[I'm posting this here because I can't find an answer elsewhere and the 5th gen regular forum only responds if I have a post or poll about some stupid nonsense . . . ]

I had the clutch slave cylinder replaced last week and then the master yesterday.

Now, the clutch pedal is a couple of inches too high, and the pickup point is in the middle of the clutch travel rather than near the bottom (so that I have at least a couple of inches of travel at the bottom of the range where nothing happens).

When I drove it this morning for the first time since the changing of the master, the clutch slipped when I nailed it in 3rd.

So, I took it to another branch of the shop this morning near work so I wouldn't have to be without the car. They are going to make me take it back to the original shop to get the clutch pedal issue straightened out but the service reps at BOTH SHOPS are saying that the slipping cannot be related to the clutch pedal issue and that the clutch is bad.

The clutch is a JWT, I installed it, it has about 20k at most on it and about 1.5 years. It has not even been driven hard. More importantly, it has given no indication of any problem until today. Now it slips pretty massively under full throttle.

All I can figure is that somehow the slave is not fully releasing the piston to allow the clutch to make full contact with the flywheel. To me that makes sense. And it makes sense because there appears to be a problem in the clutch hydraulic system that is making the clutch pedal the way it is.

I haven't spoken to the head tech yet - but the service reps are basically telling me I don't know what I'm talking about.

What say you oh wise ones? I need some backup here . . .

 

Although I can't seem to find anything specifically on point when searching, I've found a few tidbits and unanswered questions that make me think I've got it correct.

 

Yes it can. I was having clutch slipping problems over 12psi back last fall. I adjusted my clutch pedal and I haven't had a problem since, running up to 15psi, launching on slicks, etc.

 

hey max gator, can you keep me updated on this? i cant chirp my tires because the clutch just slurs between the 1-2 shift, and onetime slipped in 3rd. I was thinking something like you, that the clutch isnt fully engaging, clutch is only 2 months old so that is not the problem, lemme know when you find out thanks

 

make sure they bleed both lines for the clutch line

 

MIne does EXACTLEY the same thing, except it slips in all gears except 1st gear, my cluth has about 15,000 miles, how do i fix that?

 

Neal - thanks for the response. For some reason I never got an email that there had been a response to this post until after it was all resolved. Ultimately, the slave needed to be re-bled but the *******es would have had your average customer buying a new clutch. Anyway - here's how mine wound up, from a different post.


It was pretty clear to me that as time went on, the clutch was engaging the flywheel less and less. To me, that had to mean that the slave piston was not fully retracting when I let the clutch out.

Here's what would happen:

At startup - no slip; fairly normal pedal feel.

5-10 mins driving - no slip; pedal hard and higher and pickup point a bit higher

20 -30 mins in traffic - massive slip under torque; pedal hard and higher and pick-up point still higher in clutch travel;

45+ mins - slippage makes driving impossible; pick-up point at top of clutch pedal travel.

Let the car rest for a few hours, and the cycle starts over.

Couldn't have been oil because of the cyclical nature and the clutch pedal issues.

That's how I explained it to the 2 service managers who insisted I didn't know anything and that it was my clutch. The tech who fixed the car told me I was correct, that there was air in the slave and that after re-bleeding all was ok. Because of the argument I had with the service manager, it is unlikely they would have told me that if it wasn't true.

Everything works fine now.