M5R2 no clutch pedal

madebyme

Registered User
I've been searching on and off for 2 days and really have not found anything on what my problem is... maybe I'm using the wrong search words. Anyway, hear is what happened.

I'm accelerating through the gears (not very aggressively) and I begin to hear a a sort of chirping / squeal. What I thought was a bearing in the engine. It goes away so at a light (in neutral) I rev the motor up to about 3000 - 3500 rpm. Revved fine, sounded good. The light changes and I go to put it in gear and I have no clutch pedal, won't go into gear. Mind you I'm in rush hour traffic so I shut the car off and I can slide trans into all gears. Slid it into 3rd and started the car. It buckled but I got it underway and out of traffic. Thank god these things have a bunch of torque. So I towed it home and there it sits. The pedal has no resistance. Anyone have a similar problem? Fixes? I believe it's the slave cylinder.
 
On other cars, I've had the slave and also gone thru the pressure plate web.

Pressure plate was just a flop pedal. Nothing.

Paul
 
guessing

I'm fairly new here, but most of my problems have been in the same area lol. I can't disagree with shoalcracker, though I would add the possibility of ruptured clutch line.

Have you checked for any leaking yet? Be sure to get under there and take a look at it through the view screen. If it's wet in there, your slave is probably done for.

If your carpet behind your clutch pedal is wet, it would be your master.

If there's no leaks, I would say it's your pressure plate. That's assuming your clip that attaches the pedal to the master cylinder shaft is still intact.
 
More than likely your slave cylinder is gone but your master cylinder could have failed also. Due to the car's age you may want to consider replacing both cylinders. I doubt the hydraulic line split. While the tranny is out it would be a good idea to check the synchro blockers and get it freshened up if any are worn excessively. Don't buy your clutch cylinders from O'reilly auto parts. They are made entirely in China and speaking from experience, they are total junk.
 
And for future reference, you don't have to turn the engine off to shift w/o a clutch.. if you feather the throttle lightly, sloooowly speed the rpms up/down, and apply slight forward/backward pressure to the shifter in the desired gear postion, you can get the shaft speeds the same and it will slide right into gear. Takes practice. Some people are so good at it that they don't use the clutch at all. :cool:
 
I agree!

More than likely your slave cylinder is gone but your master cylinder could have failed also. Due to the car's age you may want to consider replacing both cylinders. I doubt the hydraulic line split. While the tranny is out it would be a good idea to check the synchro blockers and get it freshened up if any are worn excessively. Don't buy your clutch cylinders from O'reilly auto parts. They are made entirely in China and speaking from experience, they are total junk.

agree with Mike!

Tom
 
And for future reference, you don't have to turn the engine off to shift w/o a clutch.. if you feather the throttle lightly, sloooowly speed the rpms up/down, and apply slight forward/backward pressure to the shifter in the desired gear postion, you can get the shaft speeds the same and it will slide right into gear. Takes practice. Some people are so good at it that they don't use the clutch at all. :cool:

That works for changing from gear to gear once you're moving, it's the getting started that's the problem. Once in my old VW Bug I just pushed it into gear with the accompanying grinding. Once I was rolling, I shifted as above.
 
Clutch change

So I think the boat I am in is to do a clutch job. I've been pricing them out and having a hard time finding a kit. AutoZone has one for $194 and AdvanceAuto about the same. I am an experienced mechanic but I'm still not sure I want to do it in my driveway. Any words of wisdom or pitfalls I need to look out for?
 
When I did it, I didn't change out my slave cylinder... Regretted that a month later. And it really is easier to drop the differential than to drop the gas tank to remove the driveshaft.
 
i would try bleeding it first , although bleeding isnt easy on clutches
you need to get someone to pump up the pedal then crack the bleeder and close it real quick before all the pressure bleeds off . shifting without the clutch is hard on syncronizers . but will get you home
 
i would try bleeding it first , although bleeding isnt easy on clutches
you need to get someone to pump up the pedal then crack the bleeder and close it real quick before all the pressure bleeds off . shifting without the clutch is hard on syncronizers . but will get you home

Thanks all, I bled it last night and had fluid coming coming from the bellhousing. So I guess I'm dropping the tranny and doing a complete clutch job. :(
My question to the guru's is what else should I do while the tranny is down? The slave cylinder is the problem so that's a no brainer but what comes in the kit that I am getting is the clutch, disc, release bearing, alignment tool, pilot bearing, spline lube. What about turning the flywheel? Should I resurface it or buy a new one? I'm thinking U-Joints while I'm down there... Anything else you guys can think of?
 
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I just finished replacing the clutch on mine. I put in another Centerforce DF by myself and it took me 5 days total but then I'm 63 and not a young stud anymore. If you put it up on jackstands you'll need a tranny jack. Harbor Frieght has them quite reasonably. Changing the pilot bearing is a real challenge and it may not need to be replaced. I would remove the top of the tranny and check the condition of the synchro blockers. They should leave a gap about 1mm when pushed up against the gear. They will normally fit flush up against the synchro assembly but should not on the gear. Definitely turn the flywheel but you may want to shim the slave cylinder a few thousandths to compensate so you won't have any probems getting it into 1st gear at a stop light. If you don't have a tool to release the clutch line from old slave cyl use 2 small flat bladed screwdrivers to push the plastic sleeve in to release the clip.
 
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