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Date:         Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:59:54 +0100
Reply-To:     Anthony Polson <acpolson@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Anthony Polson <acpolson@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: vanagon Digest - 24 Sep 2002 (#2002-1157)
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

Hi Phil,

CAVEAT: I am in the UK, so I am not sure exactly how my advice will translate to the North American market, or its language**. <g>

I have just (last weekend) replaced the clutch master and slave cylinders on my European '84 VW Transporter (Reimo Alaska camper conversion on a panel van). I can tell you that the problem you describe is an accident waiting to happen, and only extreme care could possibly have avoided it - and maybe not even that. I was not sufficiently careful.

If you ever have to do the job again, make sure that you remove the master cylinder's fixing bolts *before* you undo the hydraulic pipe union. When refitting, offer up the master cylinder first to the pushrod, second to the hydraulic pipe and only last to the fixing bolts.

[All this is written with the benefit of recent 20/20 hindsight!]

You should be able to get a replacement pipe made for you at your local brake and clutch specialist. Mine was made while I waited and cost me GBP 2.00 (US $3.00 approximately). However, I live in the poorest region of the whole of the European Union of 15 nations, so you should expect to pay a little more.

Take the old pipe with you as a pattern. There is a pipe-to-pipe union under the floor very near the pedals; this is where you should disconnect it. Good luck!

As for adjusting the pushrod, do try to avoid this far-from pleasant task. You can only tell if you need to adust it by trial and error, and the adjustment process is fraught with difficulty, stress and lost skin from your knuckles. That is partly because you are working blind and in a confined space, and partly because you will hit your Vanagon several times out of sheer frustration.

If, on re-fitting the master cylinder, you have more than, say, a quarter inch of pedal travel before the pushrod hits the Delrin cup on the end of the piston, you will need to adjust the pushrod. The pedal travel should be measured at the end with the rubber on it ...

If the pedal travel is between zero and an eighth, learn to live with it. If it is between an eighth and a quarter inch, try fitting the new master cylinder at the highest possible position the fixing holes will allow. This is how to do it: Fit both of the machine screws until they are finger tight, then push up the master cylinder so the machine screws are in hard contact with the top edges of the fixing holes, then tighten the bolts while still pushing upwards. This will reduce the play compared with just tightening the machine screws with them resting on the bottom edged of the fixing holes, thanks to gravity.

If you decide to adjust the pushrod, you will need a very long 19mm socket spanner to undo the locknut. It needs to be very long because the pushrod has to hang down inside the socket. I used two sockets; a long 19mm socket PLUS a 22mm normal length socket to drive the hex with which all my long sockets are fitted.

Undo the nut gently. Try to prevent it turning the pushrod because that will start making adjustments you don't want. The ideal clearance is zero, and the 0.5mm maximum recommended by VW is just to indicate when action should be taken to reduce it to zero. The thread pitch is 1mm, so the accidental half a turn when you undo the locknut is already going too far ... you will probably need several attepts to get it right, because there is no means of holding still the pushrod which is safely beyond intervention indside your socket(s)!

I wish I had never even contemplated adjusting the pushrod. But that's what you get for reading the manual. :-(

VW mechanics probably use a pair of long tubular spanners, one of which is a 19mm socket and the other a smaller socket (don't know the size, sorry) to turn the hex at the top of pushrod while allowing sufficient clearance for it to turn. But VW mechanics know where to buy them. ;-)

At least my clutch now works just as it should.

A reminder; don't forget to lubricate the clevis with a little grease. It will probably be the only grease it has seen since it left the factory.

Good luck!

Best regards,

Tony '84 Vanagon Reimo Alaska

[** "We are two nations divided by a common language" - W S Churchill]

---------------- Original Message --------------- > >Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 19:45:33 -0700 >From: "Phil S." <napszeerf@YAHOO.COM> >Subject: Anyone know how to fix a stripped hydrolic hose fitting that goes >to > the clutch master cylinder ?? > >And another problem arrives, i must have stripped the >metal hydrolic hose fitting apon removal from the >master cylinder....since the metal line is bent to fit >snug againts the Master Cyl. i pulled on it too hard >thinking it was off the threads. Its ruined...cant >find a part in the Bus-boys catalog OR Bus Depot. > >Does anyone know where i can get this metal hydrolic >hose very fast?...i got hit by a car today while >riding my bike and its hard to walk since his bumper >nailed my knee! > >Thanks for everyones help so far >Phil Stanhope 84 Westy Tiico > >PS, How do the Germans adjust the Pushrod?,, the >Bentley gives it two "wrenches" which means "easy >job/simple tools"....they must use microscopic robot >octopuses. > > > > >--- "Phil S." <napszeerf@YAHOO.COM> wrote: > > Installed a new master Cyl. then tried to bleed the > > system but no pressure builds so i think the push > > rod > > need to be adjusted like my Bentley says...only > > problem is the Bentley does not say how. The push > > rod > > DOES have some play and no matter how many times i > > pump the clutch, it wont build pressure. How in the > > world does one reach up to loosen push rod lock nut, > > im a skinny lad and even i cant fit my hand in > > there! > > > > Anyone? > > > > THanks!!! > > Phil 84 Westy Tiico > > > > P.S I replaced the Slave cyl. a week ago.

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