What can cause Air In Clutch Line???

darkstar_one

Registered User
Dudes, Well, i drove my SC the first time from L.A. to Las Vegas which is 256 miles away. Anywho, At the highest point i think elevation is 5000 feet, well on the down hill i pushed in the clutch and it felt funny. Well i was driving around in the city looking for my new house, and the clutch still felt funny, like it wasnt really there. So i checked the fluid. It was low. I added it some and checked for leaks, i had someone press in the clutch and no signs of leaking. I took apart the inspection rubber thing and nothing out of the ordinary, no drips or nothing. So what i did i just opened the bleeder screw and let it drip. And voila clutch felt stiff and alive.

Now, on the way back from LAS VEGAS to L.A. it did the same thing, on the downhill i pushed in the clutch, it was funny again. I pulled over at the GHOST TOWN ROAD and checked it out, nothing out of the ordinary, clutch fluid reservoir is full.

So what can cause air to go into the clutch line? The elevation, I know brake fluid (clutch fluid) boils at a certain altitude, maybe it the air seperated from the fluid at the 5000 foot elevation?
 
Some thing must be leaking dude. The altitude would have nothing to do with hydrolics. # of things that can cause this. The master,line or slave cylinder. On the road you probly wont see a leak untill you park it for awhile. Hope you make it to where your going
 
like i said, ive never had a problem before, its only happened twice now, and its always to and from vegas.... has never ever happened any other time since i converted to stick shift.... odd and the car has sat for a long periods at times with no indication of brake fluid leak!
 
I would check inside the vehicle where the clutch master is, and the slave cylinder. The leak doesn't have to be very big to affect the clutch. There is not that much fluid in the system to begin with, so any amount of leak will be felt.
 
How hard was your converion from auto to stick?And I agree with the other guy their is a leak somewhere.:)


it was a pretty straight forward installation, no egr to fumble around with hehehe. your only biggest obstacle will be drilling out the clutch master cylinder hole on the firewall, i opened it up enough to stick in a grinding stone and let it rip, crooked and lopsided hole as hell but it works!
 
well i will check for leaks and stuff before i take it to the smog inspection. but its odd though still, had it converted since 2004-2005 and no signs of a leak or funny clutch pedal, always been stiff!

but will check thanks dudes and dude-ahs
 
sounds to me like your slave might be failing. The slave went on my ranger and I didn't notice any leaks at all. Its just a poor design of the slave cylinder and they are known to go all the time mine went at 64k on the ranger. If the fluid was low you leaked it plain and simple it won't burn off like oil could. Another possibility is that maybe when you did your 5spd swap you didn't fully get all the air out and when you were driving it you bled it some more from gravity.
 
slave failing! dont say that! i love my slave, he does my dirty work! hahahah, nah ima check it out, ohh yeah, also, this time coming from vegas, all the fluid was there! no leaks or anything! just a funny clutch again!

wierd but ima have my dad check it out!
 
slave failing! dont say that! i love my slave, he does my dirty work! hahahah, nah ima check it out, ohh yeah, also, this time coming from vegas, all the fluid was there! no leaks or anything! just a funny clutch again!

wierd but ima have my dad check it out!

You know I loved my slave to. I only had the slave for like 2,000 miles. I used it but didn't abuse it and it still went. Some slaves are just dirty nasty ones and some are nice and clean hopefully yours is clean and doesn't have any of those nasty leaks.............
 
Lose clutch pedal

I have problem on 89 where the longer I drive I lose and eventually I can't shift at all. Fluid level full, no sign of leaks. Mechanic bled system, no sign of air. Filled reservoir and it worked fine, for awhile and it started again. The reservoir remains full and I find if I remove reservoir cap and bladder and pump the pedal it works fine, for several weeks. The fluid level never goes down. I used a mirror watch the reservoir thinking that if I push the pedal in then fluid level would rise but it didn't. I never saw any air bubbles either. If I don't remove the cap then I can pump it forever with no luck. If car is home in driveway and sits for a couple days it works OK without doing anything. I don't drive it much, around 10 to 15 times per month. I have had this problem for almost 3 years. The last time I removed the reservoir cap the air bladder popped out and while trying to put it back in it got a hole in it. I have driven the car without it and it seems to work okay but would like to get a replacement. Are they still available? This car has 40k original miles and has all factory stuff in it, except for air & oil filters.
 
Good morning

You need the clutch master reservoir diaphragm to successfully seal the the hydraulic system. I would start by inspecting the clutch master cylinder rod "eye hole" and the the plastic clutch pivot bushing at the top of the clutch peddle for excessive play, wear and or elongation. Replace defective part(s).

Try your local savage yard for the clutch master cylinder reservoir diaphragm. You might find a 5 speed Super, Turbo coupe or Explorer. A very good bet is the 5 speed Rangers. The diaphragm may look different but work fine.

Good luck.
 
I'm chasing down a problem with pedal pop. I haven't done this yet but, from what I read, if you disconnect the line that goes from the clutch master cylinder to slave it's a way to test whether or not the clutch master cylinder has an issue. You need a special tool to pop off the hose. Once done press the clutch pedal and if it's extremely hard to push then the issue is likely within the transmission.
http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?135671-Master-cylinder&p=1085015#post1085015
 
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