Today my 98 OBW has been hard to get into gear and grinds into reverse like the clutch is going out. Got it to Walmart and turned it off to look at the actuator arm on the hydraulic pump thing that the clutch reservior line goes into on top of the tranny. I manually moved it and it made it worse-the pedal hits the floor and won't spring back. I have to manually pull it up. It comes up without much effort and will stay there but gives no resistance as if I push it down and it stays on the floor. What's the deal? Has that happened to anyone? I need to get this thing home!:-\

 

It started grinding into reverse over the past 3 days but the other gears have been fine. Could the oil separater plate have leaked onto the clutch and trashed it? Would that affect the spring/resistance of it? Thanks!!!

I read other threads and it seems like it's a common prob with the hydraulic clutch:confused:

 

Sooooo, do I replace the slave cylinder first? How do I bleed the system, through the little nipple that looks like grease goes in it? Thanks

It sounds like a bad slave to me. And yes, if you would like to bleed the hydraulic clutch. You bleed it from the nipple on the slave. Just like you are bleeding brakes. If you put a new one on. The first couple times you try to pump it, you will have to lift it off the floor by hand.

Is the fluid level ok in the master cylinder? You might be able to add some fluid and crack the bleeder screw on the slave cylinder and wait for the bubbles to stop coming out, then close it. That should get most of the air out of the system but you still might need to open-push and hold pedal-close a few times to get it all out. The crunching into reverse is because an air bubble wasn't letting the clutch disengage all the way. Check your system for leaks. Pull the boot back on the slave cylinder and see if there is fluid behind it (If the seals in the slave cylinder are bad, fluid will shoot out the end). If there isn't any there, check up under the dash where the rod comes through for the master cylinder, as that is the other spot they can leak, if it's not a leak in one of the lines.

Sounds like the hydraulic piston isn't hitting the clutch fork. Is the fork moving?

 

GD

Thanks guys, I will check to see if the fork is moving, I think it is, I'm off to Walmart parking lot where it is parked to check the seals and if the fork is moving....