Need Help Asap!!!, Clutch Problems - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

RedSIBaron · 10-22-2007, 03:15 PM

alright so my friends camry has had a failure...

some sort of clutch pedal failure...he thought it was the clutch going out, but i dont think it is cuz it just went instantly...also cuz he says it wont start either because it has the safety in the clutch ...im guessing something is wrong with the mechanism? its also hydraulic...so...maybe his clutch cylinder went out, or something in the linkage busted...does anyone have any ideas here? could it have gone WAY out of adjustment? we'd appreciate any help you can give us...thanks

Mike Gerber · 10-22-2007, 05:12 PM

What you are describing, "the clutch going out instantly", sounds like a failure of a clutch hydraulic system component. First check the clutch master cylinder resevoir and see if there is any fluid left in there. No fluid would indicate a clutch hydraulic system component leak. Refill and see if you get any pedal pressure. The clutch master can fail causing an internal or external leak. There is no way to see an internal leak, but sometimes pumping the clutch pedal rapidly several times and then getting a firmer pedal (temporarily) would indicate an internal leak. If the master is leaking externally the fluid will usually come inside the passenger side of the firewall. Pull up the carpet behind the pedals and check to see if it is wet there. If it is, you have a clutch master cylinder that is leaking externally. The slave cylinder can also fail and leak. Try to look for fluid leaking out of it. If you don't see any obvious fluid, pull back the rubber boot on the slave. If it is wet there you have a leaky slave cylinder. Rebuild or replace the leaky component and bleed the system thoroughly. It might take some time to thoroughly bleed the system after a component has failed and there is a lot of air in there, so keep at it. Many professional techs will replace both the clutch slave and master at the same time, thinking that if one component failed the other is not usually far behind. Several have told me that it is usuallyu old or contaminated fluid that is the cause of the failure and hence the thought process that both hydraulic units will fail at or about the same time. YMMV.

Mike

RedSIBaron · 10-22-2007, 05:24 PM

EXCELENT!! that was exactly the specific experience i was looking for...now i can actually diagnose the problem...when i finally get to head over to my friends house to take a look at his car ill know what to look for...thanks a lot mike! the more i thought about it after posting this, i couldnt come up with anything other than the slave...i dont think its an internal master, because we've already had a brake master go out with an internal leak and we were able to build pressure in it, and there is no pressure being built in it now, also i dont think its an external of the master because when i asked if there was any fluids on the inside i believe he said no, plus ive been under there and have never noticed any leaking...im guessing its the slave...also it would make sense that it would go out because this has very old fluid in it...ill see what i can see when it stops raining here and if its either of the cylinders, then ill have my buddy replace both...

excellent, i feel like i can tackle this now...thanks again
-Charles

marc780 · 10-25-2007, 11:18 AM

one time my clutch on my old 1971 vega failed, the pedal was too loose and wouldnt work the clutch. It turned out the pressure plate springs had failed and replacing the clutch parts fixed it (and this made me decide that new pressure plates were better than "rebuilt" ones!)

The proof would be if the pedal worked the clutch fork (you could see it moving when you crawled underneath and someone was pressing the clutch pedal). also the return movement of the pedal would only be coming from its retrun spring (weaker feeling) and not from the strong springs of the pressure plate like how it is supposed to be.

RedSIBaron · 10-29-2007, 09:13 AM

update!!! friday we swapped out the slave and master clutch cylinders in about 30-45mintues, bled the system and i adjusted the pedal height back up high so it engages sooner...it all went great and everything is pretty well adjusted now YAY!!!, id like to get a little more pressure in teh clutch though if anyone has any tips on better bleeding techniques...i think im going to take the master off and re bench bleed it, well, i dont NEED to take it off ig uess...i can do it on the car...ANYWAY, thanks for the help all!!

Kuler2.0 · 10-29-2007, 09:46 AM

I just wanted to second RedSiBaron's thankyou. It was my car we were working on and the information from all was awesome. Thanks again,
Jay

Mike Gerber · 10-31-2007, 12:10 PM

You're welcome. Glad it worked out well for you.

As far as rebleeding the system I would just rebleed the system with the master left on the car, using the 2 person approach. I wouldn't go through the trouble of removing it from the car now.

Mike

fredk · 10-31-2007, 06:03 PM

the master will bleed from being driven, just bleed the slave a little

RedSIBaron · 11-01-2007, 08:17 AM

yah i was just being overly obsessive wanting it to be just right, we did hte 2 person bleeding the first time and it tightened up pretty quickly, so after my idea of "lets bleed it again" i found out that it had stiffened up and i was happy with the clutch feel so im not worried about it...