Replace master cylinder clutch

[KevinM]

I recently tackled this repair on my ZX5 with the 2.3 Duratec. I found this post extremely helpful and thought I would add a few more photos to help.

These photo shows the location of the clutch bleeder screw, it is in the center of the photo next to the hard line going into the transmission. I found it much easier to lift the front end of the car and get to it from underneath.





Pics of the offending leaking part, you can see it leaking from underneath the pushrod:





Also, after replacing the master cylinder and bleeding the system, I could not get pressure in the pedal. I have a mityvac style vacuum tank and that didn't even work. It wasn't until I read an earlier post that mentioned using a syringe and some tubing that I was able to get the air out. All I could find was a baby medicine syringe at CVS but it worked like a charm.

Thanks to all who helped on this post,

Kevin

[eajohnso]

Replacing my CMC this weekend but have hit a snag... I can't pull the hard line out from the CMC. The clips both came out easily and the upper line pulled out without too much force, but the bottom one just won't come out.

Anyone else had this problem? Any tips?

[Djzx3]

Yea I had that problem too, had to make a flat screw driver bend a certain way to get at it, Then to get it back on, I had to make this, cause it didn't want to go in far enough to get the clip back on.

well, I didn't have to make it, but it did help.

That was as far as I could get it on, before I pressed it together. Kinda weird, I put the tool on there and pressed, then took it off, and the clip went right on by finger.

[eajohnso]

So DJ... did you get the screwdriver blade between the green plastic and the hex on the hard line and twist? What's the technique?

[Notorious0ne]

Originally Posted by eajohnso

So DJ... did you get the screwdriver blade between the green plastic and the hex on the hard line and twist? What's the technique?

I used the automotive dental tools i had they worked great.

[israel]

I guess i will b having fun doing this this weekend,
Hopefully it isnt that hard, i did this on a honda accord n it does look harder to do on the svt :S

[Gudziel]

WARNING: Newbie on board, you're about to read some very dumb questions.

I found this forum through a Google search for replacing a bad CMC. Luckily, this thread with the picture tutorial came up. Now I do not know about working on cars. But I do know how to change the basics (tires, brakes, oil). So doing a job like this can be a bit daunting. This tutorial has helped me to realize that I am capable of doing the job myself, rather than paying $400 for a shop to do it. So for that, I'm grateful. But I do have a couple of newbie questions that I hope I can get help with.

1) In Step10, you drained your brake/clutch reservoir with a turkey baster. So you completely removed all signs of fluid from within the tank and threw it out. How did you not manage to have to bleed your brake lines since they are "Y"d off from the same reservoir? (I take it that there was still fluid left in the brake lines which prevented air from going down to the brakes. Just was unsure when you filled the reservoir back up, how you made sure air did not some how get trapped in the brake lines.)

2) In Step11 & 12, you deal with the lines under the hood. Am I just to work on the top line ONLY, or disconnect both lines and cover them up with a paper towel? (From my lack of knowledge, I take it that these two lines connect to the CMC and provide the fluid. Emptying the reservoir prevents all the fluid from flowing out of these lines when they are disconnected???? Like I said, I'm a newbie)

3) In Step14, you locate the bleed plug. Where exactly is this at? Under the hood, under the chassis? Sorry but I can't exactly figure it out by the picture itself.

4) One Final Question, and biggest of all. I've never had to bleed lines before. So I do not know when I find the bleed valve, the proper procedure to bleed the lines. I plan on doing this the old fashion way, no tools, let it bleed into a container below with gravity. Can you point me in a direction for proper bleed technique, such as on youtube or another post? I've done several searches but can't find a good, reliable source.

I really appreciate any help anyone can provide. This tutorial is amazing, and I'm definitely giving a +1 to rep. I just need a bit more help to understand why I'm doing what I am doing and how to bleed a line.

Thank you all for your help,

-G

Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.

[FocusGhia]

For any UK members (or RHD car owners) checking out this thread you will find the steering column (where column joins to rack) runs directly across the clutch master cylinder making it impossible to remove. I recently changed one of these and in order to gain access I firstly used correction fluid to mark between the steering column and its joints (theres two joints), disconnected battery, then I released the bottom bolt (35nm) and moved the column to one side. The bottom bolt on the cmc is quite easy to remove but the upper bolt took an age to fit.....in the end I got someone to hold the top bolt in place with a set of long nose pliers whilst I tightened the bolt.

Also when refitting pattern CMC I found that the new part (made by LUK) did not have any screw threads already cut into it so prior to fitting I screwed the bolts in to make a few threads...without these threads it would of been much harder to get the bolts initially started in situ.

When disconnecting the pipes from the bulkhead make sure you cover the pipe ends to reduce fluid loss.....I used cling-film to wrap one of the ends and found that the clutch bleed nipple cap (once removed from the clutch bleed nipple) was an excellant fit to cover the top pipe.....JUST MAKE SURE YOU REMOVE THE COVER BEFORE REFITTING LOL! Also after removing top of fluid reservoir cover the top with cling film to make an air-tight seal whilst pipes are disconnected....it may not fully stop fluid loss but it will definately reduce it.

As already mentioned in this thread, leave the springs in place on the new part and simply push-fit the clutch pipes into the CMC.

In order to bleed the clutch I simply raised the vehicle (1.6 Zetec) and stuck a bleeder tube and bottle onto the bleed nipple....after opening the bleed nipple I then got someone to pump the pedal several times whilst VERY IMPORTANTLY continually keeping the fluid reservoir topped up to max. You can hear and see the air coming out and it will take a while to fill the new master cylinder but just keep going till you get decent clutch pedal feel.

End result was a cluch that bit lower and felt much more positive.

[FocusGhia]

Gudziel

1. I would not drain any fluid out of the clutch reservoir as apart from introducing more air into system (both brake & clutch) and making bleeding much harder it will simply prevent fluid dripping out of the cmc supply pipes outside the bulkhead. This is easily remedied by sealing top of of master cylinder and capping off the pipe ends (where they meet CMC).

2. You need to disconnect both lines (at bulkhead where they join at cmc) and cover ends (next time I go to a scrap/breakers yard I will be sticking a few bleed nipple caps in my pocket lol) ..as you rightly said this will prevent fluid loss. A miniature "pick" set comes in handy when disconnecting the clips...........if you compare your new CMC you will see two grooves beneath the clips where you can get a small blade beneath clips to release them from your old CMC.

3. Not sure if bleed nipple is exactly in same position on US but I found the nipple easier to see and get to from the bottom of the car.....just raise the car and look on the bell housing (clutch side)...it will be adjacent to the clutch supply pipe.

4. Whichever method you use to bleed clutch make sure you keep the reservoir near max mark (have someone else continually topping up as it drops)

Good luck.

[wolf66]

hey my white plastic rod broke on it's own somehow yesterday...(now clutch pedal is floppy and won't dis-engage)

Is that available as a stand alone replacement part or did you have to buy something larger and more expensive to get that part and how hard was the replacing of said part?