Clutch wont return but fluid looks good

[wytster]

Hi Guys,

Would really appreciate some advice for my v6 manual 8g.

The clutch has started sticking on return and sometimes wont go into gear, I know first port of call would be clutch slave cylinder, it looks a little gooey (but not on around the rubber boot)
and the clutch fluid in the master cyclinder is actually above the max (looks like a bit murky).

Would it be worth me bleeding it or shall I just replace ?

If the fluid level is ok am I barking up the wrong tree with the slave cylinder ?

If I do replace it I guess I'll need:
Flare spanner (11mm ?)
Fluid (is DOT 4 ok ?)

and I found the cylinder for 25quid on ebay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SLAVE-CLUT...sAAOSwHQ9WXLNU

[Nick Mann]

I'm not sure what kind of clutch the V6 uses. The VR4 has a pull clutch and certainly has pedal return issues if there is air in the hydraulic system. Bleeding would be the first port of call for me on a VR4 so it seems like a fair stab at a starting point on a V6.

[wytster]

Thanks Nick, I'll give it a bleed first and see if there's any improvement, just bought some DOT 4 and a bleeding gizmo

[lancerevo3]

Had a similar issue with my legnum .Turned out the innards of the master cylinder were getting jammed

[wytster]

argh sounds nasty, did you have to repair it or just regrease ?

[MarkSanne]

Usually it's the slave cylinder on these models that goes bad. Or the damper. It's that square 5cm x 5cm box that's bolted onto the gearbox, next to the slave cylinder. I've removed that damper with a brake line connector (2x female) and feel no difference at all. (I think a new damper is around 70GBP, a brake line connector is 1GBP ).

Check which of the 2 is the issue. Replace either, it's easy enough, for convenience you can remove the air filter snorkel and / or air filter box for a bit more space and view. Undo the 2 bolts, undo the hard line fitting, have a drip pan / container ready. Put new one on, refresh the fluid completely, bleed air out and away you go.

A last thing possible is the clutch fork broke in half. I've had it once and I know a dutch chap who had this issue twice (although we both have/had VR2's with much heavier street/race clutch packs).
Checking this is simple enough too, if you can move the fork in any other direction then straight up and down it's broken. PITA to replace as the complete gearbox needs to come off...

[lancerevo3]

argh sounds nasty, did you have to repair it or just regrease ?

Regreased and its been good since

[wytster]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all your comments, I replaced the clutch fluid today regreased a bit and bled, it's a bit better but there's still a delay and thunk for the last bit of pedal return.
I made a vid here https://youtu.be/SeOKUBJj3CM it looks to me like there is decent hydraulic pressure and the slave cylinder is ok as the thunk happens after the slave
has finished it's job (wait towards the end of the vid and you can here the thunk), please have a look and let me know what you think, do I need to try and bleed again or is not really a hydraulic issue ?

[wytster]

Regreased and its been good since

I tried putting a spot on where the cylinder comes into the wall near the pedal (inside the car), did you go any deeper than that ?

[Nick Mann]

Again, I don't know how applicable this information is to the V6 but the VR4 doesn't bleed easily. The best way is to vacuum bleed.

[lancerevo3]

I tried putting a spot on where the cylinder comes into the wall near the pedal (inside the car), did you go any deeper than that ?

You need to remove the master cylinder and dismantle it .Hardest part is removing it tbh.
As nick has said they are a pig to bleed manually

[wytster]

Usually it's the slave cylinder on these models that goes bad. Or the damper. It's that square 5cm x 5cm box that's bolted onto the gearbox, next to the slave cylinder. I've removed that damper with a brake line connector (2x female) and feel no difference at all. (I think a new damper is around 70GBP, a brake line connector is 1GBP ).

You were right ! I ended up having the garage take a look as I didn't have the time to fix, they fitted a new master cylinder which improved things a bit but it was the damper that was the main problem, cheers for the info !

[MarkSanne]

Good you've got it sorted! These V6 N/A gearboxes have little to no secrets for me anymore