Short version is i replaced a leaking clutch line, and after bleeding, the clutch pedal will only be in two places
1. Frozen like granite in the fully upright position.
2. Fully depressed and totally limp (insert Viagara joke here)
Car is a 1994 MX-3 GS with 5 speed manual which serves as my winter car. I bought it last fall and drove it about 6000km last winter. It has been stored since May in my garage, wheels blocked, in neutral.
I went to start it up a while ago just to move the wheels a bit to try and avoid flat spotting. The clutch was extremely stiff. My other car has a much stiffer clutch so it may not have occurred to me how wacked it was. When I pressed on the clutch it suddenly came loose and went all the way to the floor and remained fully depressed until I pulled it back up manually. I was kind of alarmed and just let the car run for a minute.
The previous owner replaced the clutch about 6 months before I bought it. The clutch has less than 10,000 km on it. I replaced the manual transmission fluid myself in January. It has maybe 4,000 km on it.
It looked to me like the clutch line had developed a leak but I couldn't really tell if the slave cylinder is okay.
I got a steel replacement clutch line. The original -and i think I do mean original 12 year old rubber line- was leaking just where I suspected, just short of the fitting that connects to the slave cylinder. I attached the new line to the bracket fittings and then reinstalled the whole assembly.
Anyhow I have been doing this myself so after a doomed attempt at running back and forth depressing the clutch pedal, tightening the bleed screw, raising the pedal, loosening the screw etc I gave up and ordered a speedbleeder.
I added the speedbleeder bleed screw and attached a new, properly fitted bleed hose. The other end is in a closed bag also provided by speedbleeder. After fully tightening the bleed screw I loosened it by about 1/3 turn and then began pumping the clutch pedal while pausing to top up the fluid in the reservoir (cap is off)
I am getting good fluid flow throught the bleed screw into the hose into the bag, the reservoir is going down by a half inch or so every 10 pedal pumps. There are no obvious leaks of fluid coming from elsewhere.
However the pedal is not developing any real resistance. When I have the bleed screw cracked, I can push the pedal to the floor with almost no feel, but then i have to pull it back up by hand. If I tighten the screw and close off the system with the clutch pedal in the fully up position, it then is like granite. I can't even depress the clutch to start the engine.
What am i doing wrong? Do i have to pump a ton more fluid throught the system before it will pressurize? Is the slave cylinder shot?
Heeeellllllp
1. Frozen like granite in the fully upright position.
2. Fully depressed and totally limp (insert Viagara joke here)
Car is a 1994 MX-3 GS with 5 speed manual which serves as my winter car. I bought it last fall and drove it about 6000km last winter. It has been stored since May in my garage, wheels blocked, in neutral.
I went to start it up a while ago just to move the wheels a bit to try and avoid flat spotting. The clutch was extremely stiff. My other car has a much stiffer clutch so it may not have occurred to me how wacked it was. When I pressed on the clutch it suddenly came loose and went all the way to the floor and remained fully depressed until I pulled it back up manually. I was kind of alarmed and just let the car run for a minute.
The previous owner replaced the clutch about 6 months before I bought it. The clutch has less than 10,000 km on it. I replaced the manual transmission fluid myself in January. It has maybe 4,000 km on it.
It looked to me like the clutch line had developed a leak but I couldn't really tell if the slave cylinder is okay.
I got a steel replacement clutch line. The original -and i think I do mean original 12 year old rubber line- was leaking just where I suspected, just short of the fitting that connects to the slave cylinder. I attached the new line to the bracket fittings and then reinstalled the whole assembly.
Anyhow I have been doing this myself so after a doomed attempt at running back and forth depressing the clutch pedal, tightening the bleed screw, raising the pedal, loosening the screw etc I gave up and ordered a speedbleeder.
I added the speedbleeder bleed screw and attached a new, properly fitted bleed hose. The other end is in a closed bag also provided by speedbleeder. After fully tightening the bleed screw I loosened it by about 1/3 turn and then began pumping the clutch pedal while pausing to top up the fluid in the reservoir (cap is off)
I am getting good fluid flow throught the bleed screw into the hose into the bag, the reservoir is going down by a half inch or so every 10 pedal pumps. There are no obvious leaks of fluid coming from elsewhere.
However the pedal is not developing any real resistance. When I have the bleed screw cracked, I can push the pedal to the floor with almost no feel, but then i have to pull it back up by hand. If I tighten the screw and close off the system with the clutch pedal in the fully up position, it then is like granite. I can't even depress the clutch to start the engine.
What am i doing wrong? Do i have to pump a ton more fluid throught the system before it will pressurize? Is the slave cylinder shot?
Heeeellllllp
