Hey I have a 98 2.5 rs. Recently my clutch has been acting up. On hot days after driving for more than 30 minutes, my clutch pedal loses presure and the clutch engagement point becomes lower to the floor. I thought it was the clutch line, so i replaced the stock one with a stainless steel braided line, but I still had the problem. So I called up Suby Specialties and they said that it was the slave cylinder. I bought a new slave cylinder from them that day and installed it yesterday at 11 am. I took the car for a long 3 hour drive in the hot weather and nothing seemed wrong with the clutch. But then at 10 pm that night, I wanted to take the car out and not even a block away, the clutch lost all presure after a few shifts. I had to push the car and pop it in gear to get back to my house. I looked at the master cylinder and saw that some fluid has been lost, so I fill it up back to the max line. But I sleept on it and this morning, without doing anything to the car, the clutch was fine but last night I left it with no presure at all in the clutch. I had my girlfriend pump the clutch for a while, but I didn't see any leaks in the system. So I don't know what the hell is wrong. Could someone please help me out?

 

If you lost alot of fluid in the clutch line perhaps you have air in the system?

I think there is a bleed point for the clutch. Bleed the line like you bleed brakes having your girlfriend pump the clutch while you open and close the valve.

Other than that i don't know why you got leaks. Perhaps its time to take it to more expert advice and have them look over your car.

 

I driove the car to work and back today and it seemed fine. We're gonna bleed the clutch fluid again when it gets cooler. We'll see what happens next. If it still has a problem later on, I'll take it to Suby Specialties then.

 

Well today my clutch seemed fine. But when my girlfriend and I were at the store, on the way back, the clutch lost pressure really quickly like it did the other day, but not as fast. I had to clutchless shift almost all the time to get back home which was 10 minutes away. But when I pulled into the driveway, I tried the clutch again and it had full presure in it. I checked the master cylinder and the fluid was where it was before. What the hell is going on? Help Please!!

 

The master cylinder is probably bad and should be replaced. It does not have to leak fluid externally to fail, if the internal seals don't hold pressure you'll get a low pedal.
The master and slave should always be replaced together anyway, to prevent situations like this and also because once one of them has failed the other will often follow soon afterward if it isn't replaced.

 

I just purchased a new master cylinder. I don't know how to put it in. I know you have to unbolt the two holding the master cylinder to the fire wall, but I don't know what to bolt the piston to. Any help here?

 

Well I figured out how to replace the master cylinder. So I changed the master cylinder. I'll see what happens after this. Thanks for your help.

 

Well something is still wrong with the clutch. When I push the pedal all the way down, and say I want to inch through traffic, I have to play with the clutch while still pressing it down. I tried this for 20 seconds while the car was off and after the clutch wouldn't come back up on it's own and it felt like before. But if i pull the pedal back up, the pedal has full presure again. I go check the fluid in the master cylinder and there is some fluid being lost. So I'm thinking that there is a small leak in the system. What if I put some kind of sealant in the bolt threading between the hard clutch line and the S.S. line and on the bolt threading between the master and the hard clutch line? Something like locktite? I dunno. any help here?

 

I dunno bud i've run mostly out of ideas since we've cover'ed the usual suspects who knows thought it could be something easy yet.

My advice is get a pro to look at it maybe a clutch shop to tell you what the problem is. A diagnostic fee can't be that bad and if you wanted you could do the work yourself.

 

No sealant should be needed and it could cause damage if it found its way into the lines. When you reinstalled the lines did you use new washers on the fittings, or at least make sure the old ones were perfectly clean (and the seating surfaces of the line fittings as well)? There are only so many places where the fluid can be going so once you clean everything up and then operate the clutch it should be apparent. Are you sure you bled the system properly? You may have to do it a few times. Be sure not to allow the pedal to come up while the bleeder is open, and keep the reservoir full.
Did you adjust the master cylinder pushrod after you installed it?

 

Maybe the fittings and washers aren't clean. I'll go take a look at it later on the day when I have a second person helping.

 

I found the leak. It was on the fitting where the s.s. clutch line came into the slave cylinder. I swaped the s.s. line out and am using the stock rubber line. There is no leak now. So the problem was in the s.s. line. I got it from ebay. Dang it. I liked the firm pedal feel of the ss line. I'll wait on a new ss line and get it somewhere else. Anyone have any suggestions on where to get a good one for later on? Thanks for all the advice everyone. I feel pretty proud that I was able to do all the labor on my own with my girl friend's help.

 

Glad that you were able to find it and get it fixed. You never know with Ebay stuff, that's why it's best to stick with brand-name parts that have been tested and proven. A search through the appropriate forums here and at NASIOC will turn up suggestions to follow as far as what to buy and what to avoid.
Also, to mimimize the potential of leaks when doing this type of swap, aside from keeping everything clean it's recommended to replace the copper washers every time the lines are removed and reinstalled. They are not designed to be reused although it may be possible to get away with it.

 

Thanks, will do