Slave Cylinder Rebuild Kit

[CJFusco]

Hey all, I still need to replace either my master cylinder or slave cylinder; I am going to do both, and the fluid line, just to be on the safe side.

Originally I thought that my clutch finally went, but the general consensus was that it was a hydralic problem. Here is the original post, found here: Did my clutch finally go? Or is this a slave/master cyl problem?

"About a month after I finished my head gasket job, my clutch pedal started making a weird whirring sound every time the clutch was depressed. Sometimes the sound was very noticeable, sometimes not very noticeable at all. The louder the noise, the more mechanical "feel" you can get through the pedal. The consensus was that either the throw-out-bearing or the clutch disk needed to be replaced, but I might as well drive the car until it gets bad enough to warrant replacing. Up until today, the occasional weird noise was a minor annoyance at most.

I was pulling into my driveway (thank god) after a long day of summer school teaching today, and the clutch pedal went all the way to the ground. I rolled the car into the garage and popped the hood. You can pull the pedal up by hand, but the clutch will not depress with the car off. With the car on, if you push the clutch pedal, it goes to the floor and stays there, and there is a weird cloud of smoke from the rear (near the firewall) of the engine bay.

Now, I was expecting the clutch to go, but the weird cloud of smoke makes me wonder... did I have the slave or master cylinder go? What do you think is going on here?"

Well, I might finally have some free time coming up next weekend (if I'm lucky), and would like to get the Fuscomobile back on the road sometime soon. It looks like an inexpensive alternative to a new slave cylinder is to buy a rebuild kit. Has anybody used one? What exactly does one rebuild? Is it worth it, or would I be better off buying a new slave cylinder?

Thanks in advance..
-CJF

[hpservertech]

I would say it's the master or the slave normally. But with a cloud of smoke by the firewall I would say it's the mater. The slave is up by the starter.

However it is a good idea to do both at the same time since it's a somewhat pain to bleed.

The rebuild is pretty simple and you can get the kits at napa. New of course is better always, but as long as the bores are in good condition there isn't any reason to not rebuild them.

[flash968]

could be the high pressure line between the two - very common failure nowadays, as the rubber is probably long past its 10 year max life span

[NKN84944]

Hey CJ, this just happened to me last week in my driveway too! With the engine off, I was able to rapidly depress and lift the pedal several times forcing fluid out at the leak point (for me it is the slave cylinder). I would say give it a shot and see if you can see where the fluid is dripping from. Also, I rebuilt the master cylinder 2 years ago and it is holding up well. The procedure is a piece of cake. I will be rebuilding the slave also, since this is the third time in 7 years of ownership that it has blown and I will not be putting in another old cylinder

[Rasta Monsta]

New ones are pretty cheap.

[Arizona_928]

the smoke could be from brake fluid spraying on the headers downpipe...?

i'm going through the same problem too.
i bought the master and hose but am waiting on the slave from eBay. it's another while i'm in their sorta thing