WD-40 into slave cylinder results in some interesting things...

[AlphaAssault]

So my car was shifting roughly at times, and I narrowed the problem down to a stiff slave cylinder. even though its been bled several times, and isnt leaking any fluid whatsoever, it was still slow to come back out when i push the rod in by hand. So, thinking something must not be lubed right, I pulled back the boot, made SURE there wasnt any fluid, then squirted some WD-40 around the rod and plunger. Heres what happened:

1) got in the car and pushed down the clutch pedal. it felt incredibly light, but was still coming back up under its own power. ok.

2) clutch in, turned the car on, tried to put it in first. wouldnt go. wouldnt go into any gear. odd. clutch isnt doing a damn thing, even with the pedal in?

3) i pump the pedal for a while, and start to get some pedal feel back. I pop it into 1st (with a grind) and drive around the block. Interestingly, the engagement/disengagement point is on the floor, which is about 4 inches lower than it was before the WD-40.

4) i get under the dash and adjust the clutch so it moves the engagement point back. get in car, drive it again, engagement point is still on the floor. I start driving around and slowly the pedal gets stiffer (like it was before all this) and the engagement points starts to rise.

5) currently, driving it and pumping the clutch for a while, the clutch engages *higher* than before this whole thing, its got its firmness back, and the rough shifting is GONE. granted, it doesnt shift perfectly, but it is noticeably better. what the hell is going on?

 

[kawboy]

Bad slave seals

 

[jrohner]

If your engagement point changes, your clutch is adjusted up too much.

Get a new slave and master, they're cheap! (BEFORE you mess up your tranny, clutch, or TOB)

 

[AlphaAssault]

in case it wasnt clear, there is improvement after this whole ordeal. The mushy/nonfunctional clutch was confusing; but now that Im past that part, Im quite pleased with how everything turned out.

Bad slave seals

dirty slave seals. clean now

If your engagement point changes, your clutch is adjusted up too much.

Get a new slave and master, they're cheap! (BEFORE you mess up your tranny, clutch, or TOB)

The engagement point changed as i pumped the clutch. after the WD-40, the clutch went from not engaging at all, to engaging right off the floor, to gradually rising up to where it is now, which is a little higher than it was say, yesterday.

Master cylinder and all the hard lines are very new. slave was replaced before i owned the car, so im not sure exactly how many miles are on that. the clutch feels quite nice at the moment. Ill hold off on replacing anything and just see how things turn out. Right now, things are looking pretty good though.

by the way, i dont know when we got new smilies, but i like them