2000 TC clutch

Hi guys. Yesterday I noticed the clutch acting up. From little to no resistance on the peddle and extreme difficulty changing gears. After checking both cylinders I noticed that the piston on the slave cylinder was ceased so I have had it off, cleaned it up and it now moves as it should. After bleeding the clutch for a second time.

There is still no change! The clutch engages fine on the first attempt but as soon as I try to change gear or even go back to neutral, it doesn't disengage. Has anyone had this issue before or has anyone got any advice on what they think it is?

Myself and my dad are at a loss and I'm now suffering from withdrawal having not driven in almost 4 days!

Have you renewed the seals in the slave?

I've ordered a new set and they will be here in a few days. What affect would diminished seals cause?

EDIT: Just some more information. It's almost as though the pedal hasn't got enough room to find the biting point. After dipping the clutch to it's full travel, I only need to release it a couple of mm if that for it to want to travel. The resistance of the pedal is back to normal but it just feels as though it hasn't got enough room to do it's job. If that helps at all.

I'm struggling to understand what's wrong in order to give a better description.

Worn seals will give a loss of pressure, so it might clear the first time, but it will gradually lose effectiveness, and if you've had to bleed it, that's probably because the worn seals are allowing air into the system.

That makes sense, I can find the gear the first time and it seems to work fine, after holding the clutch for a few seconds and attempting to use it again, it suffers and eventually doesn't work causing a stuck gear.

I put it in reverse from neutral and slowly crept back. Dipped the clutch again and came to a stop. Released the clutch and moved off again in reverse. When I dipped the clutch again, nothing happened. The loss of pressure to the slave with more usage sounds like the ticket. Thanks Harvey, I'll fit the seals as soon as they arrive and post the results.

Very much appreciated and fingers crossed!

The clutch release system relies on pressure in the master cylinder, pipe and slave cylinder. If it starts to fail when depressed, the pressure must be escaping from somewhere. If you're a bit impatient for those seals, have a good look around the master cylinder, the unions and the slave for any sign of leakage.

When you removed the slave, was there any sign of brake fluid on it, or inside the end where the push rod goes?

Are you losing any clutch fluid?

Richard

EDIT

That's weird, the post I was answering seems to have disappeared ?

Hi Richard, thanks for the reply. I deleted the other post by accident, clicking on delete instead or edit I've checked the master cylinder and no leakage. The slave cylinder however, has a small fluid build up at the push rod entrance, near the circlip. I'm assuming the rubber busher inside has worn so I'm waiting on the repair kit. Hopefully that's it! Thanks for the advice

I have done the master cylinder seals twice on two different P6's and each time the slave cylinder seals failed at the same time. I'd recommend you do them at the same time. When bleeding the clutch it's important to lock the clutch arm to stop it moving or you'll never bleed the air out.

Hi. Today brings bad news and a whole lot of frustration. I've got the new slave cylinder seals and it jas done nothing. The biting point on the clutch is still about 3 MM from the floor and the clutch won't disengage the gears unless I release the peddle and fully depress it once more. The only thing I can think of is adjusting the biting point somehow. Does anyone have any ideas??

Cheers,
A rather frustrated Dom

Pull back the carpet and underlay and set the brake pedal height between the bottom of the pedal and the floor to 6 & 7/8"
Set the clutch pedal level with the brake. This is done on the threaded rod into the master cylinder.
Push the clutch operating arm rearward until the release bearing touches the pressure plate and make sure the arm is one spline forward from vertical. Remove the arm and move it on the splines if it's not, and take care not to drop the nut in the bellhousing.
Pull back the slave cylinder boot. Adjust the pushrod so that the piston is about 1" away from the circlip. (Pedal at rest)
Wind the stop bolt all the way in. (Thats the one in the footwell.)
Then get someone to slowly depress the pedal as you look at the piston in the slave. What you need to get is the piston just touching the circlip when the pedal is on the stop, and you achieve this by adjusting the pushrod each time just before the pedal is depressed.
Once you get to the point that putting your foot on the clutch down to the stop makes the piston touch the circlip in the slave, lock the nut on the pushrod.
Then wind the stop bolt up one turn, and lock it with the nut.
Depress the pedal again and make sure there is at least 25thou clearance between the piston and the circlip in the slave.
If not wind the stop bolt up some more a turn at a time.
Refit the carpet and IIRC that's it.

Hi Harvey, thanks for the fast response and thanks for the detailed fix! I've just given my dad a copy of the instructions. What exactly is the problem then? I can't wrap my head around it. One minute it was fine, a gearbox with 5k on it and has never been touched. The next, after a bit of a leak, it's stuffed! What did I do wrong or what is going wrong?

Once you've got the hydraulics leak free and bled, I'd suggest setting it up as it should be and then see what you've got. You have no idea of what's been done prior to your ownership. It may have worked before the slave cylinder problem, but it still could have been set up incorrectly.

Done. Followed the Haynes manual and your advice and set up the slave cylinder word for word. Still nothing. It's doing the same thing. I'm at the end of my tether and still without a car! Do you have any other ideas what it might be?

If you've set it all correctly and it only clears on the second pump of the pedal then I'd guess that the master cylinder is faulty. It's always best to replace the master and slave as a set anyway.

We managed to get the biting point back to normal, the pedal has resistance and comes to a stop around half way through it's travel on the first pump. Once in gear, it comes to a stop further toward the floor, around 3/4 travel. This is when the clutch fails to disengage the gear and the car stalls if revs aren't applied.

There is a quiet rattle that dissapears when the clutch is dipped making me think a thrust bearing has gone. Could that cause any or all of the symptoms?

Also, there aren't any leaks or loss of fluid from either the master or slave. There are no visual air bubbles or pockets in the flexi pipe either. Are there any other ways, or symptoms, to check if they are faulty? I'll order new tonight but it may take a while for them to arrive unfortunately.

Do you know any history of the car as regards a recent clutch replacement or other clutch work?

The car was stored since 1981 and everything seems untouched. We haven't got any history but due to the low mileage and little usage, it seems highly unlikely.

Dominic Yates said:

The car was stored since 1981 and everything seems untouched. We haven't got any history but due to the low mileage and little usage, it seems highly unlikely.

Click to expand...

In that case I'd try changing the master cylinder first of all. I've had similar problems cured by changing the master. (That's changing rather than resealing).

I've ordered one from J R Wadhams, £60 inc postage. Hopefully it'll do the trick and if so, thanks once again Harvey. I'll post the results.