So again my car decides to fail 3 days before I have to take it somewhere. I have a 3800/SC, a FWD getrag with a rodney conversion kit, spec stage 4 (unsprung), with a stock slave setup.

heres the story; I was stuck in stop and go traffic for about 45 min, the clutch was working great and grabbing right at the top like a clutch with 4,000 miles on it should. I get out of the traffic and hit the open road. about 10 miles down the road (highway, no shifting) I go to downshift into 4th and the clutch pedal has no response until it is about 2 inches from the carpet. I figured maybe I got everything too hot and i had some moisture in the fluid which boiled (a stretch with a clutch system, I know). Well it has been a day and a half and nothing has changed, I will be doing a bleed, anyone have any similar experience. again my clutch hydraulic system is stock, the FWD trans I used did not have a hydraulic throwout.

edit... fluid level is fine too.

[This message has been edited by Jrgicehc (edited 09-22-2009).]

My old duke did this to me. The spines on the pressure plate were snapping. After a week or two I couldn't disengage the clutch anymore. I chased the slave cylinder for a few days thinking that was the problem, trying to get more action out of it any way I could.

[This message has been edited by Sundowner (edited 09-22-2009).]

Same thing happened to me about two weeks ago with my 3800 sc. Sounds like your setup is similiar to mine except I have a stage 3 clutch. I checked the slave and no leaking. Same for the master, so I bled the system and it was better but not right after couple of trips. I took off the master and the seals were worn and would let air in the lines. Replaced the master and all is fine now.

I'd guess the master or slave are wearing out too.

quote Originally posted by wwh0001: Same thing happened to me about two weeks ago with my 3800 sc. Sounds like your setup is similiar to mine except I have a stage 3 clutch. I checked the slave and no leaking. Same for the master, so I bled the system and it was better but not right after couple of trips. I took off the master and the seals were worn and would let air in the lines. Replaced the master and all is fine now.

Is there a way to tell which component is letting air in?

thanks for all the quick responses guys

If you have a FWD Getrag with the external cast lever (same as the Fiero Getrag) you need to measure how much throw you have on the lever first. Once you know that you can move on. Have someone push in the clutch while you measure the throw at the top of the cast arm. Let us know what that is.

------------------
Rodney Dickman

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www.rodneydickman.com
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quote Originally posted by Rodney: If you have a FWD Getrag with the external cast lever (same as the Fiero Getrag) you need to measure how much throw you have on the lever first. Once you know that you can move on. Have someone push in the clutch while you measure the throw at the top of the cast arm. Let us know what that is.

I have the internal style release lever. I needed your slave adapter to make it work.

Rodney is correct about the throw. If your system was working and all of a sudden the pedal is soft it is normally a sign of air that has gotten into the system if no signs of leaking. Normally the slave will show signs of leaking if air is getting in that way. The master can let air into the lines without signs of leaking. Try bleeding the system and see if their are air bubbles. If so, then I would suspect the master. The only way to determine if the seals on the master are bad, that I know of, is to take it apart. And if you do that you should rebuild it or repalce.

I would say to anyone with a Fiero if you are going to replace your slave just replace the master too, less hassle down the road doing it over again and not that expansive. Thats what I did and I am glad I did.