Hydraulic clutch issues

[MufflerMan]

So I just get my car back from the shop drive it 50 miles and the clutch pedal dropped to the floor. I limped it back to the shop and tried bleeding it w/o success. Has anyone had the master cylinder go bad on there car, how about the slave? Where should I get these parts?

[fmxa]

Been there done that! It's not too painful apart from the bleeding is a pain in the ass. I used a power bleeder and it did an okay job, but still needed to be finish it off by hand (I think there's a guide in LEW). Call Jeff at JAE in Santa Barbara for parts (I've gone through three slaves & one master between the V8 & S4s) so it's nothing unusual!

[airbusdrvr]

So I just get my car back from the shop drive it 50 miles and the clutch pedal dropped to the floor. I limped it back to the shop and tried bleeding it w/o success. Has anyone had the master cylinder go bad on there car, how about the slave? Where should I get these parts?

This happens everytime I take it to the dealer to get the hyd fluid flushed!

Did you just get your brake fluid changed? You may still have air in the clutch line. Remember that's a lot a line to bleed if your doing the foot down/open the bleed screw process. I use a suction pump from Griots Garage that works wonders and saves a heck of a lot of time. Sears makes one too. Just make sure the reservoir stays full. If you use a suction pump/power bleeder it goes fast!

If you take out the trunk floor it's a hell of a lot easier to get to.

Was it a Lotus dealer you took it to?

[superdavelotus]

Check to see which type of clutch hydraulic system you have. If you have a post 98 car then it's likely to have an integrated feed from brake reservoir to master cylinder unlike the pre 98 cars which have their own.

Mines a later car and the same thing happened to me. Turned out to be the slave cylinder pushrod snapped at other end. I was a bit shocked to find out it was made of plastic not metal I contacted Lotus but they assured me that it's never been reported that a plastic pushrod had snapped bofore.

If you have bled your system, check to make sure there's no fluid coming out of your gearbox and onto the floor. If it is then it's the salve cylinder that's falied.

Unfortunately, the post 98 cars' bother cylinders are twice as much to buy as the pre 98 ones!

Another quick note to check, if you have a post 98 car then bleeding is a little more tricky as the feed ffrom the reservoir is near the top of the brake master cylinder. You have to make sure the fluid level doesn't go below this line. Is an easy mistake to make to assume you have a huge brake master cylinder to feed off. The reason this is designed this way is incase the hydraulics fail and leak out of the clutch system, you will still have brakes!. If you took the feed for the clutch from the bottom of the brake master cylinder and spung leak then your brakes would fail too!

Hope this helps,

Dave Walters

Edited January 31, 2007 by superdavelotus

[glynherron]

Another quick note to check, if you have a post 98 car then bleeding is a little more tricky as the feed ffrom the reservoir is near the top of the brake master cylinder. You have to make sure the fluid level doesn't go below this line. Is an easy mistake to make to assume you have a huge brake master cylinder to feed off. The reason this is designed this way is incase the hydraulics fail and leak out of the clutch system, you will still have brakes!. If you took the feed for the clutch from the bottom of the brake master cylinder and spung leak then your brakes would fail too!

Hope this helps,

Dave Walters

Thanks for that Dave, I'd never noticed that fine point.

Glyn

[MufflerMan]

Well thanks for the replys gentleman. I have ordered a new master cylinder from Jeff @JAE this morning. You are correct in that the post 98 cars are more expensive, a lot more! I think the pre 98 was $70 something, and the one for my car was $260 something. I am giong to need some moral support if I keep have issues with this car!

[superdavelotus]

I thought there was a rebuild kit for the master cylinder? It would have been a fraction of the cost of a new one.

[jeff_hooper]

I thought there was a rebuild kit for the master cylinder? It would have been a fraction of the cost of a new one.

Hi Dave,

I've tried rebuild kits a few times on various cars over the years and always ended up buying a new cylinder either immediately or after a week or two. The bore need to be absolutely perfect to have any chance with a rebuild kit and then your relying on the kit being a perfect match.

When I had to change my clutch slave cylinder on my 96 V8 the bore was absolutly shot and my guess is the clutch fluid had never been changed since the car was new. Hence the rust and pitting in the bore as the fluid must have soaked up lots of moisture over 10 years.

That's a lesson already learnt on past cars (one car from 12 month old till it died at 22 years old) and I now always change clutch fluid in line with the brake fluid servicing.. It may not be a safety issue like the brakes but it is a reliability and definately a money issue for an extra couple of pounds or dollars of fluid every two years and an extra 10 minutes to flush its well worth the effort...

Jeff

[MufflerMan]

OK, it's fixed. The master cylinder took care of it. One other thing I found that you guys should be aware of, the pin with the clip that holds the actuater rod to the clutch pedal was half way worn through. I welded in the missing portion and machined it back round. Much less play in the pedal now. Something we should all check on our cars periodically.