Should I try an E36 project? Clutch going.

#21

Classic failure and does not have to leak…replace. And while you are at it, replace brake fluid also…Castrol LMA is excellent for this car. Chuck

#22

After I got the car home this evening I got to work. Brake fluid was low, I probably had to put in a cup. Looking hard at the slave and it’s hose, I decided that something was leaking, maybe the slave and maybe the hose. It wasn’t a slam dunk, but there was some fluid traces that probably aren’t from my leaky PS hose. The fact that the brake fluid was low reinforces that of course.

After topping off the brake fluid I pumped the clutch 60-70X but it stayed flopped on the floor. Then I pulled the slave. Brake fluid is definately leaking out of the slave at the shaft and when I push the shaft in there’s a sound like air being squeezed out. I got on the phone to the local autoparts stores and a new slave will be here tomorrow. Savannah is a small town of ~250k and nothing is ever in stock.

#23

Use the bentley procedure to bleed. I’ve tried pressure bleeders and other methods and I always end up going back to the bentley.

Jason

#24

Things were looking bleak this evening. I installed the new slave, ensured that the nipple was at the top and shoved the piston in many times. Then I pushed/pulled the floppy clutch ~150X and the clutch did not get any less sloppy. I figured that if there was trapped air, I’d feel a soft clutch, not a floppy clutch. So I ceased fire, had a beer, ground my teeth a bit, and ordered a clutch master cylinder.

Around 10PM this evening I had an epiphany. I decided to go back to the thread a month or two ago when I was struggling to bleed the slave on the E30. I wanted some confirmation that the clutch should be soft, not floppy.

And there it was. A floppy clutch pedal. And the solution wasn’t a clutch MC. The solution was tenacity. So at 10:30 I was out on the street under my trailer, with a couple of flashlights pointed up to the e36. I put the pressure bleeder on, got the slave nipple pointed way up and bled about a cup of fluid out. Then I started pushing/pulling on the clutch pedal again and I’ll be darn if it didn’t get a bit less floppy.

Then I pulled the pressure bleeder off and bled the clutch slave a bit more by pushing in the actuating rod as I opened and then closed the nipple, over and over again. This had to be done while keeping the slave’s nipple pointed up, which was a little tricky.

Then I put the fixture back on the slave that held the actuating rod in, and got out from under the car to check the clutch pedal again. And I’ll be goddamned if it didn’t feel significantly better. A few more pumps of the clutch pedal and things were looking good. I packed up my crap and tried starting the car to see if I could put it in gear. And it was fine. So I rolled the E36 off of the trailer and drove it around the block. Woohoo, it’s good to go.