jpg
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0299.jpg
next remove the bracket that holds in the ecm. just a 10 or 12mm bolt where my finger points
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0300.jpg
next, remove the fender panel gill, whatever you want to call it. on the inside of the fender, there are 3 torx bits. i recomend you remove these before you jack the car up or else the bottom one is hard to get to. on top is a 10 mm bolt, and underneath hiding is a 10 mm bolt you have to get with a box wrench. just loosen the bottom one. (shes dirty, i know!)
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0301.jpg
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0302.jpg
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0303.jpg
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0304.jpg
next is the battery. just a 13mm bolt holding it in, i got it with a long extension
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0305.jpg
heres the master with all its glorious black fluid (iv changed the fluid a few times already!)
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0306.jpg
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0307.jpg
heres my slave under the car. just get under there and youll see her
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0308.jpg

http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0309.jpg
now put a small piece of hose on the end of the bleeder with something to catch the fluid under. crack the bleeder open and it should drain in a minute or two.
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0310.jpg
now take the two nuts holding the slave on. i believe theyre 12mm. then remove the line going to the slave. its a 14mm. then she's free
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0311.jpg
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0312.jpg
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0313.jpg
now time to release the master rod from the clutch pedal. before you disconnect the battery, move the seat alway back. i forgot this and it sucked. now remove this panel under the wheel. i think its 5 or 6, 7mm screws
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0314.jpg
this part was hard to take a picture of, but the rod is held on to the clutch pedal by a clip.
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0316.jpg
you stick a screwdriver in the clip to lift it up, then slide it off. it looks like the one that holds the cruise control cable on pictured here
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0317.jpg
once thats off, you can slide the rod right off the pedal
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0319.jpg

heres the clip removed
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0320.jpg
now remove the line that goes to the master. its 14mm just like the slave
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0322.jpg
then the 2 bolts holding on the master. i think theyre 10 or 12mm. theyre really long so be prepared to wrench for a minute or two
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0323.jpg
here she is removed. new parts with old
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0325.jpg
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0326.jpg
i went to the chevy dealer to look for clutch fluid, but they told me they dont sell it. so this was recomended on zfdoc's website. a quart was more then enough
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0327.jpg
pop the new master in place, making sure the rod ends up on the correct side of the pedal
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...r/DSCN0328.jpg
now heres where i hit my snag. i put the slave in and filled everything up. when the slave goes in, you have to make sure the rod goes into the hole in the transmission. so i got it all hook up and started bleeding and it started leaking at the line. so i took it off and tightened the line up. still leaked. so i took it off a 3rd time and tightened the line as much as humanly possible!!!! problem solved. i used a pheonix bleeder to reverse bleed the system from the slave. once it was full i pumped the clutch pedal till no more bubbles came out. then i put everything back together just how i took it off. sorry i didnt take any pics of this, i was so frustrated from having the slave leak all over me twice. everything just goes back together how it came apart. i got all done and clutch is now amazingggg! shifter drops right into gear, no problem.

I won't say that the Phoenix Injector is the only way to bleed the clutch master and slave - but it really is the only way. Normal shop methods of bleeding simply don't work well on this system. I pre-bleed the master and slave, then hook them up and do a long slow pump on the Phoenix Injector and it is all bled perfectly in a matter of minutes.

If you install a new master and slave and have a slow stiff dragging shift - then you still have air in the hydraulics. Don't drive it that way thinking it will improve - it will damage your transmission. When everything is right, a ZF has an amazing shift.

Thomas

Nice write up, I am an expert at the slave as I got one of the first of the bad ones when they had a run of bad ones. I think I did it 4 times. I always bleed the slave before installing it by turning it upside down, never had a problem bleeding. The biggest pain on the master job is that damn clip on the pedal. :cheers:

Another nice write up from you.

very informative. good pictures too!

Took more time putting clip back on then changing master and slave.

Great write up bro! Saved the page.
:cheers:

i found the most difficult part was putting the slave back on. you have to get the rod right in that little hole and its hard to line up because theres that little cylinder thing on the tranny right in the way. you can see it to the left in the one pic of the old slave still in there

I know I'll be needing this one day so I saved it, that way I won't have to search. Good job. :thumbs:

:lurk:

Subscribe. I will need this info soon :D

How many hours did it take?

nice write up bro! i had to do the same thing it wasn't too bad. matter of fact i took the slave off 3 or 4 times thinking something was wrong with it only to find out it was the master!:eek: so it's true what they say, if you change one change both!! also i read to keep and eye on the fluid it's suppose to be clear not black! :eek:

this site had some helpful hints too.

http://zfdoc.com/clutch_hydraulic.htm

Thanks for taking the time to do the write up & pics. :cheers:

took me about 4 hours, but i was taking the time to take pictures of everything, and i had to take the slave in and out 3 times and bleed the whole system twice because my line wasnt tightened up enough on it. i think if you know what your doing already, it could be done in under 2 hours

Hey, im following your steps pretty close but i ran into a snag.
Im taking the panel from under the steering wheel of but it seems to be held in by something in the back. The screws came out no problem but like i said there is some sort of screw or clip not allowing me to take the panel off. Ive tried everything and i cant figure out how to get it off any ideas?


Thanks.

Edit:
Well i finally got it off. It was a weird clip that held it on.

Good Job..Great Pics...very helpful.

BTW..From the looks of your old Brake Fluid your hydraulics will last 10 times longer if you flush the fluid every 2 years at least.I suck out the old clutch fluid about once a month and add fresh. Only takes a few minutes and will really extend the slaves life dramatically.

JMO

believe it or not, that was after the fluid had been changed probablly about 10 times over the course of a few months. i guess the seals were just deteriating and turning the fluid black