Clutch Woes

[Yanayaya]

Ok, I've posted this on facebook too so please bear with me as I try and consolidate advice to get my plan of action together. Here is the story so far, this morning I decided to treat myself and drive the Monaro to work. When I took off I thought the clutch pedal felt a bit light as in there was no resistance, additionally the bit was really low and basically at the floor. So I turned around and went home to inspect my fluid.

The clutch fluid reservoir was empty so I topped it up and pumped my clutch pedal around 40 times and all was well, I got pressure back and the car was running normal again. I got her to work and then returned at lunchtime. Oddly the pedal was doing the same thing again, very little resistance and the bite was near the floor. I checked the clutch reservoir again but the fluid was still there and hadn't moved. I got back in the car and pumped the clutch pedal again and the pressure returned and it started acting as normal again.

So what's going on here?

On facebook it has been suggested by those who know more that me about the subject that the slave cylinder for the clutch has probably failed or is failing. With that in mind and due to the cost I have bought one anyway, I have also purchased a remote bleed line for installation at the same time.

Then there were suggestions it could be the master cylinder at fault, before things get our of hand I want to actually figure out what's going on. Has anyone had the same problem as me? I have checked the master cylinder and it's connections (fromt he engine bay side) and the are all bone dry, that doesn't really let me know about an internal seal failure but I don't want to be replacing everything and fixing nothing if that makes sense.

[Yanayaya]

Mud_ said:

Does sound consistent with when my slave went. If yours is original it's highly suspect. Hopefully it's not contaminated the clutch surface. Is the clutch original? The LS7 clutch is now the standard replacement.

If you drop the gearbox then do the spigot bearing as a matter of course.

I'm fortunate enough to have the previous owner as a friend on Facebook and I contacted him to see if he had ever had it changed and he said he never did. So from that perspective, even if it's not at faul it's getting changed along with the spigot bearing.

[Yanayaya]

vxr2010 said:

Sounds like the slave that's gone , you will normally see a few drops coming out the bottom of the gearbox , on the two occasions mine has failed there was no clutch issues , a little tip as there is a lack of clearance getting the box out , so who ever does it unbolt the gearbox from the bell housing then take the bell housing off the engine , you cant just undo the bell housing with the box still attached to it

Thanks for the tip. I'm doing the work so it'll be me that removes the gearbox and installed the new slave as well as a new remote bleed which I ordered too. I'm also in talks with Brett about an LS7 clutch as mine is the standard ls2 clutch. It may be a blessing in disguise as I have a load of royal purple transmission fluid to pop in as well so this will be the nudge I need to get it done. I want to put a new spigot bearing in but I can't find the exact part number I need for my car, does anyone know?

[Yanayaya]

vxr2010 said:

An Ls7 is a good move i had mine done at the time , it is about the same weight pedal wise but takes the power a lot better , good luck with doing it , it's not that hard to do but try and find a proper garage lift it will save you a lot of time , some times the rear sump gasket can be leaking but i think it's a case of new flywheel bolts too if you have to do it or you choose to do it

Do you happen to know the part number for that rear sump gasket?

[Yanayaya]

vxr2010 said:

The fish may have ls7 clutches in stock plus they come with the bolts and they may have my sump ? lol , crank seals for about 25£ too if they do have them in stock

I spoke to Roger on Facebook, the clutchs are still listed on the site as "buy now" so that should be ok but the rear main seal and a few other items are sadly no longer available.

So far I'm going to be doing the following work

1 - Replacing the slave cylinder (obviously)
2 - Replacing the rear main seal
3 - Replacing the spigot bearing
4 - installinga remote bleed kit
5 - Potentially a clutch kit LS7
6 - servicing the gearbox with fresh Royal Purple Syncromax oil

[Yanayaya]

vxr2010 said:

Sounds like a good plan , hopefully they have the ls7 clutch it is worth doing while you are there , there is a risk of clutch contamination mine was fine but i wanted a better clutch in it

Well I'm stuffed now, I went to order the LS7 clutch kit with the lighter aluminum flywheel and they have none.

[Yanayaya]

Too late I bought all the required syncromax from monkfish lol

[Yanayaya]

Boosted LS1 said:

I've got rear crank seals and an ls7 clutch and flywheel that I don't plan to use anytime soon.

Owww tell me more mate 🙂
Can you send me a message about it with prices?

[Yanayaya]

stevieturbo said:

Weird that they have no stock though

http://www.partsworldperformance.com/rear-crank-se...

Although unless it's actually leaking, leave it alone.

Wtf I just paid vauxhall £52 for one.

[Yanayaya]

stevieturbo said:

You bought parts from Vauxhall for these cars ?

TBH, I'm amazed they only charged £52 for one !!

Or if you had to buy from US...expect maybe a little extra due to postage etc

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LS-Rear-Main-Crank-Seal-GM...

it should be a cheap part. If stuck you could just buy a seal from an seal supplier based on the measurements, although the OEM seal is a little strange.
Nothing that couldnt be replaced with a more conventional design though

Just search by sizes. eg

https://www.bearingboys.co.uk/Metric-Oil-Seals-131...

I can just tell them it doesn't fit and get a refund tbh. That was with discount too! I went for vauxhall to make sure I got it quickly and to avoid the duty and postage costs which would have cost about the same in the end. Then I saw that those guys have them for that price