kennycoulter

SCENARIO: i had my new sachs spring clutch kit installed in summer: 2002. in winter: (early)2004 i pressed my clutch in and it went to the floor, and started going half way after that. i replaced my slave and master about a month or less after that happened, and my pedal still always went half way.
within a month ago, i heard some noises with my pedal out that went away with the pedal pressed in. i was heading home for EAsTer break, and about 1:15 into my drive, i had a truck cut me off and slam on his brakes. i stepped on my brake and clutch at the same time, and the clutch stayed at the floor and would not come back up.
i pulled to the side of the road and tried pumping up the clutch and looked for leaks and any broken lines. once i would let the engine run, the clutch pedal had less movement available to it (other than all the slack after pullign it from the floor). i made it home on a mostly highway drive and had to shut the car off every once in a while to get it back in gear. i made it home and took off my starter and clutch slave.

WHAT I FOUND: my clutch fork has abotu an inch of play in it, from all the way pressed to the bellhousing, and then towards the front of the car. with it pressed all the way closest to the engine, i can press it harder, and hear a spring noise. this movement is only about 1/16" or less. so looking through the inspection hole, the fork moves all the way back to the housing, and a little past the middle way mark of the inspection hole. the rod on the slave is very rusted and this car has only been in service about 1 year since getting the slave and master on. i didnt find anything unusual on the "floor" of the bell housing after taking the starter out.

QUESTIONS: i am used to ford transmissions, and they have a "bearing retainer" that is a sleeve that the throwout bearing slides on. is this how the 944 system is, but over top of the torque tube? is it normal to grease it, and is it possible that mine was getting hung up and failed early?
what else can make a throwout fail early?
does my description make anyone think the problem is something else?
im going to check vertex prices soon, but just wondering why in the hell a bearing costs $141-157 so far that ive found.
im off until wednesday, but didnt really want to spend a damn vacation doing this stuff.....but does anyone live in the eastern ohio/pittsburgh/west virginia/steubenville/wheeling/youngstown/weirton/st. clairsville area and want to help out?
anyone have a used one for cheap thats already out of the car? if a new one already did this in less than 4 years, and about 1.5 years of driving, then im willign to take a risk on a used one.

kennycoulter

well i atleast got it back to the point that it was originally at: where it pops to half way. i still cant get it to come all the way back up. i did raise the rear of the car, and i dont have a motive bleeder.
after getting everythign back together, i listened gain for the throwout bearing noise, and it still makes the squealing sound when im first stepping on the clutch, and goes away right after steppign a little more.

Mongo

perhaps the release bearing may be binding? Never heard of this symptom of a failure before. Usually this happens when the slave cylinder fails. You replaced that, so that rules it out.

Kevin Baker

When I changed my slave and master cylinder, I could not get the pedal to build any pressure. I found that the rubber line leading down to the slave was so badly cracked and dry that it would leak just enough to keep the system from making pressure.

sharky47

Kevin, your avatar cracks me up everytime I see it.......

Alpine_Racer

I emailed you my number... give me a ring and i'll walk you through it

~Keith

kennycoulter

sorry to be so late to get back. i possibly broke my foot.....hasnt been too good of a vacation for me, with the car problems and not being too mobile. yesterday driving the car back home, the clutch was back to "normal" engaging halfway, but after a 3 hr. highway run, coming to my exit, the clutch went to the floor again. it seems like it changes with hot/cold.

the process that i was doing to try to bleed the clutch was: lift the rear higher, had my friend watch the reservoir and step on the pedal, when i would have him pull the pedal back up i would close the bleeder first and he would pull the pedal up. then crack it open again, and have him hit the pedal again.
i have read in some people's posts that they recommend having the rear as high as possible, but others say it isnt necessary. am i doing it right? ill check clark's again. thanks everyone.

kennycoulter

i just want to finalize this in case anyone does a search and happened to have the same problem.

i dont understand the driving a long time, or the cold having anythign to do with it, but the last time i headed home (3 hour drive), it completely crapped out on me.
there was a tear in the dust boot for the slave cylinder.
there was fluid leaking out of that.....
well, the actuator rod was extremely scaley rusty. i think thats what ripped the dust cover....
its just a dust cover, the rubber ring on the piston should have kept back the fluid......
well, i think i already had brake fluid on the rod and outside from bleeding before...
i think this scaled up and rusted the rod, and broke through the boot, and let water/brake fluid on the cylinder wall.
well the wall was rusted up too, so i had to buy a rebuild kit, and hone the cylinder, and its workign great again finally.
when i talked to the techs at paragon, they told me brake fluid is hydroscopic, that it ATTRACTS water. so im assuming that the fluid on there from bleeding it, stayed on it(i didnt clean it good enoguh) and made it rust up so bad. have a good day, and good luck to anyone that runs into the same problem.

Chris_924s

I refuse to let this thread die.. so she's back to normal? how's your foot?

My new mantra-

Kenny will not kill another thread..
Kenny will not kill another thread..
Kenny will not kill another thread..
Kenny will not kill another thread..

kennycoulter

sorry, i just saw this. the only problem im having now, and im assuming itll only get worse, cause i dont have the time to work on the car, but my clutch is slipping. im assuming it is from the brake fluid that was pouring out around the starter. must have got some on the clutch. i didnt spray brake cleaner on, because i figured it would fling off, and was scared that brake cleaner would strip off any necessary greases on bearings.
you think the fluid will soak in and soften the clutch disk?
foot is back to normal for the most part. just a sprain that took a very very long time to heal. still slight pain. thanks for not letting my thread die, but i bet ill still kill it.

Brett Jenkins

I have replaced the clutch and slaves on my 944, my 924, and I replaced the soft line on my 928, so I've bled the system many times. Your best bet is a to buy a power bleeder, but I MacGuyver'd my own and it works very well.

Go to Home Depot/Lowes whatever and buy a common garden sprayer, the kind you can put liquid in and then pump the pressure up and release it via the long handle/hose.

Get a length of hose that will fit tightly over the end of the sprayer and over the bleed screw of the slave. You have to get a couple sizes to make it work.

You can do the bleed one of 2 ways. On the 944/924 the hole in the bottom of the reservoir was big enough to put the end of the sprayer nozzle in and push the fluid through. So, open up the bleed screw on the slave and attach the hose to it and position it where you can see the fluid come out of it into a catch can or bottle. Fill the reservoir and then put a bunch of fluid in the pressure sprayer. Pump it up and then put the nozzle in the hole in the reservoir and then spray the fluid through the reservoir hole until it has ran through the system and pumped into the catch can/bottle long enough that you think the system is full.

2nd method, which I used on my 928 since I can't get at the reservoir as easily, is to do the reverse. Fill the reservoir about half, put some rags under it in case it overflows, and attach the sprayer to the slave side. Pump the fluid through the system until the system and reservoir is full. Both methods have worked perfectly for me every time. I have never had to bleed the brakes during this, though, so if they've been affected by the lack of fluid, then this might be a more difficult bleed.

Mike C.

Kenny, I wouldn't think you could spill that much brake fluid from replacing the slave to get up into the clutch lining. The slave is down pretty low. Are you sure the heater control valve isn't leaking coolant into the TDC hole? Also, you may want to check your clutch pedal free play. When you replaced your clutch, did you also replace the pressure plate? I hope it isn't a weak pressure plate....

kennycoulter

well, the car is fine now considering freeplay and whatnot, except for the slipping clutch when i strp on the gas. it wasnt that i spilled brake fluid, the slave started leaking, and finally went kapoot. all the fluid was leakign out of the notch under the starter. i dont know if when i pressed the clutch, if fluid had shot onto the clutch. ive been doign worse on gas (or so it seems) from what i think is the clutch slipping, seeing higher rpm, but not going as fast.
i had the clutch replaced about four years ago. it was the whole kit, throwout, clutch, pressure plate, pilot bearing.