OK, here's one for the mystery fans. The Zed has been sitting, unused for about 3 weeks. It is a TT and therefore has a Clutch Booster. I decide to take it out for a short drive, only to find I can't select any gear(because it's in 1st and I have absolutely no pedal action that results in operating the clutch). Pedal can be pushed to the floor with one finger. Check fluid, NONE. Top-up fluid and pump pedal several times, suddenly I have full pedal and gears can be selected. Try pedal several more times, AOK! Decide to try a test drive, start engine, select reverse(decide to take bottle of fluid-just in case)so exit car, get fluid and jump back into the beast. Re-start engine, try to select gear, NO PEDAL! Check Clutch M/Cyl - NO FLUID! Slam car door, screaming like a schoolgirl at a rock festival. Decide to try again when the Valium has done it's job. Get up this morning, determined to find what's up. Check all around the M/Cyl and firewall, NOTHING OBVIOUS(including fluid). Climb under the car, check Slave Cylinder. NO OIL LEAKS APPARENT(no sign of oil residue in the immediate area, either). Check under carpets inside car(no sign of fluid leaks down the firewall). Top up the M/Cyl again and PRESTO we have a pedal. Select gear, back out of garage and drive around the block(after approximately 6 gear changes, NO PEDAL = F**KING FLUID). Return home and enter garage in 3rd gear(Geezuz, the 324mm discs work well). No more ideas, and no visible leaks.
Easy Fix Pull out all associated clutch paraphernalia, fit auto box, presto no more clutch fluid leaks. It's ok don't thank me, it's what i do.
Did you bleed the clutch system, there are 2 bleed nipples, one in the engine bay on the wing, the other on the clutch slave cylinder mounted on the gearbox. Bleed the clutch slave cylinder first, then bleed the system from the nipple on the wing. Check for leaks as well, there really isn't that much to the clutch lines, most of them are hard pipes, only soft pipe work for the clutch fluid is under the car leading to the clutch slave cylinder.
Is the pedal heavy when the fluid is topped off? Is it plausible that its getting sucked thru the booster into the inlet manifold under vacuum? It's got to be going somewhere. You just need to look for it. Have a look in the vacuum tanks in the fender well. Maybe one it fills up with clutch fluid you will see where its going with certainty
ideas 1. the clutch master cyl. is seperate to the booster, I dont think the fluid could be sucked through to there. 2. recheck the carpet as high up the firewall as you can get, you have underlay under it aswell that will act like a big sponge, you will need a lot of fluid before you start to see it coming thruogh the carpet. 3. recheck all lines including hard lines at the fittings aswell as along the length of the hoses/lines, could be pin holed. 4. best way to check master cylinder is to remove it from the fire wall to actually see if it is leaking inside. I found the best tools for removing the master cylinder was a 1/4 drive socket set with knuckle joint and some long extensions. Thats about all I can think of at the moment. Hope this helps, Andy
I have a dreadful feeling you and Mitch are on the money. I had the same idea yesterday but nobody was prepared to consider it a possibility(I had seen this happen many years ago with a brake fluid loss in a guys car). I forgot to mention that I have a S/S braided clutch line directly from the M/Cyl to the Slave, so bleeding an extra nipple is not an issue in this instance. There is definitely no visible sign of leaking fluid, either on the car, or on the garage floor.
Definitely no leakage into the cabin, as I have pulled the carpets and under-felt and the bare painted firewall/floor is bone dry. I think that removing the M/Cyl, braided line and Slave Cyl may be necessary(immediately after I check the vacuum tanks as suggested by Niall). How difficult is it to remove the Vacuum Tank/s?
Hmmm i had a scary... ...had a scary ($900 scary) incident happen to me last week with a similar symptom, but mines an N/A no booster and standard lines etc. The little rod with the ball on the end at the clutch flywheel end of the deal had snapped at the ball end and ruptured the seal as my Master Cylinder had ruptured and pushed through over extending the rod at the other end... drum housing full of gearbox oil etc... anyway long story short it ended up like this.... 1. remove Exhaust 2. remove Gearbox and replace seals. 3. replace slave 4. recon master with new seals, ring and piston. I hope to god it's not the same for you but i could literally push the peddle to the floor with a finger tip and it didn't come back up!
Why not just remove the vacuum supply and use the clutch unassisted, if the problem goes away you have found your problem bit.
Who made you so smart? Thanks for that, I had totally overlooked the obvious(due in part to blind panic, and advancing senility).:rofl::rofl: Will make that my first test today.:zlove:
Don't see how This could happen as the booster is only pushing a rod which fits into the end of the piston assembly and is not hooked up to the hydraulics. Also has a check valve to stop this happening. As advised on the phone get it up on a hoist, degrease it all, fill with fluid, get somebody up in the car pumping the pedal while your underneath looking to see where the fluid is going, got to be a leak somewhere, clutch master cylnder dosen't hold much fluid so your only looking for a small amount.
Definitely no sign of leaking/fluid anywhere near the Slave Cylinder or the M/Cylinder, which pretty much points to the braided clutch line or the Booster theory(which would mean that vacuum has to be applied to the push-rod area in sufficient amount to "suck" fluid past the seals/cups and into the booster). Will try disconnecting the vacuum to the booster and see what does or doesn't happen. If the fluid still vanishes I will place an ad for a .45 Cal. Automatic or a new clutch line(anybody who starts a Poll will push me towards the .45).:rofl:
I dont understand. The clutch booster is physically separate from the master. The only connection is a ball pushing on the back of the master. There is NO WAY any fluid can get from the master through to the booster and into the vacuum system without pissing all over the floor first. IMO look somewhere else. its dribbling out somewhere. you just have to find it. Braided line ??? Just pull the clutch vac pipe and look inside if you really need to check this. It will sure as shit be wet with fluid if its getting inside using the force to travel to there.
Leaking in to Booster I've had it happen in both Z's I've had. The master cylinder piston seal is damaged and in a lot of circumstances it will leak in to the booster rather than externally since they should be fully sealed together. The fluid could also potentially go in to the engine intake system too through the vacuum port on the booster .. this is the only assumption I can make since the fluid does not exit the booster anywhere and I've had to fill it up several times - the fluid has to go somewhere.
Update today I have disconnected the vacuum hoses to the Clutch Booster. Refilled the M/Cylinder and bled to obtain some pedal. Went for test drive. Returned home minus any pedal or fluid(brakes still work fine, thankfully). Removed M/Cylinder(some signs of fluid between it and the booster, but not enough to account for 4 refills). Removed braided clutch line(no evidence of fresh/wet fluid on the exterior). Placed ad for purchase of .45 Cal Automatic.
Just a curious question. What colour brake/clutch fluid are you using? There really cant be anything that serious hiding where its going. Just some more ideas... Does the cap seal well? Banjo fitting done up tight on either end? Slave cylinder seal in good condition? Have you tried blocking one end of the SS line and blowing compressed air into it - listening for hissing sounds? You've obviously checked the booster (regardless of it evening being able to suck the fluid out) Have you disassembled the Master cylinder and checked to see that the cup seal hasnt been pushed backwards within the sleeve? I mean its all pretty straight forward, being that you have the SS line setup over OEM. If you have clear fluid, try adding some coloured food die to it and see if it will allow you to visually see where its escaping. All just ideas.
