Clutch bleeding problems

JamesCurtis · Post by **JamesCurtis** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 1:46 am

Well, did a cheapo job and just hammered it back to a straight position. It looks pretty much dead-on straight, and I'll test it tomorrow when I get a friend to help me bleed the thing again. Apparently the 88's banjo is about an inch or so shorter than this 87 4 cyl isuzu's banjo. Also to note it had a much thinner mounting flange and looked to be some sort of steel, not cast like the 87 4 banger's.

JamesCurtis · Post by **JamesCurtis** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 4:03 pm

*sigh* I got the banjo bent back into shape, then went out to try to bleed it again, and didn't notice a difference at all. On the outside the master appears to be in excellent shape, I pulled the boot back from the master to show the connection for the banjo, and it looked clean as a whistle. I'm still not getting any peddle pressure, but LOTS of pressure in the line, and plenty of movement at the slave. I'd say 3/4-1" of movement. I'm pretty close to just taking it in the shop again and taking the transmission back off. The only problem with that being that I don't have any help anymore, all my friends are back in college, so it will be a one man process. Any thoughts before I take the cradle off to inspect the clutch, pressure plate, to bearing, and clutch fork?

JamesCurtis · Post by **JamesCurtis** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:43 pm

well, there's been a new development. I tested the car out by driving it in 3rd, and going WOT to see if it would slip. It doesn't slip a bit. So then I tried it while I was pressing in on the clutch pedal, and it slipped pretty bad, so i'm getting some movement. Now what we're thinking is that I cut off a chunk of the pushrod that was on there (1/2") because i had this plan that didn't exactly work to get it running again. So maybe it was the right length before, and now it's too short, and it hits the end in the slave before it pushes as far as it could. There are a couple small details that i've noticed that lead me to believe that this is the problem. Also, the throwout arm & shaft looked a.ok when i had it off the tranny, just to double check i tightened the clutch arm onto the shaft as good as i could, and it didn't make a difference. When the car was ditched I believe it was because the clutch went bad, what kind of odds would there be that there was a nasty slipping clutch, and the clutch arm that went out at the same time, i'm leaning towards what we've came to, but at the same time, if this doesn't work, then it's back to plan b, take the clutch arm off and inspect it to see if there aren't any problems. By the way, would anyone happen to have the recommended length for a 1987 4 cyl 5 spd slave pushrod? The one that came with the car looked like it had been modified to be a little longer, hence the reason why I cut it off. If you have the measurement that would be great, or if you have an extra one laying around you're willing to sell.

JamesCurtis · Post by **JamesCurtis** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:45 pm

Well, I know interest in this thread has died out quite a while ago, but I'm still plugging away. It turns out that the slave rod was 1" shorter than it was suppose to be, so i lengthened it to the stock length, thinking that that was the problem. That wasn't it. Now, to add insult to injury, my 88 gt's clutch line keeps getting air into it. I pull back the boot on the master to see if there's any fluid leaking, and low and behold, there's some liquid there. The bad part is that I don't have the receipt anymore because I figured, oh, if it's new, it'll work for 10 years. On top of that, I don't have the money to fix it, so i'll just have to bleed it every day or two to keep it driveable until I get a job and make the money to replace it. I'll take the clutch arm off tomorrow to see if the problem is there, I'll let you know what the results are. If it isn't that, then there's something inside of the bellhousing that needs attended to, and I just don't know if I have it in me to drop that cradle again and seperate the engine from the tranny. Hopefully things will look better tomorrow

Kohburn · Post by **Kohburn** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 10:17 pm

100% sure its the slave - the replacement are very prone to corrosion and pitting - thus i fill the dust boost with high temp grease when installing or rebuilding - you should be able to get a rebuild kit for 20$ (replacement seals) and put it back together with soem thick grease to keep air out of the cilinder - and corosion off the cyl walls.. i've never had one go bad after doing that

JamesCurtis · Post by **JamesCurtis** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 11:36 pm

the slave's like a month old, it can't possibly have corrosion inside of there, can it?

Edit: or were you talking about my 88 gt? If so, I also am wondering if it isn't the slave that's the problem. When I have some daylight tomorrow, I'll pull the boot back and see if it's leaking

JamesCurtis · Post by **JamesCurtis** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 9:33 pm

I had one hell of a time finding this thread, it turns out some idiot moved it w/o informing me :knob: . But anyways, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel now. Me and my dad were out screwing around and got it to work until i would fully release the clutch pedal. I was the one inside, so i'm not exactly sure what he was doing, but apparently he'd push the clutch arm a little, and THEN i'd push the clutch in, and I could shift and do all sorts of things that i should be able to do with a working clutch. The problem was the moment that I let up on the clutch all the way it'd go back to shit. We're stilll getting air out of the system, so i'm starting to wonder whether or not the master is lettin air in. I tried one of shauns suggestions of putting some grease inside the bore to seal things up a little better, but that didn't help much at all. Hopefully i'll be able to get it running tomorrow. Now at least I know i'm not gonna have to take the tranny off of the engine again :thumbleft: