clutch gone ? help needed

[mistrall 0]

hi, right were do i start..... i get into the car the outher morning and my clutch pedle is realy slack and doesnt spring back into place like it normaly does, its slack to about half way compressed (by foot).

i take her out for a spin and seems ok, but this morning it seems a little more slack and when i try to put it into reverse in the carpark it just grinds and wont go into gear unless i realy shove it (dont like doing that) - seems to go into all outher gears though.

 

and also goes into reverse when engine off.

 

sound like my clutch needs replacing would you say or mabe somthing else? any help apretiated.

 

supost to be going to a funeral today and not shure wether to drive her or not.

[vwdeviant 0]

Sounds more like master or slave cylinders have gone...

[mistrall 0]

oo whats that mean?

 

 

more money or cheep ? :shrug:

[vwdeviant 0]

Money...

 

the clutch hydraulics are shot basically.. so as a minimum you'll need to replace one or other best to do both for piece of mind

[The_Dude 0]

They are what transfers the energy from the pedal down the brake lines and then activates the brakes.

 

So you push the pedal, which moves the master cylinder, which in turn pumps brake fluid towards the brakes. This movement is picked up by the slave cylinder which then moves the brakes. So it sounds like one could be bust and not transferring the full motion of the pedal to the brakes.

 

Make sense?

[Serial 0]

It might just need bleeding, or perhaps a bleed nipple has come loose on either the master or slave cylinder and you're leaking fluid... you could try checking for leaks a a first step.

[mistrall 0]

ok thanks for the help guys, getting a picture now.

 

let you know how i get on :)

[mistrall 0]

yep slave cylinder, cost me 120 quid which was ok.

[D-Pete 0]

Glad it's sorted. How did you tell it was the slave? I'm having clutch issues (soggy pedal, not returning properly) but don't know how to tell if it's master or slave cylinder (no leaks) or something else entirely. Any advice? Cheers.

[Supercharged 2]

You can sometimes see brake fluid on top of the gearbox if it's really bad but they usually leak internally...

 

These cars are now reaching the age where slave cylinders have usually been changed once and it can be the master failing.

 

When was the fluid last changed?

[D-Pete 0]

Thanks. Changed the hydraulic fluid about 18 months ago, what should the interval between changes be? I think I need to invest in a Bentley manual.

Would you suggest I remove both to have a good look or is there any other way to diagnose which is at fault?

[Supercharged 2]

Well, every 2 years really but I'm fairly sure you have a leak... you could bleed it now and it might fix it for a bit but I would look at doing the slave anyway (cheaper and easier) if it's not been done recently?

 

You can undo it and check for fluid leaks inside the gearbox - also is it a black painted part? If so it could be original!

[D-Pete 0]

No point bleeding, I'll just change the slave and see if thats the fix.

Big thanks Supercharged, that's cleared up enough to give me a plan of attack. :salute: