I have a Slave/Master + Upper/Lower hoses coming in from DaveB tomorrow. I had some questions before I started the install.

When I remove the slave cylinder, do I have to do anything special? besides a pan under it to catch any brake fluid?

Is the slave accessible without the car jacked up, or should I jack the whole car up, and put it on 4 jackstands to do the install/bleeding?

Should I replace the Master cylinder? Since I am 99% sure the master is not this issue, should I replace the Master Cylinder just to be safe? In the limited info I found in my searches, it has been said you need specialized tools to replace the Master Cylinder. If this is the case, what all do I need?

Thanks

-Ryan

 

Nothing special for the slave. It's accessible with the car on the ground, no problem. 14mm ratchet wrench would probably be the easiest way of doing it, at least it is for me. Try just doing the slave for now, if you still have the problem then replace the master.

 

Make sure to use a "flanged" wrench too, like you would on a brake line. Extra insurance NOT to strip the bolt.

 

use penetrating oil like WD40 or similar before attempting to break loose the brake lines.

 

Slave - no special tools or jacks needed. Simply take off the two bolts holding it (14 & 17mm). The 17mm bolt will need to be a wrench because the space is too small for a ratchet. The 14mm one is right there in the open so you can use a ratchet but you need an extention, just take a closer look and you will see. Or you can use wrenches for the both of them.

Master - a real pain in the ***. I am 100% sure the problem is not your master. You do not want to mess with this until you know for sure it's the problem. The only reason why it's tough is because the space provided is SMALL and normal tools will be very difficult.

Rubber hose - take out the air box (unless you have an intake) and this will make your life easier. No jacking the car up either. You will see where the entire rubber hose runs to and it's about 12" with a banjo splitting the middle of it. I don't know what's wrong with your car... but I will bet the rubber hose has a needle point leak.

I suggest you replace your slave and rubber hose and bleed it. You will be back on the road. Also, do not touch your master unless these said steps are not working.

Good luck.

 

17mm? Just two 14mm head bolts here.

 

I dont know if this stuff is in here but i found this cool web site with nissan service manauls heres the link
http://www.aubreyandcharles.com/NissanServiceManuals/

im not sure if this is a good place to post it.

 

From the looks of it you have a 4th gen. Maybe they changed the head of the other 14mm to 17 instead. Who knows. But those two threads are the same IIRC.

 

I'm referring to the A33B slave cylinder mount bolts. Just checked, see he has an AE - thought he had an 02 or 03.

Carry on.

 

OK guys, an update, I pulled the slave and the lower hose/box assembly yesterday and replaced them both. DaveB reccomended not doing the master and upper hose unless I had to, so If anyone needs a new Nissan Master Cylinder, Ive got one It seems to have fixed the problem, I bled the clutch w/ both valves for about 25 minutes and got it pretty close to where it was. It still seems to engage closer to the floor, and there is no margin for error, the pedal has to be on the floor to be able to shift gears perfectly smoothly.

To be honest, the hardest part was getting the MAF back into the frackin hole without buggering the rubber gasket

Thanks for all the help! If anyone has any bleeding tips, I would be more than open to suggestions

Thanks agian

-Ryan

 

I've been trying to bleed my clutch for what seems like ever, this is the first time I've done it so I really dont have a clue. Is there any process that I have to follow.
This is what I have been doing so far. pump the clutch down and up a couple of times, than open the bleeder valve on the slave( let air out ). I done this process for what seems like forever. Any suggestions will be more than welcome. It seems as no pressure is building up in the pedal. When I started bleeding the clutch was barely engaging at almost the bottom, ( my clutch resovoir went completely empty after what I think was very subtle leek, thus I think it introduced air into my syster ) . After all this bleeding it seems as though I m getting no where. Please help. Almost no fluid seems to be coming out of either bleeders. Is there any thing I m doing wrong ?

 

Can we assume that you've got yourself and a "buddy" on this? Push the pedal down slowly with the bleeder valve on the slave cracked open, as the pedal gets close to the floor you tell the "buddy" to close the bleeder valve and then you can let the pedal come up......repeat until the fluid is bubbleless. Check the fluid level in the reservoir frequently and keep the level up.

 

The thing is there seems to be no fluid at all coming out or anything, I'll go give it a try right now and post up what happen. thanks so much for the imput.

 

update: fluid does not seem to be moving at all in the reserve, could this be a sign of a bad master cylinder? please anyone imput.... even using the above method mentioned by samson, fluid does not seem to be moving at all.. I was out there for about 10-15 min... using the above method. there was niether any fluid coming out of the slave, nor was there any movement of the level of the brake fluid in the resevoir.. bad slave? thanks again for any imput ..

 

You are bleeding the upper first, right? That's the easiest way.

 

Be a little more vigorous with the first few pedal pumps and with the bleeder fully open until you can feel/see fluid and air moving and then carry on with the above procedure, and as pmohr has suggested first use the bleeder that's on the hard line/flex hose connector block (on the strut tower). When you get mostly bubble free fluid out of that bleeder.......then continue the bleeding at the slave.

 

Failed attempt once again: Ok here is a further analysis of the current situation. Like the above stated advice. I have tried bleeding the upper bleeder first. Using the above mentioned recommended method.
( let me explain to make sure there is no fault. I pump the clutch up and down a couple times, leave the clutch to the floor and open the bleeder valve to release air/brake fluid etc.. I than close the bleeder valve, pull the clutch up from the floor and repeat the process. Note: There is absolutely no pressure or feel to the clutch- It goes straight to the floor Is that normal? I believe because the hydraulic system is faulty or some problem? ) There is no movement of fluid in the clutch reservoir what soever. Neither is there any brake fluid coming out of the bleeder nipple. I have no idea what to do now. Please help me out I know some of you guys could probably do this in your sleep, bu I think I m missing something. This is getting frustrating because my baby's been out of commmission for a week now. Should I go into replacing the master cylinder, lower hose, slave now> ? I m not mechanically challenged but I am getting frustrated with the situation.
Couple more points: When I press in the piston on the slave should there be play because there is? I can basically press in the piston all the way when the bleeders are both closed. Is this a sign there is a leak somewhere in the system/faulty slave?
Please any and all imput will be welcome.
thanks so much guys for all the imput so far....

 

anyone ?

 

You ever figure it out? i have the same issue on my se-r and I think it's an issue with the method.

 

I have had this problem before and changed the slave cylinder, master cylinder, and lower hose. Wasn't really sure which one it was but it fixed it now I'm haveing the issues again (2-3 years later) and I changed the Slave. The Master seems to be pumping, I'm just not getting any pressure on the clutch. I bleed the valves and a stream comes out momentarily then nothing. Did anyone ever figure this out or is it just the bleeding method?

 

For me it was the fluid, I changed it for dot 5.1 and I'm fine now.