Master Cylinder / Slave / Clutch - POS?

[Puscifer]

Hi guys. I've been reviewing this site for nearly a year now. Sadly I've not been able to take much action other than read and learn information. I previously owned a 420a motor and those are pretty much self explainatory as far as the upgrade routes go. So with that in mind my recent adventure was to finally own a turbo charged DSM. I DO! But, I frown. Last monday I purchased a 97 GST off of a local used car lot. Problem's I got after 50 miles of driving is.

*Clutch pedal wants to stick to the floor. If i pull it up and drive, next push down will make a slight grinding yet vacuumish type sound and i can feel lots of feed-back from the clutch pedal. *

With that in mind, i contacted the gentleman who sold me the vehicle and explained the issue. He then faxed me all of the invoices for the recent work he had done to it. Particularly a new clutch, master cylinder and slave cylinder.

* i think, "maybe they didn't bleed out the system properly. *

I bled it this afternoon as many of you were kind enough to post methods that i followed.
50 miles later, same situation. I've checked for kinked lines, proper fluid and any other typical route for the process of elimination. I'm thinking at this point i may have a faulty master or slave cylinder ( praying to god it's not the clutch ).

Any input would be helpful. Sorry if i went overboard with the details but it's better to have more information than not enough. Please let me a hand!

 

[gsxeclipse97]

My car did was doing something similar to that. Check under the dash to see if there is fluid on the clutch pedal. then try to adjust the pedal so that the clutch engages sooner. If problem gets worse i dont know what to tell you. Im trying to replace the master cyclinder on mine right now. But I would replace the slave first it is much easier to do.

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

Just curious, what is your method of bleeding the clutch? Can you describe your process.

Worse case if the clutch pedal is sticking to the ground is...... YOU GOT CRANKWALK , jk, but in some cases true.

 

[cool_g_83]

Check your clutch fluid levels...if they go down you have a leak (find leak and fix)
Do a sharp left turn and see if clutch pedal goes to floor and stays (crankwalk)

From what you described...you bled it and it worked for 50 miles....i'd say you have a faulty piece somewhere in your hydraulic system or a leak. Start sniffing around

 

[bojanglesracing]

When i bleed it i get a friend to push the pedal to the floor the open the bleeder. Then i close it pull the pedal back and push it again, hold it and open the bleeder. Sometime if i got a little presser i pump the pedal them hold it to the floor and open the bleeder. It take some time.

 

[Puscifer]

Wow, fast response and appreciated. I've checked the pedal for fluid. I seen a little bit of fluid on the arm of the pedal but i've bled the system and accidentally overfilled it while flushing it out a couple of times. Fluid stays at the amount i put in there. I did however noticed that my slave cylinder was only moving like 1/4 - 3/4 of an inch at the engage point.

Method is the i've got someone pumping the pedal for me while i adjust the bleeder valve slowly to let some fluid out and making sure the reserve stays full and so forth. i always keep it submerged in fluid.. so no air goes back in. etc.

car is stumbling real bad when i drive it to but i figured it needed a vacuum leak test and a nice tune up to fix that. MIGHT be a related issue but with my hands on knowledge it's just what i listed and nothing to do with the clutch system. Tomorrow i'm going to warranty out the master / slave and replace them and check the pedal adjustment, etc.

I'm really, really effin' hoping i didn't buy a car w/ a CW issue. If so, it's just replacing the crank, right?

Thanks for your help guys, Keep feeding me ideas as you get them, they're all appreciated!

 

[bojanglesracing]

So i take it you got the car as is? With crankwalk its more then a crank you will need bearing at least. Who know what all may be bad in side the motor. If it is that you should plan on a full rebuild do it right the first time.

 

[Puscifer]

i agree with you about the CW issue. but, it only shows a little bit of a couple possibilities to be honest with you. and i do have a 90 day warranty 50% labor 50% parts. which is still petty but better than nothing.

 

[Puscifer]

*not bumping*

We bled the system out fully again after pulling the master cylinder off and inspecting it. (adjustment for it is still unknown for me, i couldn't find the thing)

So then I drive it another 40 miles and stress the clutching system a bit.. I hear a faint click when i push the pedal down but i had the same problem with my 420a and 1g, figure it's that ticky spring on the backside of the pedal. no worries.. got 2 miles from my house on the return trip and the clutch starts getting loose then eventually sticks about half way down and flat out refuses to let me into any gears. So, out of frustration i pull off the side of the road, work it down into 2nd a drove it home. I noticed a noise that's happened the other two times and it produces a faint kind of burning rubber type spell and i feel some eh.. hard to explain. slight spongeyness and viberation in the pedal as i get about half way down on pushing it to the floor. clutch pedal that is.

more information about driving while the problem is semi-fixed. I can't go into gear at a high rpm anything above eh.. 2800ish will make a grinding noise like a faulty shift. (i'm sure we've all got red in the face before trying to race and accidentally misjudged and didn't hit 3rd all the way) that kind of noise.

Tomorrow first thing i'm going to the parts house and just exchanging the master and slave cylinders for new ones once more and hopefully that'll fix the issue.

*another note*
When i purchased the car as i previously stated a new clutch was installed. Now, i've read with most of the AM clutch kits that you purchase you need a mating flywheel and fidanza seems to be a popular choice. BUT, i was also informed that a stock clutch was put in (stupid idea because i know this car will 0-60 in about 4-4.5 seconds) but is there a special proceedure they should've taken when they installed the new clutch? no new flywheel install was mentioned or if you even have to update the flywheel when you install a stock clutch.

Let me know guys, Thanks for giving me a home.

 

[Puscifer]

Hell Continue's.

Round #3 -
Got both the Master + Slave cylinders replaced. All in working order. Adjustment on the master cylinder is still kind of unknown but it was working fine. After the 5 mile test drive I started smelling a very potent type of smell, mix of oil and rubber it seemed. So, without delay I drive the car back to the shop let it idle for about 10 minutes because i was under the hood trying to scope out the smoke (white) / smell. I get back in the car to back it up. Put it in reverse, e-brake down, let off the clutch, pad the air pedal a bit and wtf do you know.. the car will NOT move. Not a single gear.

Question - Would the master cylinder being mis-adjusted cause these issues?
Probable Answer - Clutch is fried?

I'd really like to get this car back to the dealer who sold it to me with some sort of arsenal to throw at his mechanic who recently "replaced" these parts. If you guys think it's the clutch, give me some heads up please. Thanks!

 

[Alphahookups]

Ok, we just fixed a similiar problem today. My gf's car was acting the same way, and it ended up being the part in between the master and the slave. It should be located underneath the airbox. Just delete that part(or get the stainless line kit from RRE) and you should be good to go.

I hope this works for you