Clutch dragging

[John DeCampli]

So this past week I have been messing with my clutch hydraulics and have been getting no where. I replaced master cylinder and the slave after loosing all of my pressure out of no where one day. I have bled this system for 3 days now, I have tried many Different tactics, I believe all the air is out and I have good pressure now, but my clutch is dragging at 4000 rpms and still not super easy going in gears like it was before, not that they grind or anything.. Also I did re-adjust the master under the dash like I have done many times before, it is now almost fully adjusted out, and I backed it off so I could move the slave, any ideas this is killing me...

 

[RickyM95GST]

Sounds like it could be a broken clutch fork. Look inside the transmission and see if that's your problem.

 

[EagleTSIawd]

Pull back on the rubber covering the clutch fork, look inside and see if the clutch or anything inside is damaged.

Incorrect step-height on the flywheel could also cause clutch drag.

 

[John DeCampli]

I looked and could not see anything that looked damaged, Also my clutch was working amazing untill I lost all pressure to my pedal. But I drove it home just Fine just had to pump The pedal, so wouldn't you beleive this is nothing but hydraulics issue ?

 

[H@xtGSX]

Check the flared connections, especially on the flex section (I replaced mine with a steel brake line, it is a much nicer feel), make sure you didn't miss clamp something on the master cylinder body, and check the bleed off screw at the slave. If those are all good, check the inside of the slave boot for hydraulic fluid. If none, get a flashlight and a straight edge, take the clutch fork boot off, and make sure it didn't bend... It only takes a 1/16" bend to make it drag...

It sounds hydraulic though.

 

[John DeCampli]

Thanks everyone for youre input, and Do you mean check to make sure the fittings are not leaking? what do I check them for.

 

[H@xtGSX]

Hydraulic fluid. It'll be wet with DOT3. It probably be easier to check if you pin the clutch to the floor with a pipe or board so there is pressure on the line, and if its leaking a little you'll see it.

 

[talon314]

I went trhu this for about three weeks. You need to back pressure bleed the slave cylinder. You Have air in the line. what youwant to do is push the clutch to the floor open the slave and bleed. then you want to barely crack the cap open on your master cylinder and manually pump the slave by hand. do so very thorouly. should fix your problem

 

[John DeCampli]

I have bled it about every way possible, I even bought a pressure bleeder, but what cap on the master cylinder can I crack open, I'm going to take another look at everything tomorrow.

 

[H@xtGSX]

I have found getting the air out of the slave cylinder can be a bit difficult. Mine was spongy for a long time until the last time I had mine off the car. I bench bled the slave, then carefully took it back under the car and installed it. That worked better than the old pump and release the slave bleed routine.

Easiest way I have found is to get a gallon of DOT3 and a bowl you can submerge the slave cylinder in. Dump in enough to cover it, make sure all the fittings are loose, then just pump the piston slowly for a while until no more bubbles come out. Then, tighten the bleeder, and pull it out with the connection port up and full to the top, hook it up and then pump the fluid up the system from the bottom... The siphoning bottle trick in the tech section works well, just don't pump the pedal very fast, or you wind up frothing the fluid up anyhow. You also must make sure there isn't any air in the tube from the siphon bottle when you first start pumping. Easiest way to do that is use a long tube, put it in the bottle, let the tube dangle below the bottle, get the fluid moving, keep the bottle above the bleed port, and once it is flowing out, hook it up to the bleed port and start pumping.

 

[kenamond]

I went through this with a broken clutch fork. However, no matter how much I pumped the clutch, I never got the drag to go away. If the drag goes away after pumping it up, I'd still suspect hydraulics and agree that you should look into the black art of getting air out of the slave cylinder.

Also, I assume that you properly adjusted the clutch pedal assembly. There's a not-so-obvious procedure and a nice video (Jack's transmission is what comes to mind, but it's been a while).

What did you change when things went bad? Might be related.

EDIT: Here's that Jack's Transmission video: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYJxQyjIhUw[/ame]