Diagnose my clutch problem!

[shenanigans]

NEver had any problems getting it into gear and the pedal always felt pretty good.

which is why I am not too sure its a hydraulic problem because nothing obvious is showing itself as a hydraulic problem. But the fact that I was able to drive and the clutch gripped is confusing me.

also when I pump the vaccum pump full strong I pull air. So maybe there is air in the system.


grr... like you said its kinda confusing, hence why I definiteyly posted it [img]smile.gif[/img]

[loser]

id just keep vaccuming. my dad was shocked we had to bleed it more than once. but 5 times. he was totally shocked. just keep getting the air out. i dont think air in the system could cause clutch slippage. unless it was bad and you didnt have much pressure.

it could just be air and driving it hard built up pressure so it worked fine. maybe a hole in the master cylinder would do it?

i think, 98camaro3.8 helped me alot. maybe he'll chime in. im curious to find out too. hopefully i wont run into any more problems with mine when its back on the road.good luck.

[Tyler]

you know. maybe its the bleeder valve?

WHen you say you vacuum the **** out of it.. maybe you kinda wore out the valve? **** i dont know man this is such a tossup,,

but then again the bleeder valve is attatched to the slave. Rah

[loser]

^^ do you think you could wear out the valve? i dont know, wouldnt be surprised. but i think it would take a lot of times to wear it out.

hopefully its not the slave, that would suck. the slave does most of the work, so sence your car goes into gear fine, and it is drivable. hopefully its not the slave.

[Tyler]

Originally posted by loser:
^^ do you think you could wear out the valve? i dont know, wouldnt be surprised. but i think it would take a lot of times to wear it out.

i dunno i was just throwing that out. it could be defected or something.

[shenanigans]

I'll give it anothe shot... maybe tomorrow.

[loser]

good luck , tell us how it goes.

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

1. the valve in the master is only a one way valve.

2. you should only have to use the vaccum pump if the master was dry from loss of fluid, after it's primed then you should bleed it like normal.

3. it took longer to bleed my clutch then all 4 brakes (55 mins for the clutch)

if you have old fluid in there leave it there.......

knowing how you drive i think a spec II or III would be better for you. it sounds like your trow out is getting week and not holding the clutch. the TOB that came with my spec stage 5 was a monster compared to the stocker..... and its the same as the other clutchs

and at 45k miles and track maybe this clutch is just gone again.
1. you must have 2 people to do this. open the cap where the fluid is.

2. have one get under the car one in the driver seat.

3. pump the clutch, to biuld it up (about 7-8 times) and on the last one hold it to the floor. the person under the car should now open the bleeder (watch your eyes it squirts) soon as it does CLOSE IT. DO NOT wait like you would on breaks for air to get out..... you will know air comes out cuase its like air coming out of hose when your washing your car.

4. LET OFF THE CLUTCH VERY SLOW, take about 15 seconds to release the clutch.

repeat number 3 and fill the clutch with fulid every few times

when you see nice clear fluid coming out of the clutch you should be done. then pump the clutch about 50-60 times and take it for a short drive. let the fluid get warm. then uncap to let out any air that worked out.

the reason you can't bleed it like the breaks is the size of the line........ it sucks air back in and you get know where with it.

you can never get all the air but some air it will work out on its own. (uncap the clutch fluid once a day for the frist few days to let out the extra air)

[ August 18, 2005, 11:24 AM: Message edited by: viper04af ]

[loser]

^ and dont unscrew the valve alot. i did the first time. all the way out [img]graemlins/slap.gif[/img] big no no. but again i was 14 at the time and just wanted to drive my car already. good luck again.


viper that was a great post. but 15 seconds to let the clutch out? i let mine out slow but no 15 seconds. only slightly slow than i would if i was driveing and starting from a stop. could this be why my car wouldnt go into reverse that one time?

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

Originally posted by loser:
^ and dont unscrew the valve alot. i did the first time. all the way out [img]graemlins/slap.gif[/img] big no no. but again i was 14 at the time and just wanted to drive my car already. good luck again.


viper that was a great post. but 15 seconds to let the clutch out? i let mine out slow but no 15 seconds. only slightly slow than i would if i was driveing and starting from a stop. could this be why my car wouldnt go into reverse that one time?

yes if you let it out to fast it sucks the fluid in to fast

[shenanigans]

viper... come over and give me a hand [img]tongue.gif[/img]


I'll jack it up and work on the car some more tonight.

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

Originally posted by shenanigans:
viper... come over and give me a hand [img]tongue.gif[/img]


I'll jack it up and work on the car some more tonight.

lol if my girl was not hear i would leave friday....

[shenanigans]

Originally posted by viper04af:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by shenanigans:
viper... come over and give me a hand [img]tongue.gif[/img]


I'll jack it up and work on the car some more tonight.

lol if my girl was not hear i would leave friday.... </font>[/QUOTE]Bring her by, I'll keep her "entertained" [img]graemlins/naughty.gif[/img]


J/k then my girlfriend woudl beat my ***...


Update on my car... went out did osme more bleeding, and the clutch is gripping better. After I got it all warmed up and ran it hard, Clutch was catching all through the gears. Still a little slip in 4th and 5th if I romp on the gas at low rpms.

I am going to try a little more bleeding in a second.

[black98V6]

I'm a little confused with all this bleeding the clutch to reduce slipping. Let explain the way I understand how all this works and if someone could correct me that would be great.

1. Our clutches are held to the fly wheel by a pressure plate which on gm vehicles is typically a diaphram spring. The clutch plate/friction plate and pressure plate/diaphram spring are what provide all the holding power and transfer the engine power to the trans via the splined input shaft.

2. Our cars use a hydraulic system with a master cylinder on top which is much like a brake master cylinder but without a vaccum powered booster and the resivor is separate from the master cylinder.
The slave cylinder is inside the tranny and "rides" on the input shaft there is a line connecting it to the master cylinder.

3. Now when you depress the clutch the master cylinder presses on the fluid which in turn goes down through the line to the slave cylinder, the slave cylinder expands makes the throwout bearing press on the diaphram spring this releases the tension on the friction plate and disengages the friction plate from the fly wheel.

So according to these conclusions if there is air in the lines, which will compress unlike the brake fluid, then the air will compress and in turn not allow the slave cylinder to build pressure enough to make the throwout bearing press on the pressure plate therefore the clutch will not fully disengage and you will wind up grinding the gears if you try to shift.

Now if all that holds true, then the hydraulic system being full of air would have nothing to do with the holding power of the clutch unless it was somehow prevening the slave cylinder from depressurizing and basically holding the throwout bearing against the pressure plate just enough to not let it fully take hold of the clutch. In which case the drill mod might solve most of those problems BUT it seems to me that when a clutch is slipping the problem is somewhere between the 3 things which must hold tightly together to transfer power, those being the flywheel, friction plate, and the pressure plate.


any help with understanding all this bleeding is greatly appreciated as I know the time for me to take care of my clutch isn't that far off.

[shenanigans]

I'll admit, I don't understand the clutch system completely but I understand the basics.


But my understanding between bothmy problems(bad fluid and air in the line)

Is when you have air in the line or bad fluid(its compressable) So when you release the clutch and force is put on the clutch on the other end. Its as if you didn't let the clutch fully out, like say you have it out halfway. Which will cause the clutch to slip.

thats why under light pressure its fine but when you put strain on the cluthc, its not fully against the flywheel and it slips.