94SolMan

I have a 94 Del Sol Si.

Today I was driving it and everything was all fine. But when I got in the car 5 hours later the clutch pedal was a little soft. There quite a bit of play. So I decided to drive it down to a friends house that knows more about cars than me.

On the way there (~14 miles) I had to push in the clutch further and further to change gears. Now usually I don't have to push in the clutch far at all. When I almost got there I knew I was going to make it, I could barely change gears and had to stomp the clutch all the way to the ground. So I had to make a detour..

Friend came over and brought some brake fluid. My clutch fluid reserve was low, but we did not see any leaks (partly because it was right after rain, pitch black and flashlight wasn't much help). Filled it up and the clutch got a little better, enough to change gears. When I drove it home the same thing happened.

So would it be a bad clutch master cylinder? If there isn't a leak? Or completely something else. What should I do? I cant provide more information until the morning. Thanks in advance.

Matt93eg

Where did you check for leaks? The clutch master cylinder will not leak into the engine bay if the seal is bad. Get you a flashlight and look around the clutch pedal on the INSIDE(Floorboard). You will see the seal for the master cylinder there. Its probably leaking pretty good by now so everytime you push the clutch in, fluid is spurting out causing the resevour(sp)to get low and pull air.

So the consensus is..probably time for a master cylinder. Most people buy a new master cylinder rather that worry with a rebuild kit.

Of course on a side note, Make sure in the daylight there isn't any obvious leaks on the outside. Check the bleed valve on the slave cylinder and make sure that somehow it didnt come loose causing you to loose fluid.

94SolMan

Today I checked for leaks in daylight. The reservoir still has fluid in it. There are no apparent leaks at the Master Cylinder seal on the inside by the clutch pedal. But there is a little pool of brake fluid right under the slave cylinder. When I wiggle the boot around a few drops of fluid come out. And the bleeder valve is tight.

So that means the master cylinder is good, but I just need a new slave? I'm going to take it apart, and then bleed the system just in case.

Matt93eg

Check the hard line going into the Slave. Might be leaking at that connection. Might have somehow come loose.

94SolMan

So it turns out my slave cylinder was done for. Went to Schucks and picked one up for 12 bucks. Put it in, bled the system, and now it runs fine. Thanks.

Matt93eg

Sweet Deal man. Glad thats what it was and that its back up and running.