my79zx

Hay all, just bought a 78 Z and have an issue with my clutch. The slave is full of fluid but the pedal is dead. Straight to the floor, no resistance and will not rebound or engage. Can anyone help with some pointers. I am new to the Z world. Thanks.

SpeciallySpiked

go look up where the pedals go under the dash (you might have to move some things) and make sure nothing has come undone

NismoPick

Welcome to ZDriver & the "Z world"

Bleed the hydraulic clutch line & that should fix the prob.

BC240Z

Ya... make sure you bleed the complete system well......as I understand it,..the "proportioning valve" will hold air, and is a bugger to bleed.
air in valve=no brakes... no good!

Good luck;
I just bought new flex-lines and wheel cylinders for the rear.. so I'm next.lol
(three brakes fer 4 yrs!!)

Todd/BC240Z

BC240Z

oops.... clutch......not brakes. hahahaha

well..same thing really..there is a small hydraulic "block" near the passenger side of the firewall. not sure of its intention in life, but it will fill with air..and the clutch will not engage.

One other thing. we just installed a clutch in my S30, and we forgot (DOH) to make sure the fork was locked into the "pivot ball" inside the bell-housing..again.no clutch action.

Todd/BC240Z

Carl's Z

That's what I was gunna suggest......Good one, BC

my79zx

Ok so I am out at the car right now and the clutch pedal sucks in fluid and pushes it back out when I move it. I can see this with the resevoir cap off. I am not losing any fluid. will jack it up right now to se if I cant see something else wrong.

NismoPick

Bleed the system............................................ .................................................. ........................................

duckyz

You can bleed it in two places, so be sure to do both.

One is up on the drivers side by the master brake cylinder, the other is underneath the car at the clutch linkage (slave cylinder). Make sure you do both. If you need help on how to do it, just ask. These guys and gals are really helpful and won't rag you.

my79zx

My problem is the "One man bleed" procedure. That, and the fact that there is a 76 benz 450SL in the garage. I am going to buy rebuild kits for both. From what I read in my manual, its pretty simple. And cheap.........aside fro this problem and the small holes in the floor, the car is running and driving. I can't wait to drive my VW Corrado SLC replacement. Hopefully it will perform as well or better.

Any other common issues I should be looking for?

WildmaN

Try gravity bleeding the slave cylinder. Then do the clutch master. But I bet if you just do the slave. It will help out. All you do is turn out the bleeder screw where it barely drips. And let it come out, until it almost is coming out in a thin stream. Then carefully close it. If that don't work try it again. And whatever you do. Don't depress the clutch pedal, while doing this. Or you will have to start it over. I hope I explained it correctly. If not, somebody please chime in. I have problems sometimes, explaining certain things.

NismoPick

The most effective way is with 2 people. Grab a neighbor, relative, or somebody walking down the street. Pump 3 times, hold, open bleeder valve, close, let up on pedal, start over.

If there is a lot of air in the lines, open bleeder & pump until a steady liquid stream comes out.

RodMoyes

Your car is NOT a '78' ... I't a '79'.

You need to ask a Mod to change your Screen Name now.



Rod.

my79zx

A 79???? My title says 78, the plate on the drivers door says 8/78 and the Vin matches all the tags.......what's going on here...........

Will I regain the Return action in the pedal once it is bled? Right now I have to pull the pedal back. All springs and hardware are intact and not worn in the foot well/pedal cluster.

NismoPick

Just an FYI... car makers start the next years model in August of the previous year. Example... a 2008 model car will start being produced in August 2007. You have a 79 280zx. There were no "78 280zx's"

my79zx

Right, so bleeding did nothing. So, for 50 bucks I went to the store and bought a new master and new slave cylinder. Problem solved. Both were toast from sitting for so long. My POS actually moves!

icice9

congrats man.... now you can go drive it

highvolkage

can someone tell me in detail how to bleed the clutch lines on a ZX? i'm helping a friend get one running and i got the motor running but the clutch is having the symptoms that was described in the first post and i want to try bleeding before i go any further

thanks in advance

NismoPick

Did ya miss this post on page one?

highvolkage

haha my bad but wheres the bleeder valve? on most cars i've worked on its between the slave and the clutch, same on these?

RodMoyes

Buy a Hayne's manual... Please.



Rod.

Carl's Z

Follow the fluid line down to the slave cylinder, and there's gonna be a valve on the slave cylinder itself. 8mm, I think......

NismoPick

^^^ indeed... it's pretty simple. Have you looked at the car yet? It's pretty freaking visible.

my79zx

The bleeder screw is located on the Slave which is attached to the tranny. It is a little nipple just above the fluid line leading to the slave.

With the cap off the resevoir, open the bleed screw. Depress the pedal to the floor and then close the screw. Pull the pedal back up. Open the screw, press the pedal to the floor. Close the screw. Pull the pedal back up.

Repeat this process until the pedal retracks by itself.

Important......when pushing the pedal to the floor, watch to make sure the Slave piston is moving. If it doesn't, your Master is toast. The Master is located on the firewall next to the brake booster.

I had no piston action but my Slave was also siezed. The Slave cost $16.99 and the Master cost $29.88. I was able to purchase both at Advance Auto.

The process is really easy but will require 2 people.

Hope that helps!