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Series V clutch problems

robertf

Donation Time
Alpine sat for about a month, I went to drive it last week and the clutch pedal went to the floor. It was visibly leaking at the firewall just like the brakes were before I rebuilt them.

I ordered a rebuild kit from SS and installed it this week, no change. I pulled the bleeder valve from the slave cylinder, plugged it in to the master cylinder and looped a hose back to the reservoir and it shot all of the air out after a few pumps and when the bleeder is closed the pedal won't move.

I hooked everything back up and bled it both with a vacuum pump and by pressing the pedal and opening the valve and there wasn't really any change. The pedal goes to the floor. The rod out of the slave cylinder moves a little bit sometimes, but most of the time it stays still.

Does this sound like a failed slave cylinder? I rebuilt it a few months ago but the master was visibly leaking before the rebuild and there isn't any fluid leaking out of the slave cylinder so I'm skeptical that both failed at the same time.
 

65beam

Donation Time
clutch

get someone to set in the car. open the slave bleeder screw after you make sure the bleeder screw is on the top of the slave. have your helper push down on the pedal and close the bleeder when the pedal is down to 3/4 of the way to the floor. have them let the pedal up at that point. repeat until you have a good pedal. it might help the first few times if you hold the slave rod from moving. it works for us.
 

Eleven

Platinum Level Sponsor
I had something similar with my brakes after I rebuilt them, I wonder if it is in the clutch master and not the slave. On mine, it would seal sometimes and not others. Very disconcerting. Pull the Master apart again and see if the unit with the O Rings, seals and springs are right. As it seats or unseats at the very end, it covers or uncovers a hole that leads to the reservoir. Sealed, it powers the slave, unsealed it allows replacement fluid in from the res. THAT seal I did wrong and it would work sometimes and not others. It is possible that it is not working at all in yours.
 

RootesRooter

Donation Time
I don't know if some sort of air bubble is sticking somewhere in the master, but I've had this happen several times after a rebuild. Used the same bleeding methods as mentioned. Only after literally hundreds of pumps, it suddenly catches and a few pumps later works fine. No rhyme or reason.
 

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
I've said it before in this forum, but I highly recommend the Gunson "Eezibleed" tool. It is made specifically for British car bleeding (includes the right caps for most Girling and Lockheed masters) and I have never had a bleeding issue I could not fix with this tool. It also makes initial bleeding of the master (before connecting lines) a real snap. No foaming, no trapped bubbles, no endless pumping and no wasted fluid. It turns a two-person job into a one-man job, and it's so easy to use that flushing of your system every year or two becomes an easy, manageable thing to do, which means you're more likely to actually DO it :). In addition, it allows for rotating the master or disc calipers around (where needed) to get every last bubble.

http://www.gunson.co.uk/tools.aspx?cat=674

They are available from US vendors, too... have a search on Google, or even eBay... for $27 it will be one of the best tools in your kit.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l2736&_nkw=gunson+eezibleed

8024_1.jpg
pb_gunsons.jpg
 

Eleven

Platinum Level Sponsor
I have one of those and love it. The only thing that went wrong is that I was a little to high on the preassure I used and blew the seal out of the bottom of the remote reservoir. I had to change over to an old Triumph one I had because it would never seal again. Oops.
 

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
I have one of those and love it. The only thing that went wrong is that I was a little to high on the preassure I used and blew the seal out of the bottom of the remote reservoir. I had to change over to an old Triumph one I had because it would never seal again. Oops.

RTFM issue? ;)
 

Eleven

Platinum Level Sponsor
Kevin,
Or course I read the manual!!! It said no more than 10 lbs preassure. Well nuts, if 10 will do it, then 20 will do it twice as fast. Duh.:D

Not sure which model but it is as described by Kevin.
 

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
What was the model # of bleed kit you bought?:cool:

Kit #G4062 will do the job. There are several on eBay, or you're likely to find one at other US vendors. I bought mine *many* years ago when I worked in the UK. I also have Gunson's "ColorTune" (I have two, so that I can do dual-carb setups easily, one in #1 plug, one in #4) and their "SparkTest" tools, and they, too, are pretty worthwhile.
 
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