clutch / master cylinder problems

[dancoco808]

hey guys,

today was driving to work... pedal suddenly went light, wouldn't come back up, couldn't engage gears. gave the pedal a bit of a flick under to pull it up, engaged 1st, pulled over. checked the clutch fluid reservoir... empty.

haven't had any problems with the clutch up until today suddenly.

so went to autobarn, picked up some dot3, filled up reservoir, pumped the pedal... managed to get the clutch working... except now with 75%+ spongey upper travel and 10-25% engagement/friction pedal travel at the very bottom. screwed as.

drove it home some 80km. checked the driver footwell. appears to be grease/oil all up around the stem of the clutch pedal and soaked into the foam on the firewall.

i take it my clutch master cylinder is shot. couple of questions:

1. how much does a mechanic charge on average to fix (parts+labour)?
2. thinking about going to honda tmrw to pick up a new oem master ($80-100 i read on other threads) and do it myself? (i hear its hard to work with, i.e. space). is it worth DIY?
3. in the meantime will a bleed help restore a bit of clutch feel so i can drive it around for the next few days while i gather parts to DIY?
4. can i drive the car around with a leaky/busted master cylinder? it drives like shit but still drives. will it cause further damage or just die on me and leave me like a stooge at the lights in neutral with hazards blinking?

cheers.

[EK1.6LCIV]

1. how much does a mechanic charge on average to fix (parts+labour)? $70 (random service stations)-$150 (Honda)

2. thinking about going to honda tmrw to pick up a new oem master ($80-100 i read on other threads) and do it myself? (i hear its hard to work with, i.e. space). is it worth DIY? around $150 at Honda buy the clutch master cylinder and slave, prick to change clutch master cylinder without the correct pliers to remove the clip on the pedal, the slave is a piece of cake.

3. in the meantime will a bleed help restore a bit of clutch feel so i can drive it around for the next few days while i gather parts to DIY? no, waste of time, if you had the correct brake fluid (not sure what's in your reservior atm is all) just top it up to the max line and check it often

4. can i drive the car around with a leaky/busted master cylinder? it drives like shit but still drives. will it cause further damage or just die on me and leave me like a stooge at the lights in neutral with hazards blinking? I did for years as mine wasn't a big leak, dropped level to below half every 6 months, would be sorting it out asap

if you don't have particularly small hands, are taller than 6ft, would be paying a service station to do this as at best it's $70bux for them to remove old hardware, fit new hardware, adjust clutch master clyinder & flush

[jks24]

i have to get the same thing done on mine

Mine is going in next friday for clutch master and slave and is costing me around 300 i think it was

Yours sounds alot worse than mine though as my clutch still works fine

[dancoco808]

thanks heaps for the replies guys!

ended up buying myself a new master cylinder from honda, cost me about $93. will install over the weekend and update with progress. hope it goes well!

cheers.

[jks24]

thanks heaps for the replies guys!

ended up buying myself a new master cylinder from honda, cost me about $93. will install over the weekend and update with progress. hope it goes well!

cheers.

Slave also?

Le me know how the install goes :)

[EK1.6LCIV]

hope you also bought long pliers to pull out the pin, pita, otherwise very easy if following haynes instructions

[dancoco808]

thanks for all the tips/info guys. helped heaps! got it all done, heres a few pics:

the install was a bitch as mentioned, gg lower spine lol
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/coco69/civic%20blog/IMG_69560800.jpg

exactly as mentioned... absolute PITA/bitch to get out the pin from the pedal to the cylinder... my smaller metal pin was tied in a pretzel shape, so hard to do with 3cm gap, long-nose pliers, no light, upside down and friend making jokes about up-shorts...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/coco69/civic%20blog/IMG_69450800.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/coco69/civic%20blog/IMG_69450800-1.jpg

stupid hard lines...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/coco69/civic%20blog/IMG_69500800.jpg

old leaky vs new
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/coco69/civic%20blog/IMG_69490800.jpg

installing back the new cylinder and attaching to pedal...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/coco69/civic%20blog/IMG_69510800.jpg

thanks all.

[EK1.6LCIV]

way to go :)

[Lukey]

i thought the slave was for clutch and master for brakes...

[dancoco808]

both brake and clutch systems have their own cylinders... the clutch master is on the firewall, and clutch slave is near the headers

[Lukey]

:confused:

[grifty]

:confused:

toyota dun teach u that brah

[Lukey]

thats because they only have the one cylinder for the clutch....? which i know as the slave, and the cylinder for the brakes which i know as master

[dancoco808]

had a few pm's about part number and price.

I purchased it from highway auto group honda in Springwood QLD for 83.95 + GST, for a total of $92.35.

The part number for the clutch master cyl for 94 manual civic 3dr hatch is 46920SR3013

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/coco69/IMG_69420800.jpg

[aznstyler]

i have a EG , and my clutch master cylinder is going.. do i have to replace it with a EG clutch master cylinder, or can i use a B18c clutch master cylinder?? i have a b18c in my car