westija

Good news is that I am wrapping up my Motor Mounts and Oil Pan Gasket here. The bad news is that I came across something I need help with.

When assembling the Clutch Actuator I was moving the cylinder rod (item 14) back and forth to purge air from the fluid, when a black part came into the way of the cylinder rod. When trying to push it towards the rear of the car to allow the Actuator Rod to engage into it and the whole Actuator Assembly be bolted back into its place, it seems it does not go back enough and the Actuator face is too far off from the face where it needs to be bolted on. This black part has some play side to side, but does not seem to have too much play back and forth.

My questions:
Where is the Clutch Actuator Rod supposed to engage?
Is it to engage to the Clutch Lever (item 7) on the picture?
If so, is there a specific way to position that lever other than try to push it towards the rear of the car so the rod can fit back in?
If it does not move, do I have to disassembly the metal housing aropund the cluth to adjust its position (that seems to be super hard to do as there is a bolt that will require the exhaust to be removed).

Sorry for the poor quality cell phone pix, my kids got the camera and I couldn't find it.

Thanks in advance

jcorenman

Yes.

Correct. The bottom of the clutch-release lever (item 7) is visible through the inspection hole. When pushed by the rod, it pulls on the release-bearing and disengages the clutch. To put the slave back in place, seat the end of the rod into the "divot" in the release arm, then push the slave cylinder into place and bolt it. If the rod bottoms out before the slave cylinder is fully seated, then the release-arm is out of position.

It looks like it may have disengaged at the top. There is a socket at the top of the release arm, with a plastic bushing, which fits over a ball that is attached to the top of the bellhousing. You can get to this ball-joint from above, if you pull the air-filter housing (lower part also) and maybe pull the MAF.

The plastic liner is a loose fit in the release-arm. What has likely happened is that you inadvertently pulled the release-arm (towards the front of the car) at the bottom, separating the ball/socket joint and allowing the release arm to drop down a bit. The plastic bushing usually stays with the ball, and slips out of the release-arm.

If this is the case then you need to get the ball/socket back together at the top. You can possibly do this with a finger-tip through the inspection hole, preferably with a helper watching from above and offering confusing advice. Alternately, drop the lower bellhousing (six bolts) and you can see what is going on. You will need to unbolt the exhaust from the manifolds and drop the exhaust a couple of inches for access to the back two bolts, be careful of the cable from the O2-sensor that goes up through the heat shield.

Cheers, Jim

worf928

In the cup at the tip of the clutch release arm.
Yup, in the tip of the clutch lever.
Nope. The release arm is not going to move back towards the rear of the car enough to slip the push rod for the slave cylinder back into the cup. It doesn't have to either.

The slave's push rod has quite a bit of pretension on it. When the rod slips out of the arm's cup the rod will get pushed towards the rear of the car by about an inch.

Loosen the bolts on the clutch slave cylinder - or just take them out - so that you can get fingers on the rod between the slave and bell-housing. You'll need to push the push rod back into the slave cylinder and then slip it into the cup at the tip of the release arm. Then you can tighten the slave cylinder back down.

If you decide to use something to grip the push rod to help you push it back into the slave, make sure to use your tool as far away from the slave's rubber boot as possible; your tool will leave marks on the push rod and you don't want those marks abrading the slave's boot.

westija

Thanks for the help guys.

I am pretty sure the Clutch Lever needs to move further to the rear since the slave rod has bottomed out and it seems it happened as Jim described. The Slave is not bolted in place I only positioned it there to show the rod and lever on the picture.

I was looking into some pictures I have from my Intake work and think Jim refers to the area close to the Crank Position Sensor (behind air filter housing and MAF). I have a picture of the area because I had a stuck sensor (replaced since then). Before I get into further diassembly, could you please ellaborate a bit on where I would access the bell housing from the top? Is that something that can be seen in this picture?

Maybe because I did not like playing with the intake and MAF much, I wonder if I can make the Clutch Lever engage from the bottom only.

Thanks again

Bill Ball

I have circled the top of the clutch release arm (7). In this photo it appears to be seated correctly on the ball socket (3), BUT it looks to me like the white plastic bushing (8) is gone. This would allow the the arm to more easily fall off the socket, as Jim suggested it may have done. If so, push a new plastic bushing onto the socket, then maneuver the end of the arm back onto it. You can do the arm maneuvering from below with the lower bellhousing cover removed. With good light, you should be able to see the upper end of the arm from below. Of course, a second person spotting from above greatly simplifies this.

westija

Great, thanks guys.

I started from below and to increase the fun just rounded one of the exhaust bolts head. Patience!!
Lesson learned, don't remove the Clutch Slave for other jobs (OPG), leave it dangling somehow.

Thanks

westija

Finally got back to this after a few weeks with lots of things at work and home.

I managed to remove the exhaust bolts and the Bell Housing. I reassembled the Clutch Lever to the Socket and when reinstalling the Clutch Actuator Cylinder, its rod just came out from its body. I looked at the parts catalog and service manual and could not see anything about that.

Should I just push it back in place or am I in for a new Clutch Cylinder (item 14 on the picture)?

Thanks in advance

worf928

Just push it back in.

If the Slave Cylinder starts dripping brake fluid from the seal for the rod, then you'd need a new one.

69gaugeman

What he said. The slave cylinder has a lot of pre tension. To the point of saying WTF?. But it will go in as long as the ends of the shaft are seated in their respective sockets.

Mrmerlin

Wait, it also looks like the top release arm bushing is missing,
its white and I dont see it in your picture.
they turn brown and crumble,
now is the time to replace it if its not installed

westija

Thanks for the help guys. I finally put it back together and everything is working well (so far...)
I only bled the actuator by pumping in and out slowly as many mentioned here and the clutch is fine.

Now for my other thread related to the mounts

Thanks

worf928

I agree. It "looks like" the ball cup bushing is missing. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that there isn't some trick "racing" custom bushing in there that's invisible and be definite about it:

Jose, your ball cup bushing is missing. Like, totally Dude. Not even the old brown shards are visible in your picture. $14.75. It'll never be easier.