vanster

With the help of Anton, I got my car back on the road
After a bout with a defective slave ( I didn't know the slave and the shaft were one part) I took it out as two so I put it back in as two
Back on the ground, drove for about 50 miles. Shifts great. The new clutch is lighter than I expected and much lighter than the one I replaced. Shifting into all the gears was a delight. AND THEN....!
Once sitting for a few hours, hardly any clutch whatsoever.
Pump pump pump finally got into gear. This morning it was much better, drove another 50 miles, got smogged and life is good.
Let it sit for an hour and the same issue. This time I can smell the clutch frying when just moving about 50ft and very difficult to get into gear
Is this all about bleeding?????

van

DougM

did you replace the master cyl as well. If so, the later one that is sold today has a longer internal shaft and longer spring allowing less throw. You need to cut down the new stuff or put the old back into the new cyl. Also, how did you bleed the system. I found that every time I belb mine, it would initially work but then go soft as you describe. I finally rigged my pressure bleeder to reverse bleed from the slave which takes about 30 seconds. All is well now. However, I never got the burning clutch.

vanster

Argh!
We did the traditional bleed, pump the clutch and bleed from the bleeder valve on the slave, looking for bubbles. It ran clear and the clutch seemed to work Ok.
You are saying to make the shaft on the new slave the same length as the old?

I have not replaced the master cylinder. Maybe I need to invest in a pressure bleeder.
Van

DougM

If you didn't touch the master, then don't worry about the rod length. I would try a reverse bleed. If you have a mity vac pump, you can reverse bleed with that because it only takes a few oz to fill the system and reach the reservoir.

AO

The rod length issue is for the clutch MASTER. You replaced the slave. I think you must be getting air in the system some how. Either, you have a leak or you're boiling the fluid (happens when I run my car really hard with the headers).

I would check to make sure the bleeder is tight and that there are no leaks on the flex (rubber) line from the master to the slave.

If that all checks out, the master might be suspect.

Andre Hedrick

Anton here ....

We bleed the clutch on an incline, **** high. When we went driving, I was searching for incline hills to start on to see if by chance we had a high bubble.

When we bleed the beast it was clear, no foam or milk.

The more I think about it (I have no comparison for S4 or any other Porsche single disc setup) as we drove, It got harder to shift between gears. It also felt much softer/mushy compared to my dual disk.

Van rang me after parking the car up hill, that the clutch basically went away, thus the thought of the hiding bubble.

Now other characteristics to decode:

Pump it up, bleed and the pedal wanted to stay down.
Pull it back up and pump, it starts to return on its own.

It is starting to scream bubble to me now, but could we have really missed it with the car on a nose down incline when bleeding?

AO

I would try rebleeding with the nose end up. Sounds like you've got air in the master. I had a similar problem at SITM last year. As I went up the 9-10% grade I pumped the clutch pedal like crazy to dislodge the air bubble in the master and it worked. Clutch came back. You can also try the reverse bleeding method, but get that nose up if you can, that will help get any air out.

Bill Ball

I have a reverse bleeder. I should have time to come over Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday. The reverse bleeder makes bleeding the slave and master a snap. I had a heck of a time bleeding the slave before I got this tool.

RET

You are welcome to borrow my reverse bleeder if things don't work out with Bill. It is in Pleasant Hill. PM me to organize.

Bob