Hydraulic clutch question

[George Harris]

I have had this occur on my '87 5K TQ on occasion. When I first got the 
car, I had to replace the timing pin on the flywheel, so while the 
tranny was out I cleaned out the slave cylinder. It was very dirty and 
could not be bled because the bleeder was clogged. My suggestion would 
be to clean out the system. Master, slave and lines. Can't hurt and if 
you end up having to replace something down the line at least it will be 
easier the second time around.

Cheers
George

ian at bluemoon.hplx.net wrote:
> Good evening.
> 
> I have a question regarding the clutch in my '88 5Kq.  Twice in the six
> months I've owned it, there's been a very strange, non-repetitive behavior
> of the clutch pedal.  The first I had sort-of discounted because I was
> teaching a friend to drive stick at the time.  The second, months later
> (just yesterday, in fact) was while I was driving; I went to push in the
> clutch, and met a slight, normal amount of resistance, then nothing at all
> as the pedal sunk to the floor and stayed there.
> 
> I was displeased, obviously, since I was in line to get on the freeway
> when this happened.  But I hooked under the pedal with my foot, lifted it
> back up, and it worked again as though nothing had happened.  I used to
> have an '86 CGT, and when its clutch slave went out, I got partial
> functionality for a little while before it stopped working forever.  I've
> heard that if the master goes, it's catastrophic.  But never "Oh, once
> every few months it goes to the floor, then works immediately thereafter
> for all eternity."  What gives?
> 
> ian Butler / ian at bluemoon.hplx.net