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Old Apr 21, 2003 | 06:58 PM
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white_n_slow
it's my D in a B
 
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 24,787
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From: Your Mom's House
Default clutch master cylinder

Hey everybody! I just replaced my clutch master cylinder today, and I thought I'd go over the procedure, in case anybody is wondering. If your master cylinder is leaking, and you're worried about doing it yourself, dont fear!

Step 1

Drain clutch hydrolic system.
To do this you take the little rubber cap off the bleeder valve located on the slave cylinder (on the front of the tranny by the radiator). You open up the valve with an 8mm wrench and put a hose on the valve. Put the other end of the hose in a pan to collect the brake fluid. With the cap off the MC resevoir, it'll drain pretty quick.

Sep 2

Disconnect the resevoir and hydrolic line.
To disconnect the resevoir, just unbolt the 2 mounting bolts, loosen the hose clamp and pull it off. To disconnect the hydrolic line just unbolt the flare nut on the top of the MC and pull it out. It might help to use a little penetrating lube for this one. At this point you'll want to prop the hydrolic line somewhere out of the way... the brake MC vacuum hose works well for this.

Step 3

Under the dash.
Pry out the cotter pin that holds the cluth pedal pin in the pedal and pull out the pedal pin. A needlenose pliers should help here. Then unbolt the 2 clutch MC mounting nuts.

Step 4

Pull it out.
Go up front and just pull it out. You kinda have to wriggle it around to do this. If its being tricky, go back under the dash and push on the mounting bolts. No biggy.

Step 5

Put the new one in.

Step 6

Back under the dash.
Bolt up the MC mounting bolts and put the clutch pedal pin back in with a new cotter pin. At this point you'll want to apply grease to the MC pushrod and the pedal pin.

Step 7

Reattaching everything.
Reattach the clutch hydrolic line. Attach your new resevoir and hose with a hose clamp

Step 8

Refill and bleed hydrolic system.
Fill the resevoir with DOT 3 or 4 fluid (but don't mix), put the cap on, and pump the brakes for a few seconds. Take off the cap, top off the resevoir again and pump the pedal a little more. You'll need to do this a few times until there is no more air in the system.

Thats it, you're done! The whole process took me a touch over an hour, and all I paid was $60 for a used MC with resevoir. Considering the shop quoted me $205 for this job, I'd consider it well worth DIYing. It really wasn't hard at all. The only thing to look out for is being careful with your brake fluid, as it can screw up any painted surfaces and is really nasty to mother earth if you spill it. Hope this helps!
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