Alxx Nova

I had to replace my clutch master. Only there was no way I could get under the dash. I even have a smaller steering wheel with a flat bottom and power seats adjusted all the way down in the front. There was still no way I could reach it from under the dash. Figuring I might be getting to old and to overweight I was about to give up and drive it to the shop before it gave out completely.

Then I had a thought about how I can see inside the dash from under the fuse panel. So I did my best to straighten up and pulled the fuse panel up. I was disappointed to see some body work blocking the clutch master connection until I saw two nuts then with some more light I saw that the panel was removable. YES!

So after removing it getting to the clutch pedal is a breeze as you'll see in the pictures below. I'll never try this from under the dash again. This needs to be added to the write up on Clarks about the clutch master. It really is very easy. Oh and the fuse panel is being held up and out of the way by some of those plastic pull ties to the hood strut.

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Alex Portanova
1989 944 N/A
1999 Chrysler 300M
1992 Harley FXSTC

Darwantae951

Oh that's interesting! Seems like it would make adjusting the clutch a lot easier than laying on my back.

-Darwin

DarylJ

And I though this thread was going to be about Leprechauns.

Nice idea. Hope I don't need it any time soon, but that's a whole lot faster and easier.

kennycoulter

too bad for us early guys though!

MAGK944

Nice one! This might also work for changing the throttle cable, a task that I did last week and my back has given me spasms ever since - and that was with the seat out!

Mike

rmconner80

Very cool! I struggled with this myself and I'm only 160 at 6 ft tall. Still a pain to worm yourself under there, hang out upside down, frustrated, in the dark, neck craned to one side, reaching up with only one hand, kicking your feet into the back seat, your lower back supporting your weight against the apparently severe front edge of the seat...

Like an idiot, I was trying to adjust the pedal free play and went too far. The damn threaded pushrod from the master cylinder came out of the recangular fiting attached to the pedal. The pressure in the system disallowed me from fitting them back together...

Eventually I was able to pop off the clip and take it off the pedal and fix it, but it took me two separate days of spending about an hour each under there, cursing, trying to figure out what to do. If only I'd had this info two weeks ago!!!

marky522

Be careful pulling that panel out, the PO of my car left it out and it caused a fire!!!

Mark

alex

I haven't taken the slack out of my clutch pedal for this very reason- THANK YOU!

Wallace

Man, this would've prevented A LOT of swearing and procrastinating....

Nothing like banging your face on the brake pedal a few times, then realizing you need a different tool, which is a few feet away.

Alxx Nova

Well I got everything installed and hooked up the motive bleeder. Pumped it up to 12 lbs and cracked the bleeder at the slave open. Fluid came out, then a few shots of air, then more fluid so I closed it. Yet as soon as I touch the pedal it slams to the floor. This is only the second time I'm using the motive bleeder. Last time I changed the slave and flushed all the brake lines. Worked without a hitch. Can't think of what I'm forgetting / doing wrong. Anyhow I have to head off to work so it has to wait until midnight or tomorrow.

Any tips on using the motive after changing the clutch master?

(Slave master and hoses were done a couple of months ago.)

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Alex Portanova
1989 944 N/A
1999 Chrysler 300M
1992 Harley FXSTC

Airflite40

I thought the only way to bleed the clutch is the old school way...

did you raise the rear of the car?? you also have to do it a couple of times.

more here....http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/clutch-02.htm

Tom M'Guinn

You probably stopped bleeding too soon. With it under pressure, try letting more fluid run out. The MOTIVE is the only way to go, but sometimes you need to run a few cups of fluid through the system before you get all the air out. I do it in 5 - 10 second intervals -- trying the pedal between rounds.

azbanks

I just replaced my master and slave about a month ago and I used Jeremy Himsel's Motive bleeder. Everything went perfect.

quinnfiske

I replaced my clutch master by pulling it out of the firewall without disconnecting it from the clutch pedal. The actuator just pulls out from the rubber boot. The actuator will stick out from the firewall a bit so you can push the new one on. This maintains the original adjustment.

I had a hard time bleeding the system as well (the old way). I ended up opening the hard line at the junction just in front of the firewall and used my MityVac to pull fluid through the master cylinder. That worked.

Alxx Nova

The connecting rod has a nut on it to lock the setting so it won't change. I pulled everything because I was looking to clean it all up if it was repairable (which it was for only $33). I figured it didn't cost anything to take it apart first and take a look inside.

Also the rod is six sided has a groove cut around it for the other end of the rubber bellows to fit in. Although I might assume that after stepping on the clutch the rod would slide in enough for the bellows to slip into the groove

I have a MityVac and I'll give it a try. Can't hurt.

Plus using that opening makes it really easy to work in there so you can grease the connecting points while your at it.

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Alex Portanova
1989 944 N/A
1999 Chrysler 300M
1992 Harley FXSTC