1G Clutch disengagement problem.

[90 GSX]

Car is a 91 Eagle Talon. I do not see any visible leaks anywhere and the car has a new master (not brand new, but it is not the original). I bought the car without a master cylinder so I don't know the history of this problem. I bled the system THOROUGHLY at the slave bleeder on at least 4 separate occasions to no avail. With the car on, and the clutch depressed, it is like it his a wall trying to get it in gear and the RPM's drop slightly when I put slight pressure to try to coax it into gear. The entire time the car is on, there is an intermittent clanking noise coming from the tranny area that stops and restarts in 2-4 second intervals. Could the throwout bearing be disconnected from the fork? I'm more a V8 guy so you really need to explain in detail what I need to do to fix this problem. I have narrowed it down to one of the following but if I'm wrong or I left something out pls let me know:

-Pinhole leak somewhere in the system that lets air in but doesn't let fluid out. (How can I test for this???).
-Slave cylinder (any way to test this)
-Adjustment rod out of adjustment (is it possible for it to be so far off that it won't even come close to disengaging? I never loosened the locknut when I put the master in so if it worked in the last car it was in, shouldn't it work in mine?
-This is the most likely option. It has something to do with that metal clanking noise. Any advice on what to look for or how to fix it?

 

[headrec*]

I would guess the slave cylinder is going bad. You can pull the rubber boot back and check for leaks. They usually go out around the same time the master cylinders do and vise versa.

The noise coming from the transmission might be the TOB. I don't think it would be disconnected from the fork but I could be wrong. I would fix the disengagement problem first (assuming it is the slave cylinder) then if the noise doesn't go away look into pulling the transmission to check it out.

The clutch line might be flexing or have a small leak. I would check that and if possible replace it with a stainless steel braided line.

 

[90 GSX]

The rattling noise I talked about was merely a heat shield vibrating because the lower balance shaft was out of phase. I fixed the problem and voila, no more metal clanging noise. I need to deal with this clutch problem though... I replaced the master and bled it. Now you are saying that it's possible that the slave went bad? I have a good DSM that I can pull parts from... is it worth a try to swap the slaves or will a visual inspection be enough to tell me if it's bad? What else do I need to check for a clutch disengagement problem?

 

[oldman]

Car is a 91 Eagle Talon. I do not see any visible leaks anywhere and the car has a new master (not brand new, but it is not the original). I bought the car without a master cylinder so I don't know the history of this problem. I bled the system THOROUGHLY at the slave bleeder on at least 4 separate occasions to no avail. With the car on, and the clutch depressed, it is like it his a wall trying to get it in gear and the RPM's drop slightly when I put slight pressure to try to coax it into gear. The entire time the car is on, there is an intermittent clanking noise coming from the tranny area that stops and restarts in 2-4 second intervals. Could the throwout bearing be disconnected from the fork? I'm more a V8 guy so you really need to explain in detail what I need to do to fix this problem. I have narrowed it down to one of the following but if I'm wrong or I left something out pls let me know:

-Pinhole leak somewhere in the system that lets air in but doesn't let fluid out. (How can I test for this???).
-Slave cylinder (any way to test this)
-Adjustment rod out of adjustment (is it possible for it to be so far off that it won't even come close to disengaging? I never loosened the locknut when I put the master in so if it worked in the last car it was in, shouldn't it work in mine?
-This is the most likely option. It has something to do with that metal clanking noise. Any advice on what to look for or how to fix it?

1. http://www.plymouthlaser.com/slave2.htm Make sure you follow the method for bleeding so air would not get back in.

2. Since you have a 90, check for pedal assembley for freeplay.

Do some search, there are a lot of threads about this.