Clutch broken?

[Smoothie97]

I have a 1999 GST with 93,000 miles on the stock clutch. I drove home with no problems on Friday afternoon. Then we had a cold front blow in that dropped the temperature about 15 deg. I now go to start my car and immediately think: "Wow, either my foot got a lot stronger or my clutch is messed up."

I step on the clutch and it is loose till about 3/4 down...then it firms up a bit (but still less than normal firmness), the car starts up. Then I hit the mushy clutch in and I can't get into any gears I'm stuck in the garage!

What could be the problem?

 

[x camaro owner]

did you check the seal on the slave cylinderby pulling the boot back, also look up under the dash for along the clutch pedal for hydraulic fluid leakage in to the car you could have a bad cylinder causing some leakage. if not try bleeding it. also check the clutch hose for leakeage to. thats really all i can say with your description

check the hydraulic fluid to.

 

[Smoothie97]

I'm a total newbie when it comes to clutches. So can these hoses, fluid, and cylinder been seen from inside the car? Or do I need to jack the car up and look from underneath?

Oh, and it's night time right now so I can't inspect anything at all.

 

[Smoothie97]

Ok, my clutch master cylinder reservoir was completely empty. Inside was this goey black crap...I wonder what caused the fluid to darken up and turn to crap. The cause: the master cylinder had a big leak. So I'll replace the master cylinder.

How do I bleed the system? I know that I need to pump the clutch, then have someone press the clutch in, while I open the bleeder valve. Where is this bleeder valve??

 

[x camaro owner]

whoooooaaaaa relax take a deep breath, exhale your going to do fine with this

http://www.plymouthlaser.com/slave2.htm

thats how to bleed the system look at the bottom of the page.
you will need 2 people when you bleed(i had to have my mom help me one time for the pushing pedal part ), open the bleeder the clutch pedal most likely stay at the ground when you press it relax once again everything is going to be ok. close the bleeder pull the pedal up then pump till pedal feels harder it may be a few tries till you start to feel pressure on the pedal again while bleeding and repeat till no air comes out.

another good thing to do is bench bleed the cylinder before putting it on. after cleaning the old resivoir fill and run a tube from where the clutch line would screw in jam the hose to bench bleed but not super far you may have to hold the line there to. then run it back to the resivoir fill it with fluid and pull the pistion back and forth but don't pull the piston it will be a mess if you do just push it back in. my preference on fluid is valvoline synthetic brake fluid its a gold bottle.


also replace the seal or cap for the resivoir (someday i will learn how to spell that) if there was a lot of gunk in there dirt is probably getting by the cap

bleeder valve on slave cylinder. i am pretty master doesn't have one


important : don't let the resivoir run out or else you justed wasted your time and have to repeat bleeding all over again. check it every 4-7 bleeds

 

[x camaro owner]

i will pretend i never saw the newbi word

 

[Smoothie97]

Hey thanks for the post. But I just put some valvoline brake fluid and pumped the clutch about 15 times and now it feels like normal again! I didn't have to do any bleeding....although I probably should've. My friend was watching the reservoir fluid as I was pumping the clutch and he noticed that the reservoir level barely even moved. So I guess I still had lots of fluid stored in the line.

I think my master cylinder has been leaking for quite a long time. I noticed a nice stain on the firewall right under the master cylinder. I also noticed my carpet had a nice gray stain too.

Funny how a $3 bottle of fluid fixes a major problem (undriveable car).

 

[DJ23GSX]

I hope the $3 bottle fix is just temporary until you get a new master cylinder. My old DSM did the same thing i leaked inside my car and stained my carpet too.

 

[x camaro owner]

i to will agree hope that is a temporary fix, wait till some day your on a desolate road and seal totally gives out then you need a tow and and to stil replace the master cylinder

 

[Smoothie97]

Oh my $3 fix is permanent. I'll just carry lots of brake fluid wherever I go Just kidding. I'm going to order a master cylinder from Partznet soon. Install it after my finals are over. I don't have time to be messing with my POS now.

 

[Mike1992]

replace the slave while your at it

 

[DJ23GSX]

I just looked at your mod list and im just curious how long you've been running your stock clutch with all those mods?

 

[Race94]

i have the same problem,
how do i know if it's the master cylinder or slave cylinder?

how can i check? where are they located?

Thanks

 

[97talonproject]

my master cylinder is empty so im guessing mine has the same problem. i already know mine is the slave cylinder that is causing it though. it drips . im hoping my dad understands the bleeding process better than i do. ive been reading and trying to figure it out but im only 17 this is my first time having to do this so it should be insteresting.

 

[brian92tsiawd]

I dont get why peoPle freak out over tye bleeding part. Its litereally the easiest step. Just read the information you find/get and then apply it when doing so. The only thing tonworry about during bleeding is to not let the resevoir empty or you will be back at square one. Once you get around to actually bleeding the system you're gonna step back and say " what the f was i worried about"

 

[97talonproject]

ok i guess ill just be confident and hope for the best. thanks

 

[boosting_pwr]

The process is not really hard and if you can get your dad to help you it will make it a lot more easier.

 

[97talonproject]

he will helpwhen he gets a chance too but the hard part is finding the time.