[DeTomaso] Failure modes for hydraulic clutch circuit

[CharlesMcCall]

Full story coming up - just come home from a Supercar event in northern
Spain with 150 cars present - including McLaren, 50 Ferrari, 20 Porsche,
Lambo, Maserati, etc. And one lone DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S, carrying the
DeTomaso banner. 

 

It was a 4-hour drive away from home, so this was to be a shakedown before
the long trip to Le Mans Classic in a couple months. Good thing, because
just about everything on my car has shaken. 

 

Gasoline is dripping onto the ground under my car, which is not a good sign,
but I'm on my way to put the car on a lift to see where it is coming from. 

 

My question is related to the clutch system. I have no clutch. The pedal
goes to the floor with no resistance and there was no effect to pressing it.
The fluid reservoir was empty - someone stole my brake fluid! This was in
the middle of a 3 hour excursion in the mountains, and nobody had brake
fluid so I spent the afternoon shifting by matching rpms, and if I had to
stop for whatever reason, I had to start with the car in first and lurch
into motion, then match revs to shift into the remaining gears. It was NOT
fun. 

 

When I finally found a gas station I bought brake fluid. I didn't have to
add a whole lot to fill the reservoir. Pumping the clutch pedal a billion
times started to create some resistance, and some movement in the clutch
slave. Opening the bleed valve on the clutch let some liquid out, so if
there is air in the system it will be somewhere in the middle and not at the
end. 

 

TO drive, I need to pump the clutch a dozen times and then it works as
advertised. After an hour cruise on the highway it is much less effective
and I need to pump again for it to work. 

 

Do these symptoms match the classic failure of something? Clutch master, for
example? Where should I be looking for the fluid that leaked out? The clutch
master and slave are at least 12 years old, and may be original to the car,
along with the red plastic line to the slave. 

 

Charles McCall
Raising Pantera Awareness Across Europe
1985 DeTomaso Pantera #9375
 <http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=2323>
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