Clutch problem - help !!!!

[nakamichi]

Hi
Driving today and went to change gear.The pedal went straight down but didn't come back up.
Pulled over and found the clutch fluid reservoir empty and clutch fluid dripping down from somewhere behind the heater matrix.
Have not had time to look properly as car is still on side of road.
I am going to tow it back shortly but in the meantime,any ideas???
Pipe split maybe??
cheers
Tony

[Sudesh]

Probably your master cylinder.

Get down and look up under your dash where the clutch pedal is, look to where its bolted up and you will see the push rod going into a rubber seal, see if there is any clutch fluid leaking there and feel the carpet and behind it as fluid will run on those bits.


Hi
Driving today and went to change gear.The pedal went straight down but didn't come back up.
Pulled over and found the clutch fluid reservoir empty and clutch fluid dripping down from somewhere behind the heater matrix.
Have not had time to look properly as car is still on side of road.
I am going to tow it back shortly but in the meantime,any ideas???
Pipe split maybe??
cheers
Tony

[nakamichi]

Cheers Sudesh.I will check master but would the fluid be leaking out onto the passenger side of car ? Looks like it is coming from behind the heater matrix.

[Sudesh]

On the inside of the car, no, not that I'm aware off, unless under pressure it was squirting up and into the hole where the cruise/central locking module is. I havent seen this happen yet though.

On the outside of the car under the bonnet, yes possible, but the leak would then be coming from the metal clutch pipe that runs down from the clutch cylinder and along and under the blower motor.



Cheers Sudesh.I will check master but would the fluid be leaking out onto the passenger side of car ? Looks like it is coming from behind the heater matrix.

[Sudesh]

If you look at this pic, you can see the pipe in the left corner coming from the top of master cylinder, it then runs along in front of the two openings [AC evap] with the brake pipes.

In this case it would mean the metal pipe would have damage/split.

Again I havent seen this but "the master" [kaz] or possibly goldnsx has come accross this.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/JDMYELLOW/SAM_1860.jpg

[Sudesh]

You can also check if you have the old master cylinder or a new one type by looking at the front of the cylinder under the bonnet.

I noticed this small difference, the old original ones at the top and bottom corner have got a threaded like bolt the peeks out, the newer ones dont and are flatted at the bolt head, if that makes sense lol

old one

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/JDMYELLOW/SAM_1826.jpg

NEW ONE

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/JDMYELLOW/SAM_1825.jpg

OLD AND NEW

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/JDMYELLOW/SAM_1824.jpg

[duncan]

Someone please explain; why is the clutch master and clutch slave in imperial sizes. Five eights of a bloody inch.... and for that matter the threads on the A/C expansion valve and receiver/dryer....why?

[nakamichi]

cheers Sudesh
just got the car back so I will post back tomorrow when I get a chance to investigate the cause fully.
Does appear to be a break in the pipe behind the blower though.The RAC guy thinks so aswell.

[nakamichi]

Update.
I had a chance to have a good look today and after removing the blower,found that the clutch pipe had indeed corroded at the bend causing the loss of fluid:eek:
Looks like a design fault to me lol !! If they had routed it away from the body or put a rubber sheath around it,it probably wouldn't have rusted.
Anyway,I have replaced the whole pipe from the master cylinder with copper,bled the system through (the old fluid was black!) and all seems well again.
Thanks to Sudesh for pointing me in the right direction.Without this site and Prime I would never have been able to fix it myself.
cheers
Tony:)

[Sudesh]

Great to hear the car is up and moving again.

Did you by any chance take pics of the damaged area? Would be interested to see this and the new piping you had made up!

Also was the fluid squirting into any of the 2 gaps when you removed the blower motor? Make sure you give any area that got covered in fluid a good clean down.


Update.
I had a chance to have a good look today and after removing the blower,found that the clutch pipe had indeed corroded at the bend causing the loss of fluid:eek:
Looks like a design fault to me lol !! If they had routed it away from the body or put a rubber sheath around it,it probably wouldn't have rusted.
Anyway,I have replaced the whole pipe from the master cylinder with copper,bled the system through (the old fluid was black!) and all seems well again.
Thanks to Sudesh for pointing me in the right direction.Without this site and Prime I would never have been able to fix it myself.
cheers
Tony:)

[nakamichi]

Great to hear the car is up and moving again.

Did you by any chance take pics of the damaged area? Would be interested to see this and the new piping you had made up!

Also was the fluid squirting into any of the 2 gaps when you removed the blower motor? Make sure you give any area that got covered in fluid a good clean down.
I have taken pics and will upload them later.
Gave the whole whole area a good rinsing aswell.Good advice.

[nakamichi]

Pictures
#1 the damage
#2 the rust
#3 another of whole pipe

[nakamichi]

the repair using copper pipe
might be worth checking your pipe before it fails and leaves you stranded somewhere.
On the original pipe ,it sits tight to the corner where water collects which appears to be why it has corroded.

[Sudesh]

Thanks for sharing the pics!

The copper pipe looks OK as a stop gap solution, personally I would order up the original pipe as its not expensive anyway.

46960-SL0-010: PIPE A,CLUTCH - £42.32 including vat

[nakamichi]

Thanks for sharing the pics!

The copper pipe looks OK as a stop gap solution, personally I would order up the original pipe as its not expensive anyway.

46960-SL0-010: PIPE A,CLUTCH - £42.32 including vat
Might do that.I thought it would be hard to get hold of though?

[Sudesh]

No shouldnt be a problem, showings available but best check with your nearest dealer as it could be back order. But you will still get it.

I would recommend removing the blower motor once or twice a year to clean up the area behind depending on how you use your car.

My car see's between 500 and 900 miles a year and I clean in there twice a year and its not driven in bad conditions; although I have been caught out here 3 times this year with the typical irish weather lol


Might do that.I thought it would be hard to get hold of though?

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, Tony. Glad you managed to sort it out.

The photo was not clear enough but to me, this looked as if the pipe was either touching/scratching against the body work or the pipe was already damaged by something else such as the nearby hose clamp.

You are dealing with the brake fluid inside the pipe so you won't get normal corrosion there due to the ester chemical reaction. Outside is also treated against normal corrosion.

If someone worked on your car in the past around that area, it is possible that the pipe was bent/pushed against the body work.

None of the pipes should touch any part of the body work and that’s why you have square rubber block holding the brake and clutch pipes at the fire wall.

Quite often, you can see similar scratch/damage on the fuel pipe around the fuel filter inside the engine bay. When the fuel filter was replaced or someone worked in the engine bay, it could cause two pipes scratching each other and one of the clamps can easily rub against the other pipe.

Not great as we are talking about the fuel and not the brake fluid....

Kaz