Eenis

I went out this morning, and all was fine. I just took the car out a few minutes ago and I was getting very little pressure in the clutch. It felt like the car was driving fine, just with a very limp clutch pedal. I searched thru some old threads and by POE I'm guessing that it's not a bad master cylinder (no fluid leaking around dashboard) or bad slave (no fluid leaking from cylinder to ground). Assuming I have no rips in my lines, which would spill fluid somewhere, all that would be left should be to bleed the clutch, right? Any other options besides the 3 that I found?

Guessing I answered my own question, but I'm an auto-repair newbie so I just wanna make sure i'm thinking right before I go tear something up. much appreciated.

Metal Maxima

iTrader: (30)

With a name like Eenis, you should know that Viagra will take care of anything flaccid.

TXT-1

iTrader: (1)

BewstAdd1ct

a master or slave cylinder can leak internally also.

if you depress the clutch, and can get it into gear, and hold the clutch and brake and the car stalls or wants to go forward, youre looking at a clyiinder. if you can hold it like that, the pressure plate is weak.

still need more info tho

Eenis

CRAP. Yeah...it gets into gear, and I can drive it like normal. No problems doing that in the 4 miles I've driven it since I noticed it was soft....only problem is that the clutch is really spongy. So your thought is that since I can hold the clutch in and it won't stall, that it may be the pressure plate? Wonderful, seeing that I just had the clutch replaced 40k miles ago and never abuse it. WOO HOO!!! i'm gonna take it for a spin in the morning and see how it behaves.

ColdSHO

iTrader: (25)

what if the pedal is spongy and the clutch doesnt grab that well, like when shifting fast, and its a new clutch?

Kevon1

iTrader: (12)

Laughing my A$$ off. Enis & flacid HAHAHAHA!!!! I feel like Beavis & Butthead!

Eenis

I'm glad that Eenis' flacid clutch could amuse you (yup...giving y'all that one too). Topped off the fluid last night and drove about 20 city miles this morning and the fluid is at the same level it was last night. I'm guessing that if there was a leak somewhere that the level would have gone down some. So i guess it's air or the pressure plate.

2003PearlMaxima

There might be air in the lines.

Eenis

question....air gets into the clutch line somewhere, which lowers the boiling point of the brake fluid. This causes the fluid to boil at a lower temp, and as a gas it escapes from the MC/SS/clutch line at some point, correct. As the car cools, it then condenses back around the clutch line in the form of "sweat", right? Curious about how the fluid level drops, and another explanation for clear fluid on the outside of my line (other than a leak).

BewstAdd1ct

air in the line to the point causing a weak pedal would most definately cause difficulty shifting.and yes, with the car in gear... lets say 4th, at a stop, cluch depressed, brakes applied, holding both pedals for 15 seconds or so would give oyu a stall if you had a leak, externally or internally.

water in the fluid will cause the fluid to boil at a lower temp. air just compresses, heats and then expands when the pressure is released. there should be no fluid on the outside of the line, even if it were to evaporate and condense on the line... how would it get past the fill cap (which should be sealed). where is the fluid on the line? are all fittings tight? is the line old and possibly rusted or oxidized, maybe to the point of even being porous? if it were, that would explain the 'sweating', and ive seen it happen. was the level low when you topped it off?

Eenis

Yeah...the level was really low when I topped it off. I'll have to go back this weekend and see where the fluid came from since I ended up not bleeding the clutch (i got bored trying to contort my wrist to get to the lower pressure release valve, so I went to sleep). I don't think my mechanic replaced the line when he did my tranny and clutch 40k miles ago, so it's probably the facory line. Looking into the engine bay from the front, it was on the right side of the line (part the hose connects to escapes me right now...sorry).

BewstAdd1ct

looks like a leak.

if you conpletely clean and dry the line in the area you found the 'sweat', and above, including fittings and whatnot, then apply spray chalk, or you can use regular chalk, it just takes longer. you can locate the leak like that. any portions of rubber line that appear brittle or cracked should be replaced also.

Eenis

Alright, so I've bee procrastinating and haven't done anything because the clutch went back to normal. Now it's acting up again and I'm gonna get it sorted out this week. So a few questions:
-Does the bleed order matter? The FSM says to do the upper, then the lower, motorvate says to do the lower then the upper. I would think that doing the lower first would force any additional air to the top, which would get out w/ the upper.
-Do I need to put the cap back on the reservoir before I mash the pedal and release the valve, or leave the top off the entire time and just watch the level each time I release the valve?

5thgenmaxima

iTrader: (1)

According to Alldata you Bleed from the piping connector first then bleed air from the clutch operating cylinder.
It looks like the piping connector is located on the side of the raised part of the metel where your strut bolts on too when looking into your engine bay. (best way I can think of to explain it)
I typically put the cap back on, but I'm not sure if its necessary or not. It only takes a second to take it back off and add more fluid if you need too.