Date:         Sun, 27 Nov 2005 17:37:16 -0800
Reply-To:     Wognacious <wognacious@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Wognacious <wognacious@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Re: Pedal to the metal (revisited)
In-Reply-To:  <002001c5ef2a$b5574ef0$1f589904@DB7KQF61>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

It happened again, however this time it was up in the mountains after a great extended Holiday weekend. We goofed around and went hiking and finally packed up around 2 PM. The campground was deserted and the ranger was no where to be seen, cell phone gets no signal. Oh crap what to do. I had a spare pint of brake fluid, put it in and tried to pump up the line, no luck. Tried bleeding the system according to the Haynes manual and still nothing. Then I realized that I wasn't' bleeding it the way the manual said. Tried it a couple of times the way the book said and I got some back pressure from the clutch pedal. Finally made it out of the campground as the sun was going down and so was the temperature too. I assume that I should replace the Slave at this point, right?
Thanx for any input,
Paul Rogers

Joel Walker <jwalker17@earthlink.net> wrote:

> Jumped into the Vanagon this afternoon and went to engage the clutch
> and it went to the floorboard with little if no resistance. This is
> after I drove it home the previous night with no sign of problems. I
> did notice a small stain of something on the driveway below the
> slave on the tranny. Checked the fluid level and noticed it was low,
> low enough to take a small bottle of brake fluid. Pumped up the
> brake peddle and the clutch peddle too. Everything is working fine
> now but my question is what would be the most likely fix for this? A
> new slave cylinder or do a rebuild, which I have not done before but
> would give it a go. Or am I even on the right track. Any input would
> be greatly appreciated.

if it got cold last night, get the brake fluid replaced with fresh
fluid. sometimes dirty fluid can get trapped between the clutch master
cylinder walls and the rubber seals (which don't expand in cold
weather) and the fluid goes wooshing past. had this happen to me one
winter in my old 80 bus ... flushed and bleed and replaced the fluid
and it was like having a new clutch.

good luck!
joel