Clutch Question

[wcdeane]

I recent rebuilt the clutch slave cylinder on my ’91 SE, bled the system, and drove the car for several days with no problems at all. Last night when I took the cat out for a spin I noticed that it was shifting hard, then at a point about 5 miles down the road, I had to come to a stop, and found that it wouldn’t go into first gear. I somehow managed to get it into gear, and I limped home double clutching all the way. Bottom line…the clutch was not disengaging the transmission from the motor.

This morning I inspected the hydraulic system and found the master cylinder full and no leaks anywhere. So I figured there must be a bubble in the hydraulics somewhere, and I bled the system again. It didn’t help…the problem persisted. So, I then proceeded to check clutch fork movement. With the adjuster set to spec, that is with 12.5 mm of thread showing beyond the locknut, I get 16 mm of fork movement. If I crank the adjuster all the way in (22 mm of thread showing) I get the same 16 mm of fork movement. So it would appear that the slave cylinder is not bottoming out.

The question is…What should the clutch fork travel be? Or…Does anyone have a clue as to what might be going on here?

Thanks…Walt ’91 SE

[JK1]

Walt,

Did the problem just occur out of the blue or was there some "spirited" shifting involved?

I recently had a similar problem with my S4s and it turned out to be that the throwout bearing had come loose from the fork and wouldn't allow the clutch to fully disengage. A new clutch, throwout bearing and fork solved the problem. I know that's not what you want to hear, but maybe it's something simple.

As I understand it the adjuster nut has no bearing on the fork travel but I could be wrong.

Hopefully one of our gurus will have another suggestion.

Jim

[wcdeane]

Yah...It happened out of the blue. I was afraid that it might be something like that. I will look into it more.

Thanks for the reply

...Walt

[wcdeane]

No other offerings ? ?

[lotusguy]

Hi,

Jim is most likely onto something... But, before I went ordering all kinds of clutch parts, I would suspect the clutch Master cylinder.

If the seals aren't quite right, enough fluid could by-pass the pressure seal to limit the fork travel through the Slave cylinder. You wouldn't necessarily have any leakage as the piston just moves through the fluid passing by the seals. Also, it's not uncommon when rebuilding/replacing the Slave alone to cause, or pass onto, problems with the Master because it now has to withstand increased back pressure from the 'new' Slave, and if the seals are older, this increase may just be enough to breach the threshold of the Master's seals. This is why I always recommend repairing/replacing the Master and Slave as a pair.

With a 13 y.o. car, it's probably not a bad idea to rebuild the Master anyway. It's much cheaper and easier than a clutch job and may just be the source of the problem. If this doesn't fix it, you're really not that much worse off. Happy Motoring! ...Jim'85TE

[wcdeane]

I had rebuilt the master cylinder about a year ago, but I still consider it suspect in this case. What might help be isolate the problem is if someone were to actually measure their clutch fork travel for me (that is, on a properly working clutch) the next time they have their car up in the air. I don't think that 16 mm of travel is adequate.

Thanks...Walt '91 SE

[wcdeane]

I still need help folks...Anyone out there with their car on stands (or a lift) where they can measure clutch lever travel ? ? ?

Any response would be greatly appreciated.

...Walt

[wcdeane]

Still need help, guys...