Clutch Help!

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BenE30
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Post Tue Oct 04, 2005 6:43 pm

I was driving my iS today and it was running fine then as i was going up through the gears the clutch appeared to be getting less and less till it was non existant, i pull overin a Garage and checked the clutch fluid reservoir (near the battery right) and it did not have any fluid in it!
So bought some brake fluid topped it up pumped the clutch, the reservoir bubbled a bit and then tried the clutch again! now i could get the car into 3rd - 5th gear! then when i was driving home i kept checking the clutch to see where the bite was, now it was back to normal.
I stopped at some traffic lights and the gears where ok! but then when i was on my road they were no existant again!!

WHAT HAVE I DONE TO MY CAR??

1. could there have been some airlocks in the line?
2. is there a bleed nipple and if so where?

any other ideas would be appriciated!!

thanks,
Ben
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gareth
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Post Tue Oct 04, 2005 8:14 pm

i'd check the slave cylinder on the 'box. i had exactly the same thing happen on my wifes e21 a while ago. about Ԛ£30 iirc from gsf.

it can be bled with the bleed nipple on the slave cylinder but we managed to bleed it by just pumping the pedal like an idiot for a min!

have a look quickly though, ours managed to contaminate the clutch... ju ju ju ju juddddddddery!!!! :eek:
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E30Adam
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Post Tue Oct 04, 2005 8:27 pm

Definately a leak there and just topping up the resevoir without bleeding will cause air to sit in the system which won't help your problem.

Check the clutch system for any fluid leaks especially the slave and master cylinders. Slave is situated on the side of the gearbox and the master is attached to the back of the pedal. Also check all hoses and lines for leaks, they're easy to follow, there's not much to the clutch system.
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Andy_magic
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Post Tue Oct 04, 2005 8:57 pm

I had the same thing with my first 320i, slave cylinder was shot, kept topping it up for a while, then it just went.

Cheap from the usual GSF/ECP and not that bad to fit.
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BenE30
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Post Tue Oct 04, 2005 9:37 pm

Cheers guys will have a proper look tommorow!!
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Brianmoooore
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Post Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:26 pm

sounds like the leak is so bad that it bled itself with the new fluid, and then ran dry again.
BenE30
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Post Wed Oct 05, 2005 4:26 pm

Problem sorted now guys, got the slave cylinder from euro car parts for Ԛ£22.00 and the job was pretty straight forward, so now i have a gear box again yeah!!

Cheers for all your help!!
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