Clutch Pedal sinks to floor

[ramayah]

Hello,

My 1976 02 clutch pedal will go down to the floor with no pressure at all. Then it will come back up and go down with the usual pressure to change gears. After a mile or so it will go down to the floor again but will come back up. It's kind of scary.

I have the mechanic bleed the slave cylinder but I'm still having this problem.

Your help will be appreciated.

Randy

[OriginalOwner]

Sounds like air in the system somewhere ..... which I'm thinking means a seal is leaking in master and/or slave cylinder.

You also want to keep an eye on fluid level !! Seal leaks generally mean fluid loss.

I'm thinking the quick & easy solution is to replace both master & slave cylinders. Then you know what you've got, and you're good to go for another 10 years or more of worry-free driving.

Cheers,

Carl

[nbristow01]

Hello,

My 1976 02 clutch pedal will go down to the floor with no pressure at all. Then it will come back up and go down with the usual pressure to change gears. After a mile or so it will go down to the floor again but will come back up. It's kind of scary.

I have the mechanic bleed the slave cylinder but I'm still having this problem.

Your help will be appreciated.

Randy

I have had this happen to me twice so far..Sometimes I have full pedal and sometimes it just sinks to the floor. Can be a bit dangerous when you are pulling out into traffic and can't get into second gear.

First time I replaced the clutch master and the issue was solved...then 6 months later same issue. Tried bleeding system etc but it never went away. I just replaced the clutch master again last weekend and all is fine again..CD had commented on my post that the clutch slave has a check valve as does the master. I recommend replacing both the slave and master since it is very easy to do. But my guess is it is your master like it was on mine

[FL02]

+1 clutch Master Cylinder, had two go out myself.....

[M3M3]

how old are the master and slave cyl's? if more than a few years, just replace them both, along with the hose in between them. system is going to be apart anyway, do it all at the same time...once.

[nbristow01]

how old are the master and slave cyl's? if more than a few years, just replace them both, along with the hose in between them. system is going to be apart anyway, do it all at the same time...once.

+1 very easy to just replace it all and is not expensive. That slave can be a bit of a bear to get off the tranny though. Mine was rusted and swelled up inside the trans ear it mounts on. Took lots of oil soaking, twisting with vise grips, tapping with a hammer. It is help into the trans ear by a cir clip or expanding ring. May have a lot of grunge on it so just remember it is there.

[OriginalOwner]

this is just an historical commentary on my experience ....

After 38 years I still have the original master cylinder body, and about 14 years ago I installed a new internal parts rebuild kit. I smoothed the interior hole with some emery cloth and reassembled. No problems.

Several years ago I installed a complete new slave cylinder, only because I could not find a rebuild kit.

As a "perhaps" idea: before installing new master & slave cylinders, take 'em apart and inspect to see what they look like inside ?? And that everything is correctly installed & oriented .... maybe one of the rubber cups is installed backward ??

Cheers,

Carl

[Guest Anonymous]

another alternate approach is to get the air out. If there are no leaks then simply getting it bled right will fix it. The reason it works sometimes is that when you pump it up and down you build up pressure. when it sits for a while it de-pressurizes and then you have to pump it again for it to work. Get the air out and it will work. If there is a leak somewhere, that won't fix it permanently, so then you can replace parts.

[ramayah]

I came back from my mechanic who said that the Clutch Master Cylinder needs to be replaced. I ordered one from Autohaus today. I hope it will solve my problem when I install it. Will report if this was it.

Thanks all for your inputs. I appreciate it very much.

Randy

[OriginalOwner]

That should do it !!

Cheers,

Carl

[M3M3]

another alternate approach is to get the air out. If there are no leaks then simply getting it bled right will fix it. The reason it works sometimes is that when you pump it up and down you build up pressure. when it sits for a while it de-pressurizes and then you have to pump it again for it to work. Get the air out and it will work. If there is a leak somewhere, that won't fix it permanently, so then you can replace parts.

he may not have any air in it. if the seals in the slave or master are shot, then the fluid just goes back and forth around the piston. no air, no clutch.

op - and i still think you should replace the master and hose at the same time. you are going to have the hydraulics open and fluid everywhere. system will have to be bled. might as well do all the parts now.....instead of replacing the slave now...and then replacing the master in a week when you find out it actually wasn't the slave cyl that was the problem....

[Guest Anonymous]

[he may not have any air in it. if the seals in the slave or master are shot, then the fluid just goes back and forth around the piston. no air, no clutch.

I base my reasoning on the fact that it works sometimes - when it has been pumped. If the fluid was just sloshing back and forth thru the seals, it would never work.[/b]