KLR

I replaced the clutch slave and master cylinder 5 years ago (30k miles) after having the dreaded "pedal drops to the floor and stays there" moment. It's been perfect ever since, until...

1 week ago the pedal suddenly got soft as I was pulling into the garage, so I went ahead and bled it this weekend with my power bleeder. The clutch pedal is now firm and works fine, but it doesn't begin to encounter resistance until I've pushed it about an inch (i.e., right below the pivot point where the spring starts to push it to the floor instead of back at the driver). Every 5th or 6th time I push the clutch in there is some softness.

I'm baffled. Is this a sign that the hose between the clutch slave and master is failing (it doesn't leak, but could it be bulging or something?), or is this a failure mode for the clutch master or slave?

The clutch itself has about 30k miles on it and should be fine.

DarylJ

Couple be a slave or master, but if you didn't change the hose at the same time that's the most likely cause. There's not much of it that's soft, and if its that bad, you ought to be able to see it. Crawl on under there again with a light and see if you can run it with your hand. It might help the put the pressure bleeder on and run some pressure on it so you can make the bulge bigger while you're looking.

John_AZ

If the hose has no bulge, you can rebuild the slave for about $25. 30K is not a lot of mileage but the Chicago weather and road salts could have ruined the seals to the slave. Very easy job since you have the power bleeder.

Have you bleed the entire brake and clutch hydraulic master & slave system? If you are still using DOT 3, the fluid attracts moisture and should be bleed every couple of years.

GL
John_AZ

KLR

Final verdict was clutch master cylinder failure. Very annoying given that I replaced it only 5 years ago. I replaced the 5 year old slave too, just to be safe.

CorsePerVita

^^^^ good call. You'd be replacing it sooner than later.