Clutch master cylinder or slave cylinder, or something else?

[DeCaff2007]

Just south of Wilkes-Barre. Better known as Hazleton, or the Armpit of the world, or just another sanctuary city.

Ah! So the hydraulic line came in today, as did multiple parts for my Wife's Jeep. Still waiting on the master/slave cylinders.

I should mention that those Allen key plugs turned out to be 17mm. I found a grade 8 bolt and welded in into a 1/2", 3/8" drive socket. That worked really well! The transmission fluid wasn't too bad. This is a good sign, but I filled it with Dex/Merc VII ATF, because that's all I had on hand.

Lastly, my new NGK ignition coil showed up today. The original looked like CRAP and was all rusty. Between that, and all the new, clean, shiny ground wires I've installed... WOW what a difference! Starts up faster and runs stronger, but now I see other problems.

I need to do a compression test in the morning and the spark plug wires on the passenger side are covered in oil. Probably a leaking valve cover gasket. I'm thinking that compression test is going to show low numbers on the passenger side. I suspect either a bent push rod or a broken valve spring. Fortunately, neither one requires removing the cylinder head

 

[DeCaff2007]

Soooooo.. here's the compression test results:

Cyl. PSI
1. 102
3. 135
5. 150
2. 120
4. 145
6. 150

I don't like where cylinder 1 is. I threw some 5W30 down that cylinder and that brought the compression up to 150. Worn rings? Did I ever mention that the oil pressure gauge is pegged during the first few minutes until the engine warms up a bit, then it functions sort of normally. By sort of normally, I mean it'll drop to 40 psi at idle and peg during acceleration.

I hope this engine isn't pooched.

 

[Erik the Awful]

Pooched-ish. The upshot is that you can still drive it until you get a new engine ready.

I threw some 5W30 down that cylinder and that brought the compression up to 150. Worn rings?

Bingo.

 

[DeCaff2007]

That's pretty much what I intend to do. It seems I'll be driving this mook of a truck to the inspection station either Friday or Saturday morning, and have a fighting chance at a sticker or two.

I was thrashing on this damn thing all weekend, fighting constant sweat and high humidity, but now I'm down to two issues, like seriously. Oil is leaking from the valve cover gaskets. I have new ones coming in TODAY.

That, and if the clutch hydraulics get here in a reasonable amount of time, they'll go on, as well.

 

[User_name]

The Allen head for the fill and drain plugs are 17mm on the nv3500 that was in my s10

 

[DeCaff2007]

I also need the plug for the hole under the clutch slave cylinder. I'm in no mood for an after work junkyard trip. That one might have to wait.

 

[DeCaff2007]

I think that I may have the update that will answer the title of this thread. I tore off the master and slave cylinders, and the hydraulic line, yesterday after work.

First, let me mention that there were two different sizes of steel line being used between the master and slave cylinders. While that's not correct, whoever did the repair actually did it right, i.e. steel nut fittings, a union (as opposed to a compression fitting), and an adapter to connect the two different sized steel lines. WHY??? Also, even with vice grips, I could not remove the cap from the master cylinder reservoir. It's like it's glued on there!

Next, the slave cylinder was leaking ever so slightly. I would have never noticed it if I didn't remove it with the intention of replacing it. With that... the cup in the slave cylinder where the rod sits looked like it's full of mud. I'm betting it's actually rust that's been saturated with brake fluid.

Furthermore, the rod between the clutch pedal and the master cylinder was caked with whatever filth that was clumped up behind the dash and the heater vents. I can't - and don't want to - imagine how long nor where this poor truck sat before I rescued it.

Last, but by no means least, it's impossible to remove the hydraulics without disconnecting either end of the steel line from it's respective cylinder. Since none of these parts were getting re-used, in the interest of time (read: impatience due to the friggen heat), I just cut the steel line off near the slave cylinder. I was expecting brake fluid to GUSH out. Nope. Drip......... drrrriiippp...... you get the point. Could that be because I couldn't remove the cap from the master cylinder? Well, at that point, I shoved a vacuum cap over the end of the steel line to stop the dripping and slid the whole mess out from the top.

I have not thrown anything away just yet, so maybe I'll have to convince the Wife to let me use her phone so I can take pics of what's left of the hydraulics. One day I'll get a new phone... maybe..... It's just soooo liberating without one

 

[DeCaff2007]

Uhhmm.... ok so I did get all of the new hydraulics bolted on. The clutch master cylinder is bench bled and the slave cylinder is now bled, as well.

I'll be honest, the clutch pedal still seems a little weak, however, I don't really have a good reference to compare it too. It's noisy now, too. Like it has a squeaking noise all throughout the pedal travel. This isn't the first clutch I've had that does that. Maybe I'll spray some white lithium grease on the rod between the pedal and the clutch master cylinder.

My bigger curiosity, however, is the 1/2" of play at the top of the pedal. This one is hard to explain. When the rod from the master pushes the pedal back up, it's like the rod stops and the pedal has another 1/2" before it's topped out. I've never had that happen before.

Oh! Here's the morale killer for the day: I knew I could faintly smell gas the whole time in the garage today. I though maybe it was the carburetor torn apart on my bench. Nope. The gas tank on my truck started leaking gas out of nowhere! It's not just a drip, either, it's a solid trickle. Luckily, there's only maybe 2 - 3 gallons in the tank. I saw no point in filling the tank until I get those magic political (ahem.. inspection) stickers, proving I've paid money to stay on the road. Sadly, this means the bed must come back off :-(

 

[DeCaff2007]

Last update. I have success, sort of. I called a buddy over to do a 2 man bleed on the clutch, as the vacuum method just wasn't working out for me. Pedal is much stronger now, so I gave it test drive, leaking gas tank and all. Wow! The friggen clutch feels brand new! No more sticky pedal and the clutch grabs where it's supposed to.

Only issue I am still having is the squeaking noise upon pressing the pedal. Almost sounds like it's coming from the slave cylinder. If I crack the bleeder valve on the slave and have my helper press the clutch, no noise - but no air either.

Oh and even with the clutch now bled and functioning properly, I still have that 1/2" of slop at the top of the pedal. It doesn't make the truck any less drive-able, it's just highly annoying.