Master cylnder is having issues....

kev259 · Post by **kev259** » January 7th, 2007, 12:17 pm

Well here's the story. I have a KLZE with a ACT Street clutch and a fidenza (SP?) flywheel. I've been to my shop 3 or 4 times and had the same part replaced everytime and it keeps messing up. The Master Clynder will lose it's pressure when I'm engaging the clutch and just kick into gear. After a while it just get's worse and worse. Eventually I'll push down the clutch, and right when I began to lift it up it just sticks into gear making it impossible to drive. First of all I need a new mechanic

But I need to figure out what's going on, do I need a performance clynder for this setup? It seems like this one can't handle the power that I'm putting out, or could it be something else? Thanks!

jaydog5678 · Post by **jaydog5678** » January 7th, 2007, 12:54 pm

Did you just put in the ACT clutch, and now you are having problems ever since? With the ACT, you have to adjust the pedal free play and possibly the pedal height. In most cases, you can not shift out of gear if you don't.

kev259 · Post by **kev259** » January 7th, 2007, 12:57 pm

Nope, it's been on there for about 12k miles. So it's not that. It's really weird, he said he bled the whole system last time I was in there and he replaced the part again. And same thing, once I put any load on the clutch and kinda work it the clynder just starts messing up again

I'm pretty sure the clutch is fine I've never burned it or anything...

Steve_SK · Post by **Steve_SK** » January 7th, 2007, 1:27 pm

Clutch pedal remains down? It could be air in brake fluid, in cylinder on transmission, which pushes fork of the clutch. And maybe ring in this cylinder is worn and there's a leak of brake fluid. Check it.

jaydog5678 · Post by **jaydog5678** » January 7th, 2007, 1:52 pm

What part?? Their is a clutch master cyl., which is on the firewall. Their is a slave cyl on the trans. You said in the first post, your m.c was replaced 3 or 4 times. I'm assuming you are talking about the cyl on the firewall, near the brake booster. Usually, it's a good idea to replace the slave and the master cyl at the same time. Does the slave cyl rod push on the clutch fork with the pedal depressed? You would need a second person for this. This is to verify that fluid is getting to and moving the slave cyl. If it does depress, and you cannot engage in other gears, you may have another problem. Either with the clutch, shift linkage or parts of the trans.

kev259 · Post by **kev259** » January 7th, 2007, 2:08 pm

Hmmm, I'm not the most technical when it comes to cars. Basicly what happens is when I puch down on the clutch the is pressure everything feels good with that part, it's when I'm letting it back up/engaging the gear, is when it starts to mess up, when it gets real bad it will just engage right away, causing the car to jerk and shut off. At that point there is no pressure on the clutch on the way back up. I thought that there were 2 different clynders for both directions. Guess I'm wrong

Hope that makes a little more sense.

jaydog5678 · Post by **jaydog5678** » January 7th, 2007, 2:36 pm

When you release the clutch pedal, you should be engaging in gear shortly after coming up. It should be fully disengaged by the time your foot leaves the clutch pedal. Sounds to me like something is misadjusted or possibly broken. Check the pedal height and freeplay first.

kev259 · Post by **kev259** » January 7th, 2007, 3:04 pm

Ok, well I think I'm going to take it to a different mechanic cause I think this will be a bit over my head. The strange thing is after he replaces the part it works fine for a while, but it fails after that. I would think if something was broken then it would just outright not be working at all. Anyway, thanks for all the help! And if anyone knows of a good mechanic in the denver area, let me know!

Thanks,
Kevin

Tempus · Post by **Tempus** » January 8th, 2007, 2:34 pm

never mentioned, but are you loosing brake fluid? what is the level in the brake fluid resevour at the point you start having problems?

Are there any obvious leaks? like are the floormats in the drivers side sorta slick with brake fluid? or if you park the car in a clean spot, and work the clutch a bunch, do you have any drips or puddles?

Specifically what part is being replaced when you say "after he replaces the part"

it's entirely possible that your slave cylinder is leaking, and the only reason it 'works for a while' is that you've got a fresh batch of fluid in the system, and once you go through it, you start getting air in the lines, and it's bound to fail once that happens. it's also possible you've blown multiple masters in a row but frankly I find that a bit unlikely

this is btw a fairly common failure on cars with hydralic clutch, I had to deal with it in a Corolla SR-5 I was driving for a few years while waiting to replace the engine in my MX-3..