Clutch going.. going.. gone!

[-Jc.]

Hi Guys,

For the last couple of weeks, the clutch bite-point has been getting closer to the carpet. Yesterday, it was so far down that I couldn't get it in gear and now, the pedal's become really soft -very little resistance to being pressed, and it's not working at all.

I've read a few threads on replacing seals and bleeding the clutch, which I like the sound of because they're cheap, but they may be beyond my tinkering abilities.

I've checked the reservoir, which looks empty. The rod which goes into the cylinder by the pedal has fluid on it, but there's no evidence of a persistent leak on the carpet below. I've no idea where the slave cylinder is, but there's no pool of fluid under the car to suggest a major leak.

Where should I look next? Is it worth filling the reservoir to see if that fixes things -and if so will I need to bleed the system?

If anyone's had this happen to them, please share the fixes!

Thanks! -Jc.

[mikei]

hi jc you have nothing to loose by adding fluid. you may find that with a few pumps the pedal comes back or you will have found your leak be it around the pedal box or at the slave cylinder which is on top of the gearbox. needless to say if all the fluid is gone you have a leak somewhere

[4Aaron GE]

bleeding the clutch isn't hard, you just got to make sure you have a long enough length of hose. It takes about a metre to get from there to a bottle down by the RR wheel. I would suggest another half metre if you can. If you can get a check valve in there to ensure you don't get any bubbles going the other way, it's a good investment to your toolkit (You should be able to get one at an aquarium supply store).

The only issue is that getting to the bleeder screw is a huge pain, unless you have small hands.

[kungfuyou]

I had the same problem recently and it turned out that the seals/rubber on the push-rod in the master cylinder we beginning to fail. A temporary solution for you will definatly be to fill up the reservoir and bleed the system through. If the reservoir has run dry you will also need to bleed the master cylinder too (after you have done the line). There are a number of way to do this...i go pretty good results just jacking the front end of the car as high as i could (or park on a steep hill), disconnecting the pedal from the push rod (there's an r-clip on the retainer) and gently depressing it as far as it would go with the cap off the reservoir to allow the air to escape.

I made my own bleeder out of a log piece of hose and an empty jar, so its simple enough to do. I put a ring spanner on the slave bleed nipple first and the hose on top of that so i could open and close it while my 7 year old depressed and lifted the pedal. Took about 20-30 mins once i had made the bleeder. Thankfully, i have average sized hands :-)

If you need any advice on servicing the master cylinder, let me know. I undertook that job with very little mechanical knowledge and after a bit of research (youtube is a great place to start) and a lot of patience i managed to get it fixed up and back on the car.... after a few weeks! It was well worth the effort as my understanding of the clutch and brake system is much better as well as giving me the confidence to tackle the more complex jobs i need to do.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

[-Jc.]

Thanks for all the replies and good advice.

It's off to the garage for me to get a big bottle of DOT4 and back home via the pet shop for some pipe. I'll start by topping it up and trying the bleed to see where that gets me.

Just one question -the bleed nipple on top of the gearbox -how best to access that? is it reachable from the boot or will I need to go in through the panel under the rear shelf?

Thanks! -Jc.

[4Aaron GE]

I got to it through the boot panel. That said, going in from above might be a lot easier. It felt like it was in there pretty deep. I had to go in without using my eyes.

[kungfuyou]

Its easier if you unclip the hood and access it through the rear shelf. Get some latex gloves too, unless you don't like the skin on your knuckles :-)

[-Jc.]

It worked! Back on the road

In case it helps other novices, here's how it all went...

First up, I tried to see the bleed nipple from inside the boot -no luck. Had a feel about as well and didn't find anything that seemed likely. I'd be a rubbish gynaecologist.

Time to go in thorough the engine cover. I'd never had this off before and soon found out that it's not easy (impossible?) to get off with the hood in place -particularly for me as I don't unzip the window because the zipper is broken and won't zip up again. So I detached the rear part of the hood -about a dozen screws/bolts from memory, which gave me the access I needed to remove the engine cover, when the hood was pushed forwards.

And there was the bleed nipple, just behind the distributor cap. No plastic cover on mine, but happily no fluid evident in the vicinity. I can see how it might be possible to go in through the boot if you have smaller hands and arms which bend in seven places.

My plan was going to be to use the two-person method to bleed the clutch, but I actually managed it myself, like this:
-optional step: you'll need an 8mm spanner -you could slide a ring spanner over the nipple now, ready for action and to make it harder to drop
-soften one end of the 2m clear tube in hot water (mine was about 6mm internal diameter -a bit tight, but ok) and slip it over the end of the bleed nipple.
-drape the tube over the rear wing so that you can see it easily and put the other end in a jar or bottle on the floor by the rear wheel
-open the clutch fluid reservoir which is under the bonnet above the clutch pedal and remove the lid. In my case it was obscured by the alarm siren and was empty
-top up with new fluid, almost to the top
-now it gets interesting and might be tricky if you're much below average height..
-kneel on the driver's seat, facing backwards, so that you can easily depress the clutch pedal with your right foot and then stick your head and shoulders through the hole where your rear window usually is
-in this position, you should be looking directly down on the bleed nipple and your new piece of tubing
-depress the clutch to its full extent -all the way to the floor
-open the bleed valve with the spanner -about a quarter turn did it for me (the first time, it took some loosening with a few sturdy taps on the spanner). When it opened, I felt the pedal stop pushing against my foot and saw some dark and dirty fluid emerge from the nipple and move along the tube, maybe six to eight inches.
-after a few seconds, the flow will stop and with your foot still on the pedal, close the valve
-now lift the pedal -mine didn't come back up by itself, so hook your right foot around the pedal (shoe off was easier!) and pull it back up.
-repeat: pedal down, open valve, close valve, pedal up -keep going about three or four cycles
-back to the reservoir, you should see that the level has dropped as the fluid has been drawn through the system -top it up again
-now repeat the down, open, close, up/top-up thing a few more times. Mine took about four top-ups before good things started to happen
-eventually, you'll see the fluid in the tube get clearer as the new stuff gets through and if there was air in the system, you might even see it in the tube. Mine had lots of bubbles -I kept on going until there were no more coming through. By now, the jar/bottle should have some old fluid in it
-to finish, make sure that the pedal is up, the valve is closed and the reservoir around half-full with the lid back on (I couldn't see a 'max' mark, so that's a bit of a guess).
-remove the tube taking care not to spill any fluid
-check that your bite point is back where it should be -mine was! Right in the middle of the travel.
-back on with the engine cover and tilt the hood back and fasten the screws/bolts.
-take a well deserved test drive!

So that was £5.05 for 1 litre of fluid and £1.99 for the tube. And now I know where my nipple is..

..and no bits left over!

Hope that helps someone and thanks again for all the advice. Please feel free to add anything that you think might make it easier for others.

Cheers! -Jc.

[kungfuyou]

Great stuff! Glad to hear that went well.

I used a slight variation on the bleed sequence:
- open bleed valve, pedal down (gently), close valve, pedal up.

Might be worth adding to put some brake/clutch fluid in the jar before you start and submerge the end of the tube to avoid accidentally sucking air back in through the slave.

Alex