Club 80-90 Forums

small leaks from master and slave cylinder... leetle puddles becoming beeger puddles.. thin oily dribbles into foot well - beeeger puddles between rear wheels - yukk! - rather than getting into topping up routines - decided to be good - and santa brought a new master and slave cylinder -

will replace somewhere over festive week -
for those who have done this job -
is it fairly straightforward?
is it replace master first - slave second - then bleed with bleed screw on top of slave?
does the van need to be lifted at any point to renew these parts?
how much brake fluid for renewing clutch/brake fluid? dot 4 the one?
any special tools required? how long did it take you to do and how did you check clutch/brakes working ok after parts replaced?

all pointers be ruddy helpful -

Nice job to look forward to,,,,,,,,,, , I'd be changing the master cylinder first just to get your self in the mood.
This can be a bit of a squeze if you are a size FB, I'm only a SB and found it a bit tight getting my hands in and around the pipe work and I'm supposed to know what I am doing ,,,ex (FMC Motor mechanic).

Provided you get the pipe fittings on and off ok you should be in the pub for just after lunch,,,,But to be on the safe side if I was you I'd be getting myself some good quality penetrating fluid and applying (liberally) it to the slave cylinder pipe union.

Access to the slave cylinder is once again determined by the size of your belly, if its a big - un ,then a jack and axle stands will be needed.

Bleeding the system is a 2 man job really, and half a litre of brake fluid should be more than enough to complete the job.

PS, try not to drop the actuator rod inside the bell housing when removing the old slave cylinder,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and remember to use a touch of copper-ease on the ends of the rod when re asembling.

Other than that it should be a piece of pi$$,,,,

Regards

Fritz,,,,,,,,,,

Thank you my man -
as orderly and articulate as ever!
a tip of the hat to you!

yes....even if he was a little off with the FB and SB.

more USB I'd say!

Having changed both I'd say watch out for trapped air in the master cylinder .... perhaps worth the investment in one of those pressure bleeding jobbies, otherwise it's pump the pedal quickly by hand and wait for the bubbles to rise to the reservoir, you'll also feel the pressure building better with your hand.

I put two M8 rivnuts in the slave cylinder bracket while the gearbox was out so that makes that end a doddle now

Ian.

just depress the pedal slightly and let gravity and time do most of the bleeding for you, just want a mate and tube and 7mm spanner to ensure it's totally bled once it's come through.

all really useful - done the master today - having a re read on all the threads on site on changing slave/master tonight - so slave n bleeding tommorrow - will let you know how it all pans out -

thanks again everyone for sharing your knowledge

ennitt the way!?!

changed master cylinder - other than acrobatics trying to get top mounting bolt back on - easy peasy - 2 good hints - uno - keep handy rubber plugs / caps from new cylinder and use to plug hose lines on old cylinder - dos - for me - 2 mounting bolts were both 13mm the 1 banjo joining bottom of cylinder and hose line - 17mm - used spanner/ratchets - in all 3 - ruddy useful in confined spaces -

then..

aiee aiee aiee -
went to replace slave cylinder - when i found it! - reachable from engine for me - will the roll continue? - 2 mounting bolts with nuts at the bottom - 2 13mm spanner/ratchets - no probs - then - strange looking screw ? - joining hose line to slave cylinder - wont budge! wd 40 - twisting - pliers - pleading - more wd 40 - no obvious spanner size - trying bycicle unscrewing tools - threatening - thin nosed pliers - nowt doing -

last spray and calling it a day - if no movement tommorrow - possible to cut off just past point where it enters hose? - take inside and wrestle with in the warm? (like 'women in love ' - but with a slave cylinder!) -then put into new cylinder and out back as one unit? - try and find that one new part? where? - keep going over days with the wd? asume it screws in one side to new cylinder and ioher pushed into hose? - essential? no jubilee clip bodge possible?

yr ideas thinking wxperiences - all appreciated -

The opaque plastic/nylon tube pushes onto the threaded fitting, you'll struggle to clamp the tubing up. Why not wait till your local hose repair specialist (i.e. Pirtek et al in Yellow Pages) are open and take the ends in and have another made up, coppaslip them and that's another job you'll not struggle with again

Good luck and Happy Christmas, Ian.

sounds like a job for mole grips to me?

cheers me dears - will try another day or 2 of mole grips n penetrating fluid - before the pirtek suggestion -
thanks for all your input -
and warm regards n seasonal greetings to all on this site -
will let you know how things worked out in the new year -

update - !
managed to get the 'union nut' off - the one joining heavy duty hose pipe to slave cylinder - and put in - new slave cylinder - MEE KNUCKLES! - that mounting nut n bolt closest to the engine! - bled some air - trial drive - started well - stopped - couldn't engage gears! - dr haynes -
'primary cause.. unable to select gears - air in clutch hydraulic system..' -so - another day - another bleed - Seems to be driving ok at moment -
will try longer run tommorrow and see how it goes -

for future reference -
do people have any preferred methods of bleeding?
is it worth bleeding the brakes as well?
do brickwerks sell the pipe/union nut connection to slave cylinder?
could oil dripping from the old, leaking, slave cylinder have contaminated the clutch at all?
how many bleeds to remove all the air/old fluid?

all - any - some - responses - appreciated -

When I did both master and slave on me old van I went and bought a cheap largish plastic syringe and some fishtank air pipe and litterally 'sucked' the air out through the bleed nipple - worked a treat for me and also meant I didnt get brake fluid all over the gearbox/engine/drive/me/spanners/clothes/etc/etc!!

really useful technique - not seen in 'manuals'!
thanks for that!