ik2s

Hi,

I got a clutch and brake fluid bleed/replacement done on my 2003 ap1 with 103k miles mainly as maintenance but also noticed the clutch was not smooth and quite firm and slightly stiff, didn't seem to be slipping though.
The clutch fluid was quite dirty. Had trouble bleeding it all out but managed to get the air out and overall clutch felt better and engagement engagement point is somewhere in the middle. There is however some clutch free play that I wanted to adjust, when I went to loosen that 12 mm bolt at the master cylinder I noticed some problems;

1) that bolt was stuck! Couldn't budge it tried clockwise (mostly) and anti-clockwise ? Correct

2) clutch fluid is leaking at the clutch master cylinder.

3) the clutch master cylinder was overfilled almost to the lid.

now I just cleaned up the master cylinder and watched it next couple of days. It's still leaking but slow.

Any advise on what to do about the master cylinder or how to loosen that adjusting bolt for the free play is appreciated. Thanks!

B serious

You're having trouble loosening the jam nut that holds the rod in position?

Or is the rod itself hard to turn once you loosen the jam nut?

There's no bolt involved.


Clutches are very easy to bleed. Use a 1 man bleeder. Its harder to do with 2 people.

The fluid level in the master cylinder has nothing at all to do with clutch slip. The hydraulics DISengage the clutch when you push the pedal. That's it. The fluid is a link between you and the clutch fork. A long time ago, they used to use cables to do this. Now fluid is more prevalent.

Over-adjusting master cylinder preload will result in clutch slip. So just make sure you aim for ~6mm of freeplay. LESS freeplay will likely cause slip because the rod will start to move fluid and disengage the clutch.

6mm. No less.

Maybe use 10mm as a reasonable max freeplay amount.

ik2s

It's the jam nut that's stuck
car has never suffered from clutch slip
im interested in if over filled reservoir can contribute to leak at master cylinder?
I heard just siphoning off the fluid and replacing with clean brake fluid can help stop the master cylinder leak. Not sure how that works? But I'm giving it a go once every few days to see if it helps

Slowcrash_101

You can overfill the master reservoir, it won't stop you from shifting but I've found that my clutch works best when the fluid is between the min and max lines.

HarryD

It's righty-tighty, lefty-loosey. But for this thing, it depends on which way you're looking at it.

When I was doing it, I made note that I was looking at it upside down (my feet were in the air and my head was in the footwell), from the firewall facing the rear of the car, and did left-loosey there.

ik2s

Thanks, but i think i might wait to see if the master cylinder stops leaking first

HarryD

The Billman method of turkey-basting the fluid out of the clutch master cylinder, cleaning it, and putting new fluid in should work 90% of the time (the leak will stop).

I was of the 10% where it did not stop leaking over 2 years (I was replacing fluid/cleaning out the MC every 3-5k miles with oil changes). Good luck!

ik2s

Did yours leak enough to cause dampness on the carpet or visibly drop the levels in the reservoir over a few days?
Mine currently doesn't but I'm replacing it every few days.

if I replace, clean off the little drip on the cylinder in the firewall and check the next morning (having not pressed the clutch) no leak, but after I press a few times, leak reappears! I noticed in addition to normal forward back play, there is also side to side free play so I wonder if that's a sign of the master cylinder going out ?

ik2s

Still leaking a little but not enough to notice a drop in the reservoir
I will post back if it ever stops or i give in and get a new CMC!

HarryD

Sounds like your leak is slowing?

Mine leaked onto the carpet for at least 2 years -- I had to swap out rags to absorb the brake fluid. Again, per Billman, swapping in clean fluid often will often cause them to stop leaking and fix themselves.