Clutch leak down.

[DaveSeries1]

Hi guys. I've just started having problems with my clutch in my S1. Master and slave cylinder were both cleaned and rebuilt. Perfect for over 300 miles. Now when I push in the clutch, the pedal slowly goes down, and the car moves. There is no external leakage, and the reservoir is full. I believe it's leaking past one of the internal seals. Is there any way to diagnose which one is the problem before removing them both? I'd hate to take them both apart when only one is the problem. Any help is appreciated, Dave

 

[sunalp]

It's kind of a crap shoot as you've got a seal in one that's leaking. My money would be on the
master. Of course that's the one that's a pain to get out.

 

[hdar5702]

I would remove the 'dust' boot on the slave cylinder.If the slave cylinder seal is leaking you will find fluid behind the dust boot...
If the reservoir is not losing fluid the slave will be OK and it would be a problem in the master.

 

[alpine_64]

Hi guys. I've just started having problems with my clutch in my S1. Master and slave cylinder were both cleaned and rebuilt. Perfect for over 300 miles. Now when I push in the clutch, the pedal slowly goes down, and the car moves. There is no external leakage, and the reservoir is full. I believe it's leaking past one of the internal seals. Is there any way to diagnose which one is the problem before removing them both? I'd hate to take them both apart when only one is the problem. Any help is appreciated, Dave

You are not seeing any drop in the fluid level of the reservoir?

Do a quick check under your dash where the hydraulics mount to the firewall....

 

[junkman]

I've found it to be the slave a couple times. To combat it ,I started buying brand new off eBay and haven't had a problem with clutch hydraulics since.

 

[hartmandm]

I initially went the 'clean them and new rubber' route on my clutch hydraulics. They worked for a while and then both failed at different times. Had them sleeved and no issues since.

Mike

 

[DaveSeries1]

Guys, thanks for the help. The master was leaking by. Dismantled and found debris under the rubber seal. Must have been in the reservoir even after cleaning. Re-honed it and have new kit coming. Will let you know. Regards, Dave

 

[hartmandm]

If you plan to hold on to the car long term I would get the master and slave sleeved.

Mike

 

[DaveSeries1]

Great idea if I can find someone to do it around here. Dave

 

[hartmandm]

To save money, you can send the body only and have it sleeved and you handle the rubber replacement and reassembly. I used Apple Hydraulics for the clutch slave. I think it was $60 plus shipping a couple of years ago. I had the master done by White Post, but I sent them the whole unit and it was much more expensive.

Mike