Date:         Sat, 20 Mar 2004 07:27:00 -0800
Reply-To:     Keith Hattrup <themagicbus2003@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Keith Hattrup <themagicbus2003@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: clutch hydraulics or more serious?
In-Reply-To:  <000f01c40e8d$c4038880$6400a8c0@masterpc>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Thanks very much for the ideas!!  To answer your
question, nope, the clutch pedal feels the same all
the time.  ...i.e. firm and not at all mushy, at least
not noticeably so.  It's strange that it took so much
longer for the problem to reappear after the last
round of bleeding...

thanks again!
Keith


--- Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@optonline.net> wrote:
> Does the pedal feel firm or does it sink part way to
> the floor? If it is
> firm then hydraulics is not the problem. If it gets
> soft, than most
> likely there is a bad check valve in the clutch
> master. Bleeding it
> makes it work for a while but then it sticks open
> letting the fluid go
> back to the reservoir instead of pushing the clutch
> slave. If the pedal
> stays firm then maybe there is another problem with
> the clutch, release
> bearing, or trans input shaft that wasn't discovered
> when the clutch was
> out.
>
> Dennis
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List
> [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> Of Keith Hattrup
> Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2004 9:41 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: clutch hydraulics or more serious?
>
> Hello list.  I'm a relatively new owner of a '90
> Westy, with a *very* annoying clutch issue.  I
> wonder
> if you can help me out a little.  Here's the scoop:
>
> Previous owner gave me all previous repair orders
> for
> the car, so I have a little history.  I see that
> 1000
> miles before I took ownership, the clutch master and
> slave were replaced.  No symptoms were reported on
> the
> order, but the mechanic noticed a leaky master and
> so
> replaced both (perhaps an upsell.)
>
> About 500 miles later, under my ownership, the
> clutch
> stops disengaging intermittently.  e.g. it's
> difficult
> to take out of 2nd or 3rd gear with the clutch pedal
> depressed to the floor.  In 1st, the car wants to
> roll
> forward with clutch pedal on the floor.  I check,
> and
> there are no leaks anywhere near hydraulic
> components.
>  There is a lot of creaking somewhere in the clutch
> line when I depress the pedal, however.
>
> So, I take it to local Autohaus and they replace
> entire clutch, pilot bearing, T/O bearing, and
> resurface the flywheel.  Everything seems fine for
> about 500 miles, and then the same problem returns.
> So, I take it back, and after a week, they tell me
> they have bled the hydraulic system and everything
> should be fine.  Well, it's not, so I return again,
> and wait another week.   This time, they tell me
> they
> bled the system again, and then could not reproduce
> the problem.  So, I drive off, and it works fine.
> So,
> if the shop is to be believed, then this second
> bleeding fixed the problem, temporarily.
>
> Well, the car really does work just fine for about 4
> weeks of daily driving.  However, yesterday, the
> same
> problem returns again.  This time, the problem
> really
> took much longer to return (4 weeks rather than 4
> days).  So, my hypothesis is that the problem must
> somehow be related to hydraulics.  I say that b/c
> the
> bleeding did indeed improve the problem temporarily.
> (That is, if we can assume the shop really did bleed
> the system and not use some other prophylactic
> measure
> they won't tell me about.  They don't impress me as
> being either honest or competent.  Bad choice to go
> there in the first place, I know.)
>
> There is still no leaking, no drop in fluid since
> the
> "repair", and the creaking persists.  The clutch
> works
> fine when cold, but after driving awhile, it fails
> to
> disengage intermittently.  So, I wonder if the
> replacement master or slave were just bad parts.
> Does
> that make sense to you?  I've had problems with
> rebuilt auto parts in the past, so it seems
> plausible
> to me.  Otherwise, I'm at a complete loss.
>
> Can you help?
>
> Thanks a million for any insights on this one!!
>
> Keith
>
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