Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2001 15:54:54 -0800
Reply-To: Brent Christensen <sbsyncro@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Brent Christensen <sbsyncro@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Clutch Slave Cylinder Bleed problem (How to replace your
slave cylinder)
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
I'd have to concur with Zoltan. I recently replaced my slave cyl (I posted
details on the Syncro list, the end result of which I have attached to this
e-mail) and bleeding it took a bit more than a pint, I would say. (My
master had become empty as a result of the same sort of leakage).
Included in this e-mail (in order of appearance):
1. My suggested modifications to Dr. Rainer Woitok method
2. Dr. Rainer's method, as posted to the Syncro List
3. A great tip from Tim King (originally from Daryl at AAA Transaxle)
Not sure if these tips are unique to Syncros, but should be helpful
nonetheless.
Brent Christensen
'89 GL Syncro Westy
Santa Barbara, CA
----------------------------------------------------
From: "Brent Christensen" <sbsyncro@h...>
Date: Sun Sep 30, 2001 8:31 pm
Subject: Re: [Syncro] Time to change out the slave cylinder...
Well, I did the nasty deed and replaced the slave cylinder yesterday
morning. Not all that bad, really. Dr. Rainer's tip sheet (which I have
left attached to this e-mail) was very helpful as a road map, but I would
offer the following additional advice to anyone planning this job:
First, having a pressure bleeder made bleeding the system a 5-minute one
person job. If you don't have one already, run out and get one. I have a
unit called an "Eezi-bleed" that I bought years ago for an Austin Healey -
about $30 and it is pressurized by a tire (I use a wheelbarrow tire with
about 25 psi in it). A quick search turned them up at
http://www.aep.bigstep.com/Eezi.htm
Secondly, a 13 mm "Crows foot" at the end of a long 3/8" extension worked
WONDERS for removing the pesky rear bolt (the one towards the reat of the
van). Forget trying to do it with box wrenches, unless you have a "super
stubby" like Snap-On makes, or you are willing to make your own by cutting
it in half and grinding the stub smooth. Another ideal tool would be a 13
mm "distributor wrench" but I was not able to find one, and don't even know
if they are made in 13 mm.
Removing the Slave cylinder entirely from the topside is possible, and I
would submit, easier. In fact, if you are lucky, you could do it without
ever crawling under the van at all. The trick is to undo the banjo fitting
at the slave cylinder, which is a bit tricky if you have thick fingers. You
have to force the short coolant hose back far enough so that you can back
the bolt out from the banjo nut. Be prepared, as all the fluid will then
leak out from the system, which for me was nothing, since the slave had
failed and dumped all its fluid already. (Also, having a pressure bleeder,
I was not worried about introducing air into the system).
The most difficult thing about reinstalling the new unit (which I did as an
entire assembly - shaft, boot and cylinder) is getting the nuts started.
When you drop the slave in place, the rod rests against the clutch's
throw-out arm (or whatever you want to call it). This means that the unit
wants to sit about 5 mm above its mating surface unless you apply some
force, which then compresses the spring inside the cylinder (which is still
empty of fluid). Once the rear nut is started by hand (I used a 13 mm
combination wrench slipped in underneath the bolt head to hold it in place,
which is tricky) you can crank it down about 1/2 way by pushing the slave
down against its mating surface and rotating the nut with your forefinger
and middle finger.
Once the slave is secured like this, you can start the forward bolt from
underneath (you have to do the rear bolt first, since the only way to put it
into position from underneath is to use the hole that the slave cylinder
fits into). Start the nut by hand, then reach in with a long extension and
"wobble socket" or 13mm socket on a 3/8" knuckle. With a wobble socket,
there is sufficient clearance - with a knuckle + socket it could be pretty
tight. I was able to completely tighten the forward bolt this way after
reaching underneath and placing a box wrench around the head of the bolt and
resting against something. A couple more turns on the rear bolt head
with the crow's foot and the cylinder was in nice and snug.
Next comes the banjo fitting, which was surprisingly easy to get back on. I
pulled back the aforementioned hose and gently started the bolt with a
couple of fingers twiddling at it until the threads caught, then tightened
it down with a 17mm open end wrench. Tightened it up and then fit a small
plastic tube to the bleeder screw, running it down to an empty brake fluid
can propped in the engine bay.
Next, I fitted the pressure bleeder, attached the wheel barrow tire, and
then went back and opened the bleeder screw. I stood and watched the
bubbled dribble out of the system while I opened my first beer (when was the
last time you did *that* while bleeding a hydraulic system?). After a
couple minutes and no more bubbles, I checked the pedal. No pedal, so I
pumped it slowly about 10 times and turned the bleeder on again by
reapplying the air pressure from the tire. About 30 seconds later another
batch of bubbles came out, so I shut everything down, cleaned up, and tool
it out for a test drive, everything working beautifully.
Total time for job: About 2 hours start to finish, not including setup and
cleanup.
Brent Christensen
Santa Barbara, CA
---------------------------
The clutch slave cylinder is often easily and cheaply repairable, as
it's normally just a single plastic seal that needs replacement. Here
in Germany clutch slave cylinder repair kits are available for some DEM
10.-, though not at your friendly local Volkswagen dealer (he'll charge
you above DEM 200.- for a completely new clutch slave cylinder).
Find below detailed instructions on how toreplace the clutch slave
cylinder (or only its main seal).
Sincerely
Rainer
'89 Caravelle GL Syncro 16"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rainer M Woitok | Phone: (+49-9131) 85-27811,-27031 |
| Regionales Rechenzentrum | |
| Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet | Fax : (+49-9131) 30 29 41 |
| Martens-Strasse 1 | Telex: d 629 755 tf erl |
| D-91058 Erlangen | |
| Germany | Mail: Woitok@RRZE.Uni-Erlangen.DE |
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Removing the Clutch Slave Cylinder
----------------------------------
1. Even though the clutch slave cylinder is held by only two bolts, it's
a bear to remove. First thing you should do is to apply generous
doses of WD40 or similar to the two bolts. And since, if mounted
correctly, the bolts are sitting there with their heads down and
their shafts up, the best way to apply the WD40 is from the engine
compartment. And while you are there, also remove the tiny rubber
cap on top of the bleeding valve of the slave cylinder before it
might get lost in the process of the removal.
2. The flexible hose leading to the clutch slave cylinder is attached to
the frame of the van by two clamps. Remove both these clamps from
the van.
3. The front bolt holding the clutch slave cylinder is best removed from
below the van with a 13mm socket on top of a long extension while at
the same time holding the nut with a 13mm wrench. The shorter that
wrench, the better. The real problem, however, is the rear bolt.
Push up the rubber boot protecting the push rod for the clutch lever
as much as possible. This way you are then able to access both ends
of the rear bolt from the engine bay. Sneak in a 13mm wrench in
order to hold the head of the rear bolt and remove the nut using
another 13mm wrench. Again, the shorter this wrench the better, and
a flat box wrench is probably suited best, because it will fit every
30 degrees.
4. When the two bolts are removed dive under the van again, pull the
push rod out of the rubber boot at the lower end of the slave
cylinder and also gently pull the rubber boot from the slave
cylinder. If necessary use a small screw driver to convince the boot
of letting go. Finally carefully find a path between tranny, fuel
tank, slave cylinder mounting bracket, half axle, coolant and exhaust
piping, and maybe some other things to bring the slave cylinder down,
so it will hang on its hose right below the tranny.
5. In order to minimize the loss of brake fluid you should now remove as
much brake fluid from the reservoir in the instrument cluster on the
dash as is necessary to lower the brake fluid level below the hose
entering the reservoir from the right. This way opening the hose at
the slave cylinder will not drain the reservoir any more.
6. To disconnect the hydraulic fitting at the end of the hose from the
slave cylinder you need something to catch the hydraulic fluid still
in the hose, as well as a 17mm box wrench, a piece of wood, and a
hammer. Put the box wrench on the head of the hyraulic fitting in
such a way that wrench and slave cylinder form a rather flat
triangle, cylinder to the left, wrench to the right, and the head of
the hydraulic bolt pointing towards you. Place this triangle on the
piece of wood and then carefully hammer on the eye of the wrench,
flattening the triangle even more and thus loosening the bolt of the
hydraulic fitting. Be prepared to catch the brake fluid which now
starts oozing out. Remove the hydraulic fitting altogether and make
sure not to lose the two copper washers sitting on the hydraulic bolt
on either side of the hydraulic eye. Drain the rest of the brake
fluid from both, the hose and the slave cylinder (push the piston
back manually).
The Slave Cylinder Repair Kit
-----------------------------
The slave cylinder repair kit contains
- a boot for the push rod
- a main seal for the piston
- a cap for the bleeding valve
Repairing the Clutch Slave Cylinder
-----------------------------------
1. Place the slave cylinder in a vise, bleeding valve down. As you can
see now, the piston is retained by a circular clip sitting in a grove
in the slave cylinder. However, that's not the regular C-clip you
can remove with the corresponding pliers. Rather use a small screw
driver and a hammer and drive the screw driver between circlip and
slave cylinder at the side oposite the gap in the circlip, at the
same time pushing the piston slightly back with one finger of the
hand holding the screw driver. This will push one side of the
circlip down while the other end will go up allowing you now to
easily remove the circlip.
2. Next push the piston down the slave cylinder, close the opening for
the hydraulic fitting with your thumb, and then suddenly remove the
thumb so the piston will shoot up and half way out of the slave
cylinder, where you now can easily pull it out altogether. Remove
the spring from the rear end of the piston and then remove the old
seal by simply using a srew driver and pulling the seal over the rear
end of the piston (it's elastic enough).
3. Dry the piston as well as the inside of the slave cylinder and then
use finest emery-cloth to remove any residues from both, cylinder and
piston.
4. Next, pull the new seal over the rear end of the piston. Mind that
the upper and lower edges of the seal have different outer diameters.
The greater outer diameter points to the rear end of the piston,
where the spring is attached. Put spring and piston back into the
slave cylinder, push the piston down a little, and insert the
circlip.
5. Now turn the slave cylinder in the vise upside down, so that the
bleeding valve is pointing upwards. Again apply some WD40, then use
a 7mm wrench to screw the valve entirely out of the slave cylinder.
Clean the valve, in particular the little hole near the pointed end,
then reassemble the valve and close it tightly.
Installing the Clutch Slave Cylinder
------------------------------------
Basically undo all the steps you did before to remove the slave cylinder
in reverse order. However, mind a few things:
- Put one of the copper washers on the hydraulic bolt, then the
hydraulic eye, then the other copper washer. Then screw the
hydraulic fitting into the slave cylinder. To tighten the bolt,
again form a flat triangle with the slave cylinder and a 17mm box
wrench. This time, however, the box wrench is at the left side,
the slave cylinder at the right, and the head of the hydraulic bolt
is again facing you. The rubber boot should not yet be installed.
Before you fasten the bolt by placing this triangle on a piece of
wood and striking the eye of the wrench more or less gently with a
hammer, make sure the orientaion of the hydraulic hose is roughly
perpendicular to the slave cylinder and downward.
- Top off the brake fluid reservoir in the instrument cluster and
bleed the system. The bleeding valve is easily accessible now with
the slave cylinder just hanging below the tranny, and you can also
easily check for any leaks (if the slave cylinder is leaking at the
hydraulic fitting you probably forgot to insert one of the two
copper washers).
- Install the rubber boot (but not yet the push rod) at the lower end
of the slave cylinder and -- folding the rubber boot against the
slave cylinder -- persuade the slave cylinder to go up above its
mounting bracket again. Insert the rear bolt from below and screw
on the nut a few turns only. Then insert the push rod between the
clutch operating lever and the slave cylinder piston, press the
slave cylinder down against its mounting bracket, insert the front
bolt with its shaft pointing up, and screw on the nut. Fasten the
front bolt from below using a 13mm socket on a long extension and a
13mm wrench to fix the bolt, then fasten the rear bolt from the
engine bay using two 13mm wrenches. Place the rubber cap on the
bleeding valve.
- Pull the lower end of the rubber boot down the push rod until it
sits in the small grove at the lower end of the rod. Attach the
two clamps to the frame that are holding the flexible clutch hose.
- Test the operation of the clutch: pull parking brake, put the
tranny into first gear, step on both, the brake and the clutch
pedal, and then start the engine.
-------------------------------------------------
Tim King wrote:
>
>Hey Folks, I've got a slave tip that will save you some
>time on this. Brent, sorry I didn't see this earlier,
>but just got back into the country. (Three weeks in
>France. Boy French vehicles have come a long
>way. We had a diesel Renault Laguna that was frankly
>sweet. Only saw about five vanagons the whole
>time, but many many other delivery-style vans.) Anyway,
>I digress...
>
>I got a tip from Daryl at AA transaxle that makes
>removing the slave on a syncro a snap. Basically,
>you just remove the slave bracket from the tranny by
>removing ONE snap ring then the clutch lever.
>
>1. Move slave shaft/boot off clutch lever ball. If your
>slave is totally shot, you can usually just push the
>slave cylinder shaft/boot off the ball on the clutch
>lever. If it's a good slave (say you are just R and
>Ring the tranny), you may need to open the bleeder to
>make it easy to remove. Just lever it free, then
>let it hang free.
>
>2. Wiggle the clutch lever off the shaft. If it's been
>there for a while, you may need some liquid wrench
>or something, but it should come off by hand.
>
>3. Pull the bracket and slave off as one unit.
>
>4. Pull the unit down under the van (you put it on
>ramps, right?) and work on it where you have access
>to it from both ends and room for standard wrenches.
>You may need to remove a couple of the hose
>clamps holding the hose to your tranny to give you more
>slack.
>
>5. Bolt on new unit and install in reverse.
>
>6. Pressure bleed system and hit the road.
>
>Using this method takes about 30-40 minutes total,
>assuming you are using a pressure bleeder like
>Brent recommends.
>
>Note: I'm not sure if it's syncro specific -- I think
>it requires the flexible plastic fluid lines of the
>syncro,
>something my 83 vanagon was lacking.
>
>Have fun. This tip from trannyman extraordinaire Daryll
>at AA transaxle makes a drag of a job a LOT
>easier.
>
>Tim King
>Seattle, WA
>87 Syncro Westy
_________________________________________________________________
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