daveh1701

Hello,

Going strong at 390,000 miles... but having a clutch issue.

The clutch has no resistance and goes straight to the floor. It's not stuck or anything... I can lift it back out but it's definitely not operable right now.

Prior to this it has felt a little loose- as you stepped down on it you didn't encounter much resistance until about halfway down, but then it seemed to switch gears just fine. Perhaps this was a prelude to the breakdown.

I looked around the pedal and under the hood and didn't see evidence of leaking, though it's hard to tell a leak from just grime/dirt/moisture. I unscrewed the caps and checked the two reservoirs that hold the dot3 break fluid and both were full.

Any ideas? Can I get out of this with basic tools, no lift, and a Haynes manual? Just bought a new car and totally not up for another $500+ mechanic bill...

B serious

iTrader: (1)

If you hadn't already pushed the clutch down/pulled it back up a bunch of times....you could look to see if the slave cylinder operates by:

Have someone push the clutch pedal and pull it back up. You watch the slave cylinder. Does the pushrod move?

Unfortunately, you probably can't do that test anymore.

Look for leaks at the slave cylinder.

Is the slave cylinder pushrod fully extended? Take a picture of it and post it here.

We'll never hear back from you, will we?

daveh1701

I'll try the cylinder test tomorrow and take pictures!

24TEN

iTrader: (2)

Truth for a lot of threads.

daveh1701

I looked at it a bit today and believe that I have located the clutch slave cylinder. There was a black rubber cover on it (in addition to the ribbed rubber cover) that I can't remove without starting to take things apart so it's hard to see or get a picture of. I was able to push it back a little bit and observe a metal arm that enters it at a 90 degree angle. I had my friend push and pull the clutch with his hand and I did observe a small amount of back and forth wiggling on the arm. He said there is a little bit of resistance on the clutch when it's nearly fully depressed.

I didn't see evidence of leaks at the slave cylinder. I turned the bleeder screw just a hair while he had the clutch down and got some fluid out, but didn't really notice bubbles.

Dm914

I had this same exact problem. My clutch pedal would slam straight to the floor and would not come back up. It turned out to be a bad clutch master cylinder. For sure you have a leak somewhere, or at least air in the system(Most likely a leak though). Bleed the system but make sure you close the bleeder valve when you bring the clutch pedal back up or you will just suck air back in. Do this process until your clutch pedal feels as it should. drive around and observe the feel of the pedal, if it feels sloppy and your fluid level goes down you have a leak. To check for a CMC leak just look for any drops on the top of your clutch pedal where it bolts up to the CMC. It should be fully dry as well as the rubber seal on the cmc itself. Any fluid even if its a small amount is a leak.

daveh1701

Well, poking around a little more, I discovered that the bolt that connects the clutch pedal to the CMC fell out. I jammed a screwdriver in there now an it works now. I'll be good to go as soon as I can get out to auto parts and find the right replacement.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

That shouldn't be a bolt, it should be a clevis/cotter pin. Those things aren't supposed to be capable of falling out.

Jimster480

Sounds like the master cylinder died on you.

Its not a big deal, its about a 25 minute job with simple tools.

daveh1701

Yes, I didn't have the terminology correct, it was the clevis pin. Capable or not... it fell out! I found the hard metal bolt looking piece, but whatever was supposed to thread through the holes and actually hold it in. I put a new pin in there and twisted it with pliers.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

There ya go, you should be good then. Yep, the clevis is the fat pin with a small hole in it, and the cotter pin is the small piece of metal you stick through the small hole on the clevis and bend so it doesn't fall out. OEM uses a pull cotter so it's easily removed (or at least, as easily as it can be in that awkward as hell location), but if you used a standard cotter pin, that should work just fine as well.

daveh1701

Haha yeah, the contortion I had to do to get to that I'll probably be feeling for a few days.

94SiRswap

Haha any other time I would've gotten those symptoms I would almost swear it'd be the slave,maybe master cylinder.I guess after 390k of kicking the clutch pedal that pin decided it had enough! Lol