Clutch System Woes - advice please!

[SOPES]

Yeah let me know, I'll ask around at work, I was just getting out of wrenching when the LS1 F-bodies were having issues. So I will talk to our heavy tech when I get to work tomm and see what he has to say about it. Make sure there is no air getting in any where. I'll PM you later with my cell #

[Nocooler]

Disconnect the master and press down on it slowly - if it falls to the floor it's bypassing internally, and it's junk.

Did you put a hose clamp or zip tie on the line going from the reservoir to the master?

[Atrus]

I'll give the "master test" a try first tonight, before I do anything else.

I did zip tie the feed line to the reservoir. I can't remember, but I may have thrown a zip tie on the hose-to-mc as well.

[Nocooler]

Try to rule out any incoming air into the system.

It's possible that there was some trapped air in the system, and driving it made it burp and released the air.

[Atrus]

Try to rule out any incoming air into the system.

It's possible that there was some trapped air in the system, and driving it made it burp and released the air.

That's what I thought, which is why I tried to re-bleed, but I couldn't get a good pedal despite the re-bleed efforts. Fluid is coming out, but the pedal won't firm up - it's the same stiffness with the bleeder open and closed, if that gives any idea. With the bleeder closed, if I pump the pedal a couple dozen times I can sometimes get some semblance of system pressure but still not enough to disengage the clutch.

I think tonight I will first check the MC by disconnecting the line from the slave, and if that indicates a good CMC, then I'll try to bleed again - manually, or via my powerbleeder.

[SOPES]

Try to rule out any incoming air into the system.

It's possible that there was some trapped air in the system, and driving it made it burp and released the air.

I would agree, its possible but maybe on the new cmc one of the internal seals wasnt fully installed or seated

[Atrus]

I'm really hoping it IS the CMC....at least I know I have a couple hours work ahead of me and I'll be golden again

So, I know the whole deal on the "AP" branding on the slave, and making sure the country of origin is Mexico. Anyone have any tips on the CMC? Same deal, should it be from Mexico? Mine was from China - I know the slaves from China are crap.

[DETROITMUSCLE]

maybe I'm way off but I remember you saying you did not bench bleed before install, is this possibly the culprit?

[Atrus]

maybe I'm way off but I remember you saying you did not bench bleed before install, is this possibly the culprit?

I suppose it could be, but I did bleed the system out and drove it for a solid 100-125 miles. Is bench bleeding mandatory? I powerbled 32oz of Dot3 through it and then did the "JDM" method to get the residual air out.

[Nocooler]

Well start narrowing it down. Hopefully it's something simple.

[Atrus]

Disconnected the line to the slave, and clutch pedal is rock hard and doesn't drop even with a lot of pressure on it.

Going to try to powerbleed again.

[SOPES]

It sounds like the slave has introduced air or it had a pocket. Was there any fluid loss ?

[Atrus]

No fluid loss...

So, here's the events of tonight. I really am at a loss.

- As I mentioned, disconnected braided line, pedal was rock hard.
- Powerbled the system. Looked like a big air bubble came out of the remote bleeder - no other bubbles noted. Sealed the system back up, and the pedal felt good. Tried to get it in gear with engine running, no luck.
- Powerbled the system again. No noticeable air bubbles. Sealed it back up, pumped the pedal a few times, fired it up, and it went right into gear!
- Cleaned up all my crap, started car again...wouldn't go into gear.
- Pumped pedal a bunch of times, no luck - pedal felt fine though.
- Tried bleeding the traditional way. Wasn't pushing much fluid out.
- Powerbled again. Sealed up bleeder, left powerbleeder on @ about 12 PSI. Fired up car, slid into gear like butter.
- Shut car off, removed powerbleeder, sealed up reservoir, started car. VERY notchy. Pumped the pedal a bunch of times, tried again - won't go into gear.


I am getting pretty fed up with it all, and am supposed to be heading to St Ignace next Friday!

- Any last ditch ideas? Anyone really confident in their clutch system abilities want to swing by on Sun and check it all out? Hell, I'll yank the trans back out beforehand if you really think you'd be able to get it properly set up. I'll take care of food and beer!
- Anyone know of a good place to take it to have someone diagnose and take care of it for me. Does Katech do this type of work? What am I looking at from a labor perspective (let's assume just a full hydraulic swap out) - $200? $300? More?
- Anyone know of a good company to tow this thing for me? It's low, and I want it well cared for...maybe the flatbed company Kollin used? His car looked low.

[Atrus]

And, I pushed another 32 oz of fluid through the thing with all the various bleeding attempts. That's 64 oz total that's been run through this system!

Edit - also, when the line was disconnected, I pushed the plunger in and fluid came out freely - so, it's not like that line is blocked.

[1BADAIR]

i never liked power bleeding. also, you should be pumping very slow. Did you bench bleed it before installing? you can fold the seal easy is you dont or if you pump fast