Speed

iTrader: (33)

hey all, have a quick question. I just swapped in a McLeod street twin and rebuilt my trans this weekend. Finished it up and drove it last night and it shifted great. The cluth disengagement was very high, barely needing a two inches of travel. Everything was so smooth and nice! Drove it about twenty miles.

This morning I went to drive it and the clutch wouldn't disengage without pumping it up. After I pump the pedal a few times, it shifted normally. This should be an easy bleed answer right? Not here... My car is an 01 and I left the original stock master and slave in place. All I replaced was the throwout bearing.

I might have overlooked a symptom which in retrospect seems important before I rebuilt the trans. I'm a quick shifter but I don't power shift. I drop the gas and push in the clutch even when shifting aggressively. A couple weeks ago, I killed the 3rd gear syncro. I'm thinking maybe I blew a seal inside the master.

As I said before, the hydraulics are stock and original. I haven't done the drill mod yet. My questions for the experts are, do the symptoms point to a dead master cylinder? Is it possible to overpressure a master cylinder by pushing that clutch down too hard and fast? Would the drill mod help alleviate some of that pressure?

Thanks for any recommendations!

Mike44138

iTrader: (3)

If you've got a bad slave you're going to get fluid leaking from the slit between the gearbox and bellhousing. You'll also see a drop in fluid level. Check the fluid level and condition. If the fluid looks discolored flush it with fresh fluid. Inspect the master for fluid leaks where the rod goes into it and where the braided line comes off the bottom. Disconnect the line from the slave and try and depress the clutch with normal pressure. If you get any travel you've either got air in the master or a leaky seal.

wrencher

iTrader: (2)

I'd agree the master would be suspect.
McLeod always says to do the drill mod & their master for the twin.
I would do the drill mod & see how it goes from there.

TheLS1Kid

iTrader: (12)

You should have replaced the master and slave while you were down there. Mainly the slave because you can do the master without dropping the trans.

I'd would recommend bleeding the **** out of it, doing the drill mod, and wrapping the braided line from the master cylinder to the slave cylinder with some heater hose. That should take care of your problems. Good Luck!!!

Speed

iTrader: (33)

Oh I did think about swapping the slave while I was there but I'm one of those fortunate souls to have a bad out of the box part buried deep inside an install and have to take everything apart to replace it. Coming up against the end of the weekend, I figured it was safer to take a chance on the known good rather than the new and most likely good. If you ever want to make some money, just bet the bad luck on me and you'll make a killing!

That said, I did find the reservoir empty. In looking at it, it doesn't look like anyone has touched in since it was new. So I probably got a little air into the master cylinder. I filled it and got a little air bubble out and pumped it 75 times. Since the car drove perfect this afternoon and the clutch feel high and hard, I'm hoping I dodged a bullet until I can get in a new master.

It's one of those goofy things I didn't think to look at since I didn't crack the hydraulics loose.

Thanks everyone for giving me some direction. I'll let everyone know how it works just in case someone searches across this thread.

LS1kid, what does the heater hose around the line do? Just for protection?

Speed

iTrader: (33)

Ok, I get to post up and eat a little crow here. It was... In fact.. The slave..................

It was loosing fluid but wasn't so bad that it was dripping out until I was driving/shifting where it blew off under the car. So I yanked the trans back out, swapped the slave, adjusted my shiny new McLeod MC and guess what. It works like a champ.

It seems like these things just spontaneously fail for no reason? Anyway, a 60 dollar trip to Pep Boys and 3 hours of my Saturday contributed to a perfectly shifting transmission! So now the trans, clutch, and all the hydraulics are new!


Hint to those wondering about fixing what isn't broken... Fix it anyway