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pockygt · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 1:11 pm Post subject: An odd clutch problem

So, last night I was driving home from class, and my clutch just kinda went all the way to the floor. Almost on it's own (a little pressure from me, but barely any)

The thing is, it was still engaged. AND I could depress it MORE and shift with no grinding or anything. It functioned normally aside from being like, really close to the floor, and having no real amount of travel to go from fully engaged, to fully disengaged.

I pushed it up with the back of my foot, and it was fine for the rest of the drive. It did it tonight too. Exact same way, exact same results.

I have been doing this for a little while (the back of the pedal foot thing) because the pedal would get stuck about 1/3 of the way down. (and still operate correctly)

Does it sound more like a linkage thing, or like a cylinder thing? It should also be noted that I don't notice any leaks, and the brake cylinder is full (i heard something about them sharing fluid or something with the clutch)
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1981 924 Turbo (931)

Rasta Monsta · Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 11733 Location: PacNW

How many miles on your car? Check for hydraulic fluid leaking behind the clutch pedal or on the ground under the starter. How does your brake fluid look? How about the hydraulic hose that goes to the slave cylinder?

If its not leaking anywhere I would flush the fluid and replace that hose.
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Toofah King Bad

WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

pockygt · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 11:26 pm Post subject:

123,456 miles. I saw no obvious leaks on the ground or anything.

As for the other hoses, I haven't really gotten a chance to look. I'll do that as soon as I can.

And the brake fluid is suprisingly, really clean. Almost clear still.
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1981 924 Turbo (931)

morghen · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 9102 Location: Romania

check the pedal system under the dash...check the spring...and check that nothing is broken there...i just welded the pedal support on mine.
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Smoothie · Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:46 am Post subject:

No need to overthink this one. Yours are the same symptoms I get when it's time to replace the seal in (rebuild) the clutch slave cylinder.
I'd be willing to guess you've had it happen mostly when it's cool outside. -And/or after winding it out to high RPMs (the increased vibrations make the worn seal wiggle and lets some fluid past). Just rebuild (approx. $15 for the kit), or replace the whole slave cyl (more $).
Do it now while the weather's good. If you wait, the symptoms get worse in colder weather to the point where you'll find the pedal on the floor every morning. Then eventually, no amount of lifting and pumping the pedal will bring it back. Carry a bottle of brake fluid in the car at least until it gets fixed.
-And give the starter solenoid a cleaning while you have it out (a leaky slave leaks into the starter solenoid, gunking it up).

Could also be a clutch master cylinder problem, but that's less fun to deal with, plus it goes bad less often than the slave, so I recommend starting with the slave, then deal with the master later if necessary. A symptom of a bad master would be fluid leaking onto the carpet behind the clutch pedal.

I have a procedure floating around here somewhere that simplifies the slave re-install and bleed process, so have a look at that beforehand. -And check back if you can't find it. (a search for all terms on pump pedal bleed by author Smoothie should find it)
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"..it's made in Germany. You know the Germans always make good stuff."

'82 924T, US version, dark green metallic, 5 speed Audi 016G gearbox

pockygt · Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:34 am Post subject:

Okay, i found it.

http://www.924board.org/viewtopic.php?t=11373

Looks pretty straight-forward. Although, I don't have a hone of any kind, is there a suitable replacement?
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1981 924 Turbo (931)

Paul · Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:37 am Post subject:

They are less than 10 bucks at Pep Boys, etc
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White 87 924S "Ghost"
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Owned and repaired 924s since 1977
Porsche: It's not driving, it's therapy.

pockygt · Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 4:20 pm Post subject:

okay, just so I'm certain, the slave cylinder should be as easy as getting under the car right? The Haynes book seems to think that you have to practically remove the clutch to do it, and that seems unnecessary... or at least I'm hopin'
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1981 924 Turbo (931)

9xx · Joined: 18 Jun 2006 Posts: 627 Location: Jarvenpaa, Finland

Rasta Monsta · Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 11733 Location: PacNW

Yeah, I panicked when I read the Haynes task list for this job. . .it is wildly inaccurate. Drop the starter, and it is right in your face.
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Toofah King Bad

WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

pockygt · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 7:48 am Post subject:

Okay, so I'm most of the way through this whole terrible endeavor, and I've run along a hitch.

The flange for the slave cylinder seems to be like, siezed up. In order to get the cylinder off in the first place I had to do some odd twisting, pushing, and pulling. But now, I can't get the stupid thing to thread on. Is there a solution for something like this? It's become really frustrating over the last 2 days.
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1981 924 Turbo (931)

Smoothie · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 11:35 am Post subject:

Can't really tell where you're at from that, but if it's the line connection that's causing problems, before attaching and tightening the slave cylinder to the bellhousing, get the line threaded into the slave and tighten most, but not all the way, so it can swivel, then mount the slave to the bellhousing and tighten those bolts, then finish tightening the line connection.
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"..it's made in Germany. You know the Germans always make good stuff."

'82 924T, US version, dark green metallic, 5 speed Audi 016G gearbox

pockygt · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 12:37 pm Post subject:

yeah, that's the problem I'm having. I can't even get the fitting to thread, because I can't rotate the cylinder thanks to the plunger.

Is the fitting supposed to swivel? I've tried to keep the plunger depressed, but that kind of defeats the purpose of the bench bleeding.
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1981 924 Turbo (931)

Smoothie · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 2:15 pm Post subject:

Yes, the fitting at the end of the tubing is supposed to swivel. Apparently yours is rusted. Maybe soak it with some PB Blaster or whatever and see if you can get it loosened.
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"..it's made in Germany. You know the Germans always make good stuff."

'82 924T, US version, dark green metallic, 5 speed Audi 016G gearbox

pockygt · Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 3:46 pm Post subject:

Ha. it seems like every time I post something, I go outside and it's fixed and then something new comes up.

After a couple of days of PB blast and wriggling, it finally came loose. I got everything hooked up and tightened down, and it was great.

Now I'm trying to bleed it, (as per the link above) and I've pumped that pedal by hand at LEAST 150 times, and I still get nothing. Is there another way to bleed this thing?
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1981 924 Turbo (931)