[DeTomaso] Clutch problems when engine is hot

[Pantdino]

Based on my admittedly limited understanding of the physics involved, you either have air in the system or the master cylinder is going bad.
The slave cyl is just a single piston with a single seal. If the seal is good the piston moves and the clutch disengages. If the seal is bad fluid moves past it and will be seen leaked out around the slave--a LOT of it, probably, and the level in the reservoir will drop.

The slave on the Alfa I used to have failed when I was some distance from home.  I guess I must have smelled the leaked fluid so I knew it was happening.  I had a 12 oz bottle of brake fluid in the trunk (as I said, it's an Alfa) so I kept refilling the reservoir and used the clutch as little as possible. I barely got home, having used up the entire bottle. 

The master is the only cylinder that can fail functionally and yet not leak fluid out where you can see it or drain the reservoir because when it slips past the high pressure seal on the end of the piston it moves back into the area of the reservoir.  Only if the rear seal in the master fails will you see fluid. 

Try bleeding the system. If there was no air, your master cyl is going out.

That's what master cylinders do when they fail in my experience-- sometimes they work, sometimes not, until usually not.


Jim





-----Original Message-----
From: JDeRyke at aol.com
To: charlesmccall at gmail.com; detomaso at realbig.com
Sent: Fri, Sep 10, 2010 12:31 pm
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Clutch problems when engine is hot


Charlie, it sounds like the clutch hydraulics   - master and/or slave- are 
ypassing fluid. That lets   air into the system and when things get really 
ot, the air expands a LOT, driving fluid back into the reservoir and the 
edal gets soft. I would arbitrarily change both the master and slave 'cause 
our present problem is one or the other and typically, they fail together or 
oon after. And I really recommend a long-throw slave cylinder to save 
hats left of the ZF synchros! 
ood luck- J DeRyke
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