clutch behaving oddly.. could somebody help please..

[hanfi09]

this is an odd one for me; i jumped in the car this morning did my usual 3point turn, drove about 10feet pressed the clutch to go into second and the pedal seemed to just disappear.

when i stepped on the pedal the clutch seemed go down with almost no resistance what so ever, then when i lifted my biting point was about 2cm off the floor.


for example.

clutch travel

Typical Travel, Pedal moves from this position to the floor
(-)............................|FLOOR => (-)|FLOOR
to then return to its biting point of about
(-)................|FLOOR



this morning however my pedal seemed to do this
(-)............................|FLOOR
to a biting point of this
(-)..|FLOOR



Just to confirm the pedal does spring back to its original position, and oddly it happened once this morning and once in the evening, the whole afternoon it was absolutely fine. oh and the car doesn't jerk or anything still as smooth as she should be.

anyone have any ideas as to what could be causing this.. also how to go about fixing it? where is the servo? no leaking of fluid, not that i can see anyway..

thanks

[chh137]

Hi, Asad, try clutch slave cylinder on side of gearbox. No servo (only on brakes)
Check small cluch fluid reservoir for low level.

[chh137]

Also check for fluid leak from master cyl. brake/clutch fluid under dash above clutch pedal onto carpet.

[hanfi09]

hey charlie, i was telling sav about your cabbies today, you still haven't sent me a picture.

from what i noticed there wasn't any fluid in the car as my first reaction was to check if the cable had broken (never had a hydraulic clutch before lol) where is the small clutch fluid reservoir located? also what side of the gearbox is the slave cylinder, and what symptoms am i to be looking out for?

[chh137]

Clutch res near battery on baulkhead, slave cyl on off side of gearbox, just follow pipes ,can be seen from above .You could try changing fluid and bleeding clutch system
Will Email you some pics of cabs.

[hanfi09]

i'll check the fluids in the morning, will head to gsf for some fluid if its low and give it a go bleeding it. fingers crossed this is the only problem. if not i shall be up knocking on your door asking for help haha

i've got a new email, i'll forward you it.

[chh137]

Good man . Happy new year to you and your family.
No prob if you want to knock on my door.
would always try and help out

[chh137]

Dot 4 brake fluid is the stuff you need.

[Grrrmachine]

If you get stuck, have a read:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/Clutch

[hanfi09]

happy new year to you and your family, hope you had a good one. I would have called but i don't remember much that evening, woke up with such a bad headache!! lol

had a look at the car this morning, the clutch fluid reservoir had no fluid what so ever. Off to GSF now for some 4.dot fluid, fingers crossed that's all is was wrong.

thanks for the help, much appreciated.


@Grrrmachine - that wiki page was good, thanks.

[Grrrmachine]

The clutch is a closed system, so if you've got no fluid in there, then you need to find out why!

Probably the slave's sprung a leak, but as the Wiki states, you ought to swap the slave and master cylinders as a matched pair.

[chh137]

Sorted?

[capri_rob]

The clutch is a closed system, so if you've got no fluid in there, then you need to find out why!

Probably the slave's sprung a leak, but as the Wiki states, you ought to swap the slave and master cylinders as a matched pair.

THIS

Worth also upgrading the flexi hose under the car to a stainless braided one - under £20 off ebay.

Swapping the slave & master cylinders is not a fun job