87 na clutch problem (G50)

[scott matre]

Hey guys,
My 87 non-turbo's clutch started acting funny today. All of a sudden there is a great deal of dead travel in the pedal and it only starts dis-engaging the clutch about 2/3 of the way down. The pedal is firm, and doesn't pump up so I'm sure there is no air. I've heard of pilot bearing tube probs in these year cars, but honestly do not know the symptoms. Any thoughts on the possible cause??

Clutch does not shudder or feel any different engaging, just lots of dead travel now (suddenly).

[john walker's workshop]

i would bleed the system first. use a pressure bleeder.

[KTL]

Any mechanical problem like the guide tube or release bearing should cause a difficult pedal feel. A soft pedal or engagement problems are usually the hydraulics. Definitely try bleeding first like John said. When I replaced the slave cylinder and its hydraulic line, the pedal went completely dead on the first push. Of course, there was air in the line.

Regular bleeding is not really effective. I had to cheat to get the pedal to firm up. It started to get firm and return itself after a few cycles of manual bleeding. Then, just as I was going to add fluid to the reservior after one more cycle, the fluid level fell below the supply hose and now introduced air into the system in front of the clutch master cylinder instead of past the master cylinder.

After that happened, it was very difficult to get the pedal to come back. Your assistant pushes the pedal and you must open and close the bleeder valve very quickly in order to get the pedal to start firming up. You definitely should use a pressure bleeder to get the correct results. That's what the factory manual recommends.


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Kevin
87 Carrera coupe

[FRED/LI]

If the roll pin that holds the pedal assebly together is starting to shear, it could cause the problem described.