87 G50 Clutch woes

nealf2002 · 02-26-2017, 04:30 AM

Got into my car to meet some other Pelicanites for breakfast and clutch pedal went completely limp. I drove the car a few weeks ago without issues. Is this a case of the slave cylinder going bad? I have not checked yet for a leak under the car or fluid.
Thanks.

jlex · jlex's Garage

What's the fluid level at the reservoir look like? It shares fluid with the brake system and would be down if there's a leak.

Fixer · 02-26-2017, 05:31 AM

We're practically neighbors nealf2002, don't fret, that'll be an easy fix.

nealf2002 · 02-26-2017, 05:44 AM

Fluid level is still at max..

nealf2002 · 02-26-2017, 05:46 AM

No fluid on ground either..

s5uewf · s5uewf's Garage

try bleeding the slave cylinder to ensure there is fluid in it. If the hydraulics are all good/have fluid/no air bubbles, then the problem is likely in the clutch or throw out bearing.

jlex · jlex's Garage

Has the clutch ever been bled? I bled my '88 for the first time last summer & what came out of it wasn't pretty...

nealf2002 · 02-26-2017, 06:11 AM

I've had the car for 2 years, less than 5k miles and it hasn't been bled under my ownership..

spyerx · 02-26-2017, 06:15 AM

Pedal sticks to the floor? Or there is no action moving the fork?

Start with master then slave. Bleed it first.

If those are good could be the fork lever thwt moves the tob.

nealf2002 · 02-26-2017, 06:22 AM

No action moving the fork. Pedal is limp. Like it's not connected to anything..

nealf2002 · 02-26-2017, 10:42 AM

Is this just simply an air bubble in the system? Can anyone help me walk through bleeding the slave cylinder?

hcoles · 02-26-2017, 12:01 PM

If you have one - I'd use a pressure bleeder and get fluid flowing out at the top of the slave. You might want to drop the motor 2 or 3 inches, make it much easier. Then see if you can get the pedal to push the slave at least somewhat. Then push in the pedal (takes two people) and quickly open and close the slave valve, just like bleeding the brakes. When you open the slave valve you should see the slave piston/rod move back in toward the slave cyl. All this is done under the car with you curled up and drainage hoses/bottles all over the place getting in your way. Assuming you are working air out of the circuit the slave should start working at full travel and you should be back in business. At least - that's how I do it. If things are not working after getting the slave confirmed working then you probably need to pull the engine and trans. together, split them, and see all that's going on. It could be time for that anyway - when was the last time the clutch related parts were exposed and looked at? Upgrade the shaft, replace the TOB, disk, new fork, new tube and probably new slave at that point. Then you are good to go for another 100k miles.

prschmn · 02-26-2017, 01:01 PM

If it acted fine last drive and there's no fluid on the floor I'd first suspect the master.Generaly if there's a "mechanical" problem you'd feel something in the pedal action prior to a complete failure.
I've seen more G50s with nasty dirty fluid-the slaves not that much fun to get to and its too
often ignored during fluid changes.

Mrdi · Mrdi's Garage

Same thing happened in my 88.
I changed out the master and slave.
Might as well bleed the brakes too.

jlex · jlex's Garage

I used the Motive brake bleeder to flush the clutch line. Wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, just a bit awkward to reach. Luckily, the bleed valve wasn't corroded...

rnln · 02-27-2017, 12:11 AM

Lucky for you it happened when you are at home. It happened to me a while after I bought the car, when I was on the freeway

. It turned out it was the clutch slave cylinder.

dominicxu1 · 02-27-2017, 12:58 AM

If you can move the clutch pedal freely up and down by hand with no pressure at all, I would suggest you look at the roll pin that secures the clutch pedal to the cross shaft on the pedal box. The hole the roll pin goes into can become out of round over time and then eventually snap off, leaving you with a pedal just swinging on its own. This is easy to see, just remove the carpet and running board off the pedals and have a look with a torch. It's an easy do it your self repair either using a new roll pin, or if the holes are out of round, drill the hole so its round again and use a hi-tensile bolt with a nylock nut to go through both the pedal and cross shaft.

Regards,
Dominic.

jlex · jlex's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrdi

Same thing happened in my 88.
I changed out the master and slave.
Might as well bleed the brakes too.

Were you able to do that without dropping the engine?

sky1jord · sky1jord's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by dominicxu1

If you can move the clutch pedal freely up and down by hand with no pressure at all, I would suggest you look at the roll pin that secures the clutch pedal to the cross shaft on the pedal box. The hole the roll pin goes into can become out of round over time and then eventually snap off, leaving you with a pedal just swinging on its own. This is easy to see, just remove the carpet and running board off the pedals and have a look with a torch. It's an easy do it your self repair either using a new roll pin, or if the holes are out of round, drill the hole so its round again and use a hi-tensile bolt with a nylock nut to go through both the pedal and cross shaft.

Regards,
Dominic.

Dominic nailed it. I had precisely this problem a couple of years ago. Thankfully the failure occurred a couple of blocks from home rather than in the sticks, so I could flatbed the car to a nearby shop for repair. It was NOT a 10 minute fix.

nealf2002 · 02-28-2017, 02:20 PM

So it turns out the clutch pedal itself came unbolted from the MC..
Who would have thought..