RE: Clutch

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

... you didn't say how many miles the car has ... if it is anything less
than 150K then your clutch and pressure plate are probably just fine ...
more often the problem is related to the master or slave cylinder.  Opinions
vary, but in my experience, I've only replaced the slave cylinder once ...
and that was because I had the tranny out to do the clutch and pressure
plate ...

The master can fail with a leaking piston seal such that no fluid leaks out
of the clutch system, but the clutch operation is reduced to the point where
you might need to "pump" the clutch.  

That said, there are a couple of other things you might want to do ... you
might want to bleed your clutch ... it may simply be that air has gotten in
somehow.  The other thing to look into is the return spring that is mounted
to the pedal ... if the clutch is not allowed to return fully the port that
allows new fluid to enter the system is never opened.  I think I may have
this problem on our '85 4kSQ ...

HTH!
Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)

> ----------
> Hi,  I have an '86 4kcsq which has a hydralic clutch.  It feels really
> mushy
> and when I left it sit for a long time, it took a lot of pumping to get it
> to
> work.  How can I tell if it is the master cyclinder of the clutch plates
> and
> springs that are bad?  Anyone know how hard it is to replace the pressure
> cylinder?  How about costs?
>