Opening The Clutch

[Drax]

Hello All,

Anyone here does a clutch change themselves? I am having a problem with sticky gears. I had the clutch bled last week and it is still giving the same problem. The mechanic mentioned that it the clutch plates may not be sliding along the splined shaft they are on. There is no leaks from the hydraulic system. I am wondering though if it is possibly the slave cylinder? Is there anyway to test this? I am thinking of opening up the clutch and having a look but I know it is a big job. Are there any specialist tools required for it?

Many thanks!

[cheezemonkhai]

Isn't the slave cylinder on the back of the clutch peddle on this one?

I know i have heard of slave cylinder changes under warrenty and I don't think these have involved taking the gearbox off.

[Drax]

Hmmm I thought the slave was the one bolted onto the top of the clutch housing and the master is at the foot pedal.... I was thinking of opening the whole lot to inspect synchro's etc...

[Bomi]

Hello All,

I had the clutch bled last week

Is this true? Because my dealer told me the clutch cannot be bled or adjusted. Infact he mentioned that the clutch does not have its own oil reservoir, but is fed by the gear box oil.

Bomi

[AJB]

I had the clutch bled last week

Is this true? Because my dealer told me the clutch cannot be bled or adjusted. Infact he mentioned that the clutch does not have its own oil reservoir' date=' but is fed by the gear box oil.

[/quote']

You can bleed the clutch. There's a bleed nipple on the slave cylinder (on the top of the gearbox, on the left hand side of the engine bay (right hand side if you're standing in front of the car looking at it).

The clutch doesn't have its own reservoir - but it certainly doesn't use gear box oil. The brake fluid reservoir has a hose coming off the side part way down which feeds brake fluid into the clutch master cylinder. The clutch and brakes are totally separate systems apart from that, though, and are bled separately.

[KenONeill]

Drax, I'd suggest having the gearbox oil changed before worrying about the clutch sticking on the splines. I'm not saying that's not possible, but I've never heard of it happening on a car that's used regularly.

Also, you're correct about the position and relationship of the master and slave cylinders on a typical hydraulic clutch mechanism.

Bomi, I'd be most surprised to find a clutch system using an EP75W or thicker gear oil as hydraulic fluid. From memory, your dealer is correct that the clutch doesn't have its own reservoir, but I think it shares with the brakes, which are more typical of the fluid required. He's correct that a hydraulic clutch can't be adjusted (in terms of biteing point height) but I have helped bleed a hydraulic clutch (ok not on a Skoda).

[AJB]

I am wondering though if it is possibly the slave cylinder? Is there anyway to test this?

If it's not leaking, and it has been bled, then the one possible slave or master cylinder fault I can think of that could give sticky gears would be if fluid was leaking back past the cylinder's piston's seal (this fluid wouldn't be lost or leak out - it would find its way back to the other side of the seal when you take your foot off the pedal). The way to test that would be to press down the clutch pedal and leave it held down for a long time. If fluid's slowly leaking past the seal, then the gears will slowly get harder to select (just as if you were gradually taking your foot off the clutch pedal).

I am thinking of opening up the clutch and having a look but I know it is a big job. Are there any specialist tools required for it?

I don't know about tools, but that would be a huge DIY job. You'd have to have a hoist or bar to take the weight of the engine and gearbox as you split them, and I imagine you have to remove one or the other. As to inspecting synchros, that would be even more major - there's no way I'd attempt to strip down a modern gearbox myself and expect it to go back together properly.

And I'd definitely want to make 100% certain that that was the fault before going down that route. If there's any chance that it might just be hydraulics, etc., then I wouldn't think of taking the clutch out...

[Bomi]

Egad!! And the above I was told by a Skoda authorized dealer. And the company claims they are trained. Does the Hayne's manual cover stuff like this? Atleast I will know when the dealer is giving me bull.

[DGW]

Egad!! And the above I was told by a Skoda authorized dealer. And the company claims they are trained. Does the Hayne's manual cover stuff like this? Atleast I will know when the dealer is giving me bull.

Yes it does.

[mbames]

Egad!! And the above I was told by a Skoda authorized dealer. And the company claims they are trained. Does the Hayne's manual cover stuff like this? Atleast I will know when the dealer is giving me bull.

I have changed the slave cylinder on my Octy, so I can confirm:

- it uses the hydraulic fluided as the brake system

- it shares the same master cylinder as the brakes

- it can be bled, which might affect the biting point

- mr haynes does indeed cover this in his book.

[AJB]

- it uses the hydraulic fluided as the brake system

Yes

- it shares the same master cylinder as the brakes

NO! Brake fluid reservoir is on top of brake master cylinder, and feed directly into it. Brake master cylinder has 2 bleed nipples and 2 pipes coming out of it that go to the ABS unit. Brake fluid reservoir has a pipe that comes off the side part way down that feeds into the clutch master cylinder. Pipe then comes out of clutch master cylinder and goes to clutch slave cylinder. They're not the same master cylinder, though. Brake pedal presses the piston in the brake master cylinder, and clutch pedal presses the piston in the clutch master cylinder.

- it can be bled, which might affect the biting point

Yes

- mr haynes does indeed cover this in his book.

Yes

[mbames]

NO! Brake fluid reservoir is on top of brake master cylinder, and feed directly into it. Brake master cylinder has 2 bleed nipples and 2 pipes coming out of it that go to the ABS unit. Brake fluid reservoir has a pipe that comes off the side part way down that feeds into the clutch master cylinder. Pipe then comes out of clutch master cylinder and goes to clutch slave cylinder. They're not the same master cylinder, though. Brake pedal presses the piston in the brake master cylinder, and clutch pedal presses the piston in the clutch master cylinder.

Ok... sorry I was a bit lazy in reply... i'll consider myself told off

[TeflonTom]

which gearbox type is it?? i would also suggest checking the pushrod that runs through the centre of the first motion shaft, i've seen these get bent up and it causes them to stick in places