Clutch pedal almost on floor today

[imartin]

Hi, I've got a 2003 110 HDi estate.

Today I noticed that the travel on the clutch pedal was only about two inches and whilst driving I crunched the gears - which I've not done before.

This evening I managed to pull the pedal back and it now is at what I think is the original - in anycase much higher than this morning.

Is this most likely to be a leaking cylinder?
If not - any other ideas as to what it might be?

If it is the cylinder - is it a big job to fix?

I've got a long drive coming up shortly and don't want to have the car conk out on me then!.

[lozz]

Hi mate,

check the slave cylinder + look around the gear box for sighns of fluid leaks,

Have you checked the fluid level ?

[imartin]

Thanks - Not checked the fluid level yet - was too dark by the time I got home. Will do later on today!

[imartin]

Took it to local garage.

Clutch almost worn out 8-( - has limited life.

quote just over £800.

[imartin]

Mr Clutch - £253??

[mjb]

Worn clutch would slip when you hardly press the pedal. It would produce the OPPOSITE of what you're seeing, which is almost certainly a hydraulic problem

[plod]

Mr Clutch - £253??

Check some reviews on line for Mr. Clutch - not good!

[imartin]

Thanks all for the advice and the heads up

Am going to get it checked later today - I told them IMO it was likely to be hydraulics.

Am going to the Essex Chelmsford branch - Subaru OC (scoobynet.com) had some positive ones about them.

Trouble is need it done before Wednesday and time is running out

[imartin]

Right - now for the update...

They had a look this afternoon and can't find evidence of a hydraulic leak.

Also they said that the clutch is not slipping at the moment.

They noted that the biting point of the clutch pedal is quite high up (ie not just off the floor) indicating that the clutch is pretty worn. They couldn't (to be fair) say how much longer it might last.

Currently the clutch pedal is about an inch or so higher than the brake pedal. Can any one confirm if this is usual?

Where should the biting point of the clutch normally be on these models? I've only had the car for about two months so I've not really noticed anything out of the ordinary and certainly not been aware of any problems until yesterday.

What they thought might have happened is that the cylinder may have become stuck in the down position and that I released it again when I manually pulled the pedal back up.

To me this seems plausible.

They suggested driving the car around for a few days to see if the problem arises further rather than go straight ahead for a clutch replacement.

If it was just the clutch I might be inclined to get this over and done with but the added complication that the dual mass flywheel might need to be replaced at the same time (they said it was unlikely but couldn't discount it) bumping the price up to the £700 mark is tempting me to try the wait and see approach - only trouble is I'm going to be doing around 1000 miles over a week or so soon some of which will be quite hilly (no towing though) and just can't afford to have it break down during that time.

This car has done 34000 miles now which I'm pretty sure is genuine. It does have a towbar - and therefore may have been used for towing - but had only covered 31000 miles up to the point I purchased it this year.

[steve_earwig]

They do usually bite quite high, lots of people have trouble getting used to it. The hydraulics are fed from quite high up on the brake fluid reservoir so if this has dropped a bit (i.e. if all the pads have worn out) then there's always a chance it's drawn in some air. I don't think air would be able to make its own way out of the system though (not without help anyway) so I'd be waiting for it to happen again and changing the slave cylinder. I'd be surprised if it needs a clutch already but as you say all bets are off 'cos of the tow bar.

[imartin]

Just checked the reservoir - it looks to be on Max.

Had the RAC carry out full check before purchase two months ago and nothing noted here other than recommend to get brakes checked in about 6000 miles (3000 now).

I might be able to contact the garage that sold the car to me tomorrow to enquire how much towing the car has done as they know the previous owner.

So far I've done about 130 miles since yesterday and there's been no further problem.

[Doggy]

I seem to recall lots of posts a year or two back where a common concern was the clutch pedal not coming up by itself, or doing so very slowly. Didn't pay much attention, just vaguelly remember seeing them.

Mine sometimes takes a while to come back up, but it's never caused me a problem.

[mjb]

Just checked the reservoir - it looks to be on Max.

Max is too low. It should ideally be filled to the brim because the clutch intake is so damn high.

Presuming you're not doing the work yourself, get the slave cylinder changed. It's a pretty weak and fragile part, but it's less than £20 and will require the hydraulic system to be properly bled, which is just what you need.

[imartin]

Thanks again for the help here.

From the look of it the fluid is higher than the pipe to the clutch cylinder as it's not fallen below the neck of the filler opening.

I've never had a clutch fail before - do you usually get much warning before the car is undriveable?

[mjb]

I've never had a clutch fail before - do you usually get much warning before the car is undriveable?

Depends on what goes...

Normal worn clutch will give you bags of warning - it'll spend a good amount of time slipping before it gradually becomes undrivable. If the bearing goes, it may make a lot of noise or vibration first, or it could just go, leaving you in need of a tow. The hydraulics usually degrade, but there's quite a few failure points on them