Hydraulic Clutch

[Formula350]

Hey guys I need some advice on what I may or may not have broken.. :-\

89 Firebird
Stock hydraulic clutch setup

Last night drove it to town put gas in it.. coming home decided to "run through the gears" and on the shift to third gear the clutch pedal just flopped. Clutch is still engaged, I kept driving towards home and all the sudden I had a clutch again all was fine for a few more miles then the pedal is just flopping again. I can rev match and shift it so thats how I got it home. I checked the clutch fluid when I got home and it was full. Anybody have any ideas on what could have happend? It seems like something has just come lose by the way the pedal just dangles there. ???

[milner351]

Re: Hydraulic Clutch

I have not worked on that particular set up - but I have messed with a few juice clutch set ups....

Do you have a slave cylinder mounted externally to the trans, or, is it one of those deals that's integrated to the throw out bearing?

Sounds to me like you may have a seal going in either the master or slave cylinder.... when those seals fail, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, and sometimes when they fail they never come back....

Some of those are serviced as a complete system - some can be swapped out in pieces.

I would put it up in the air and see if you can find any obvious issues - any evidence of a soft spot in the hose between the master and slave?

I suppose flushing out the old fluid and getting some fresh stuff in there is a start - if it's dark and cloudy you could have enough water in the fluid that it's steaming out on you.... - does it work fine when it's cold?

Search rock auto to see if you can buy all the parts separately or if it's sold as a system.... if it's a system only deal - you don't have much of a choice.... you've got to bench bleed it and put it all in together.

[CarPlayLB]

Re: Hydraulic Clutch

If the pedal is just swingin' there, it may have just lost the pin that attaches the pedal to the master cylinder pushrod. Crawl under the dash and see if the linkage has come apart. It may have just caught the right spot that one time it worked. Also check to see where, if any, are fluid leaks.

...also ...don't let the guys on the site hear you say "clutch fluid" ...K? Most of the time it is brake fluid that is in the master cylinder for the clutch.

[Formula350]

Re: Hydraulic Clutch

Thanks for your reply, Yes this does have a slave cyl on the side of the bell housing which is not very old. I haven't had a chance to get it in the air yet and look under there. The fluid is clean and full. I'll have to do some more looking this weekend as it was late last night when it happened. It almost feels like the pedal becomes disconnected from the master cyl somehow I dunno if thats possible or not. The pedal would just flop like it was hanging from a string, NO RESISTANCE what so ever in either direction. Weirdest thing I've encountered in a while.

[Formula350]

Re: Hydraulic Clutch

If the pedal is just swingin' there, it may have just lost the pin that attaches the pedal to the master cylinder pushrod. Crawl under the dash and see if the linkage has come apart. It may have just caught the right spot that one time it worked. Also check to see where, if any, are fluid leaks.

...also ...don't let the guys on the site hear you say "clutch fluid" ...K? Most of the time it is brake fluid that is in the master cylinder for the clutch.

Thats exactly what its doing just swings back and forth. I'll check for a pin or something like that tonight.. I hope its something simple like that. And as for the "clutch fluid" I know its brake fluid but I wanted to be clear on the particular fluid that I was saying is full and clean. If I would have said brake fluid someone would say "don't you have a separate resivior for the clutch?" ;) Either way its all good. Thanks for the help and I'll check it out when I get home and let you all know what I find.

[CarPlayLB]

Re: Hydraulic Clutch

If the pedal is just swingin' there, it may have just lost the pin that attaches the pedal to the master cylinder pushrod. Crawl under the dash and see if the linkage has come apart. It may have just caught the right spot that one time it worked. Also check to see where, if any, are fluid leaks.

...also ...don't let the guys on the site hear you say "clutch fluid" ...K? Most of the time it is brake fluid that is in the master cylinder for the clutch.

Thats exactly what its doing just swings back and forth. I'll check for a pin or something like that tonight.. I hope its something simple like that. And as for the "clutch fluid" I know its brake fluid but I wanted to be clear on the particular fluid that I was saying is full and clean. If I would have said brake fluid someone would say "don't you have a separate resivior for the clutch?" ;) Either way its all good. Thanks for the help and I'll check it out when I get home and let you all know what I find.

Good luck...and keep on BangShiftin' ...and I hear ya about the brake fluid! LOL ...I was just ribbin' ya!

[Formula350]

Re: Hydraulic Clutch

If the pedal is just swingin' there, it may have just lost the pin that attaches the pedal to the master cylinder pushrod. Crawl under the dash and see if the linkage has come apart. It may have just caught the right spot that one time it worked. Also check to see where, if any, are fluid leaks.

...also ...don't let the guys on the site hear you say "clutch fluid" ...K? Most of the time it is brake fluid that is in the master cylinder for the clutch.

Thats exactly what its doing just swings back and forth. I'll check for a pin or something like that tonight.. I hope its something simple like that. And as for the "clutch fluid" I know its brake fluid but I wanted to be clear on the particular fluid that I was saying is full and clean. If I would have said brake fluid someone would say "don't you have a separate resivior for the clutch?" ;) Either way its all good. Thanks for the help and I'll check it out when I get home and let you all know what I find.

Good luck...and keep on BangShiftin' ...and I hear ya about the brake fluid! LOL ...I was just ribbin' ya!

Thanks! and actually I was "BangShiftin" when it broke or what ever happened last night! ;D

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Hydraulic Clutch

GM sells the master and slave as an assembly with the line and no bleeding necessary
cheaper than aftermarket too

[Formula350]

Re: Hydraulic Clutch

Got a chance to look at the Firebird tonight. The pedal is clearly disconnected from the master cyl. I'm not sure if there was just a C-clip on there or something else. It looks like something is missing or broken for sure. It also looks as if the "eye" on the MC rod is wobbled out? See pics below. Does anyone know what its supposed to look like? Any ideas how to fix it? Sorry for the horrible pics but my cell phone is my only option.

[fahrenschnell]

Re: Hydraulic Clutch

Holy Crap that is a lousy camera......Is that a wrench? ;)

Seth

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Hydraulic Clutch

I think [cover myself ] it uses the same clip as the brake pushrod

[Formula350]

Re: Hydraulic Clutch

Holy Crap that is a lousy camera......Is that a wrench? ;)

Seth

LOL I know the pics are bad, its a 2.0MP camera.. anyway NO that is not a wrench thats the MC rod.. it looks horribly wobbled out to me.. but again I'm not sure what it should REALLY look like. Plus its hard to take pics when you are upside down in the drivers seat holding the "courtesy light " in one hand and the camera in the other.... ;D

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Hydraulic Clutch

pushrod comes with a new master

[Formula350]

Re: Hydraulic Clutch

NOT what I wanted to hear :'(


However I suppose you are correct, in order to fix it RIGHT I should replace it. Thats realy going to suck. Wonder if the clip comes with the Master as well?

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: Hydraulic Clutch

replace it. don't even think twice about trying to fix it as it will strand you in a place far less convenient then where it's located now.