[ajdurling]

Hi all, I have a 95 LX 1.9L

A couple years ago I had the clutch done on this car, and now I seem to be having problems again. There is about 70,000 KM on the clutch, and it has never seen a burnout, and I do not ride the clutch, this is why I am baffled.

It started off being very hard to get into gear, so I adjusted the clutch and it was fine for another week, then it started to be a pig again. I have now used all the adjustment in the clutch, and it has no affect. The clutch is NOT slipping.

I tried to bleed the master today, but no air came out. I put the clutch adjustment back to the proper release height.

Now, I am off work on disability, and have no hoist to do a clutch, so I thought I would ask everyone's opinion and would like to hear from those who have replaced their slave cylinders, and what their symptoms were before replacement. The car has 240,000 KM on it now, and the clutch was installed around 170,000 KM.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to everyone's thoughts and opinions.

Andrew

 

[Benlightnd]

Could be the clutch again but odds are against it.

Could also be the master cylinder or the slave cylinder needs to be replaced.

Have someone get in the car and work your clutch a few times. Once they've pumped it up good, have them push the clutch pedal to the floor and hold it there while you watch it outside.

See if it's bleeding off slowly while their holding the pedal down.

( you will be able to see the clutch release arm slowly moving toward the slave cylinder if it's bleeding off )

IF it is, the master or the slave cylinder internal seals are worn and bypassing fluid. This could keep you from being able to release the clutch completely when you step on the pedal. That makes it hard to put in gear.

Course, the trans being low on fluid would also make it hard to put in gear.

 

[KB]

I have a 93 LX and had similar symptoms. I replaced the clutch master cylinder and it turned out to be the slave. Do the slave first....much easier.

 

[Obliterous]

better to do them both at the same time, but the slave IS more likely to wear out than the master. (and cheaper to fix)

As stated above, the east test is to have someone pump and hold the clutch to the floor while you watch the slave cylinder. If it slowly creeps back to the released position, that's where you start. Autozone has the complete slave cylinder for $41 in my area.

If you do decide to change the slave cylinder, be SURE that you loosen the hydraulic fitting FIRST!

 

[drew-z]

i did the master cylinder and slave cylinder and my clutch can hold pressure but loses it when its held down and its got a new brake booster as well i did the master and the booster first then a month or two later did the slave

 

[ajdurling]

Well, I dont have anyone to assist today, but I did pump it up, wedge a piece of 2X4 between the clutch and the seat and watched.

It didnt seem to lose pressure, but I am leaving the piece of 2X4 in place, and see what it looks like in an hour.

 

[s0eebuch]

lol

That's exactly how I bleed mine - a board between the clutch pedal and the seat.

And here I thought I was innovative......

Oh, and getting to the clutch master cylinder isn't difficult. Remove battery and battery tray. Remove upper fluid hose, lower hydraulic line, and one firewall nut. Scoot under dash and remove clutch pedal engagement rod (two jam nuts and a c-clip) and other firewall nut. Remove clutch assembly from engine bay.

Installation is reverse of removal. (Ha! I'm a Haynes Manual!)

Beware the cheapos from Advance. The Ford stealership still has them at $125 a pop. I went through one Advance unit before swapping in a new ford unit.

Good luck.

 

[HyperactiveSloth]

Oh, and getting to the clutch master cylinder isn't difficult. Remove battery and battery tray. Remove upper fluid hose, lower hydraulic line, and one firewall nut. Scoot under dash and remove clutch pedal engagement rod (two jam nuts and a c-clip) and other firewall nut. Remove clutch assembly from engine bay.

Installation is reverse of removal. (Ha! I'm a Haynes Manual!)

Good luck.

VERY helpful. You saved me lots of time in sub-freezing temps under the hood.

One tip for the next guy, It's MUCH easier to pull the fill tube from the reservoir then remove cylinder end of tube after cylinder is removed. Minor detail and probably obvious, but it was a hell of a lot easier than trying to work around all the wiring bundles to get at that tiny little rusty clamp atop the cylinder while in place. Also, with the engagement rod, I'm not sure if this indicates my travel needs adjusted or not, but all I had to do to remove it was pop the c-clip and pull the pin to take the rod off, same in reverse with putting it back on.

All-in-all a much simpler job than I had anticipated. After all, even I could do it. lol Thank god too, I might have froze if it had been a long task!

 

[systek]

I would like to know where the adjustment screw is at for pedal travel! Need to know ASAP and can't find it online!

 

[madmatt2024]

Under the dash on the pedal linkage.

 

[gnx547]

Couldn't the Synchro gears be worn out?

 

[Obliterous]

Couldn't the Synchro gears be worn out?

Possibly, but that is unlikely unless someone has bee grinding every shift.

Oh... FYI, if the tranny is critically low on fluid, the syncro's CAN seize on the shafts. Adding fluid to the correct level CAN (but not always) fix this.