slave cylinder disaster

Clutch swap was going okay yesterday, until it came time to put the slave cylinder back in. I had read everywhere that when you remove it, you can either leave the hydraulics connected and not have to bleed it, or remove the hydraulic line. I left it connected. That was all well and good until reinstall time; I could not for the life of me compress the slave cylinder enough to get it to go in. I eventually opened the bleed valve and let it gush brake fluid everywhere while reinstalling it, and that didn't work. Even with flare wrenches I couldn't get the hydraulic line off of the cylinder. Eventually I was able to get it back in with the bleed valve open. I hooked up the motive bleeder and got some air out of the bleed valve, but the pedal was still just going to the floor effortlessly and staying there. Brake fluid is now pouring out of the bellhousing, which leads me to believe that the slave cylinder has blown its guts out. I hear this can happen if the rod misses the clutch fork upon reinstall. I've already ordered a new slave cylinder, and am hoping that I can get all the bits of the old one out without having to remove the transmission again.

Take it out and see what is missing.

I haven't worked up the courage for that yet...I have some other stuff going on today that I have to do. I probably won't get back under the car until tomorrow.

I'm really beginning to think the Getrag 96 trannys are crap. I've yet to see a machine north of 100k miles NOT need a new slave cylinder when the clutch fried. At least your pinion bearing is hanging together, for awhile. Good luck.

Well an update, I took the original slave out and fortunately all the bits were in the boot. The piston had puked itself out of the slave housing. I put the new slave in, with great pain and suffering. I used the method in the shop manual where you put a punch in one of the bolt holes to lever it into place, then put the other bolt in. It helped but it still took about 4 hours to get it in there. I had the same result. After bleeding (with the clutch pedal down, using a motive power bleeder), I had all the fluid out and gave the pedal a few strokes. It didn't take but a couple before POP fluid running out of the bellhousing again. I just removed the "new" slave cylinder and it's the same thing. I think the slave piston is missing the clutch fork, or slipping off. The fork can wobble back and forth a bit in the housing, but not a lot. I think it's enough for the cylinder to miss. By hand I can pull and push the fork just a bit, but there's no way I'm strong enough to compress the fork into the pressure plate. I would say the distance between the slave cylinder opening and the fork is about 2 inches. I can easily touch the fork with my thumb.

On the 996, does the clutch fork pull or push on the throw out bearing? On the 944/968, it pulls on the throw out bearing. I had a very similar thing happen on the 951 with the locking device for the throw out bearing come off. I would expand on that if the clutch fork pulls on the throw out bearing.

Okay, ignore my post above, I see it pushes on the pressure plate. What is the fulcrum point for the clutch fork on the opposite side of where the slave pushes on the arm? It does not look like there is a pin holding it in or anything like that. The above image is courtesy of Auto Atlanta.

Maybe it's the angle but the fork does not look aligned and centered with the hole where the slave cylinder inserts into.

Okay gents I think I have it figured out. The pic from Paul above ^^ is the original configuration. The clutch fork has since been updated to ride on an also updated part #11. Part # 12 is no longer used. My parts kit came with an updated pin and clutch fork, which matched what came out of my car. The clutch was changed 5 years ago and I think it was updated then. Anyways, in my ignorance I installed part number 12 because, hey, it came with the kit. Anyways this means that my clutch fork isn't resting fully on the pivot pin. It's allowing the fork to wobble around too much, which is allowing the slave cylinder to blow out. Current plan of action is to winch it back on the trailer, tow it to a lift, take everything back apart, remove part 12, install another new slave cylinder (with the tranny out of the car) and then it should be good once it goes back together.

If the seal didn't get damaged, you can pu the slave cylinder back together and it will be fine.

On cylinder #1, I pushed the piston back in and it cut the seal. On cylinder #2, the piston only blew out on one side. It's in there so sideways I cant get it to go back in or come all the way out. Any tips on pressing it back together?

Use a toothpick or something simmilat made of wood or plastic. It's hard to explain but you will need to work from one end and slowly push the seal back in. Make sure the edge of the seal doesn't get pinched or flipped.

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Just curious, once on the lift, how long will it take to get the tranny out, fixed and back in? 8 hours? Best of luck! Your explanation sounds reasonable to me.

When I did it the first time, I spent about 2 hours putting it on the lift and taking some of the plastic trays out on Friday afternoon, came back Saturday morning and had it all done and back together from 9 to 4, so about 10 hours. Then the slave cylinder exploded, and many more hours ensued. I think I could shave the time by a couple of hours this go-round. Thanks for the method, Imo000. I was using the smash the piston back into the cylinder as hard as I can method.

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Just finishing the replacement of the clutch in mine I know the pain you must feel... and from the sound of it you ordered the parts from Pelican as mine can with the same outdated clip too... make sure you have the new rubber seal and clip that seats the lower pivot pin and things will go back together as they should. Good luck.

You would be correct on both assumptions. I do have the new spring and bushing. Now I need to decide if I want to replace the flywheel while I'm taking it all back apart. About 75k miles. It passes the test where you rotate it and make sure it returns to center. It looks kind of glazed though on the contact surface.

Mine had 125k and still passed the test... thought about replacing it but decided to hit it with a random orbital sander to refinish it and threw it back in. (I am sure some purists would shudder at the thought!) It is working fine and the clutch feels better than the dealer installed one at 40k! That may be due to the fact that it cost a lot less and the next time I tear it apart it will go 2x as fast!!

What grit did you use?

Measure first with some calipers as this is something you don't wanna be doing for a 3rd time. I've used 200-300 grit in the past in a straight cross hatch fashion by hand. I would not use a machine personally. Also this was on flywheels that were not worn too much.

If you are putting back the same clutch disk then there is no point toching the flywheel. Everything is already worn in.

New disc and pressure plate are going in. I would like to just replace the flywheel but it's so expensive.

If you shop around you can find a new LUK DMF @ $300 if I remember. Also, I tried both ways installing the slave cylinder while dropping my trans/engine a few times. Much easier to install new slave while trans is out. You probably need to flush the brake system anyway. JMHO.

I'm going to try and find this mythical $300 flywheel. I'm a pro at putting the cylinder with transmission installed now, but will definitely be installing it while the transmission is off once it's time to go back together. $434 at parts geek is the best I can find, with a $15 off coupon SAVE15 that brings it down to $419 shipped. Went ahead and got some new flywheel bolts, and some of that Optimol HP grease (from paragon products) so I can put this thing back together right. I didn't wan to pay $1000+ for a replacement flywheel, but for $450 I will be satisfied to not worry about it anymore.

Good news, the offending plastic spacer bit has been removed, the new (2nd one) slave cylinder is in, everything is lubricated with optimal 3EP per the manual, and a new LUK dual mass flywheel is also in. I drove it off the lift and onto the trailer, after needing a jump start. I think the battery has had it after a bit more than 4 years. The RMS was completely dry, so I didn't replace it. I'm not confident in my RMS installing abilities without the special tool. Bleeding was uneventful using a motive power bleeder, a friend to hold the clutch pedal down, and a catch bottle. Even though the system had drained out, it didn't take much to get all the air bubbles out. Looking forward to driving to get the new clutch and flywheel broken in!

Missed this thread the first time around. This happened to my car, then the rod fell into the bell housing. After pulling out my hair, I went out and bought a new slave.

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I wish the real culprit had been the slave cylinder. I had to pull the tranny back off to take that stupid plastic pivot piece off of the clutch fork. When I got the transmission pulled, the clutch fork was just flopping around unattached because of that thing.

Don't even attempt it w/o the install tool. The tool is well worth the money and makes the install quick and foolproof. I've loaned mine out a few times.