2nd blown slave in 2 days
2nd blown slave in 2 days This is the second time in two days i've blown the slave cylinder and had to drive home without a clutch. When I changed my clutch (Ram Powergrip stage 3) I put in a brand new slave from SDPC. Engagement was right on the floor but it was driveable. I was out driving it, got on it a little in second, went to shift to third and the clutch sticks to the floor. Pulled the tranny and I find the metal on the back of the slave cylinder is cracked. So i'm pissed that my brand new slave is bad and put my old one in (which is the updated one)and my old clutch in just in case. It was driving perfect for a while, but the same thing happened, I got on it in second and went to shift to third and the pedal sticks to the floor. I haven't pulled it apart yet but I think the same thing happened cause I lost all my fluid. Any ideas why i'm blowing slaves?
Also is there supposed to be a shim behind the slave from the factory? There wasn't one on there when I pulled the tranny (previous owner changed the clutch). I'm thinking if there's supposed to be one there, maybe the pressure is allowing the back of the slave to flex enough that it cracks. Sorry so long.
Also is there supposed to be a shim behind the slave from the factory? There wasn't one on there when I pulled the tranny (previous owner changed the clutch). I'm thinking if there's supposed to be one there, maybe the pressure is allowing the back of the slave to flex enough that it cracks. Sorry so long.
Staging Lane
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 84
Likes: 0
From: Lawrenceville,GA
No there is no shim behind the stock slave. I'm interested in your problem because it just happened to me. I had a Ram Powergrip and my slave went also. I bled the system and even drove for days, twice, then the peddle went to the floor. I replaced my brand new McLeod Master and the same thing happened again. It wasn't the master. I did notice that air was getting in to the system. The question is why with a brand new slave was this happening. My slave was not visibly broken like yours. I can only guess that the leak was air getting in to through the seal on the piston somehow. I wish I had a way to prove exactly what caused it. Is the piston overextending to push the shorter pressure plate fingers? Did the McLeod master make this worse with its bigger bore? Lets see what others post. Any real experience from someone would greatly be appreciated! I'm installing a McLeod 1373 slave in the next day or so witha spec 3. So I will not have a way to really get to the bottom of it since I'm dumping the slave and clutch at the same time.
Right now a damaged bellhousing is my best bet. The dowels aren't visibly damaged but we did have to do a lot of prying to get things seperated cause the last owner didn't use antiseize on the dowels. The only parts that were on there for both failures were the transmission itself, the bellhousing, the RAM billet flywheel and the hydraulic line. I'll try and get pics up tonight.
Staging Lane
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 84
Likes: 0
From: Lawrenceville,GA
That's a lot more severe than mine. You definitly want to check your alignment. I disassembled my slave and found no physical damage. I can only guess that the 'O' Ring was leaking/jamming in the bore. I just don't have any way to prove anything out.
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So no one has seen anything like this before? The new bellhousing is in the mail, but i'm wondering if i should put my old flywheel on also. Is it possible that my new flywheel is warped or machined off center and causing this? I'd rather not switch the flywheel back if it's the bellhousing, but i also don't want to have to keep buying slave cylinders if i'm wrong. TTT
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Anyone got a diagram of how the slave works. I don't understand what yall mean by piston. All it looked like to me was a spring and throwout bearing slides over the slave. I don't even understand how fluid presses the throwout bearing. Its all greek to me.
Update: I actually fixed this back in march but forgot to post about it. I bought a new bellhousing and put my stock flywheel back in so I think one of those parts was the culprit. Something was out of alignment which was causing a kind of orbital force pushing sideways on the slave piston which it's not designed to take. You can kind of see that from the way it broke. Anyway, I have a feeling it was the bellhousing because we had to pry kind of hard on it to get it off the first time, although i can't see any damage.