Clutch Squeak! Help!

[fdFifty]

I can bleed it myself I am sure, but this is one of the few things I have never done when it comes to cars. Do I have a bleed valve? is there a video or guide on how to do this that you can reference me too by any chance?

There’s a bleed valve on the back of the slave cylinder. Super easy to use as you can open/close it by hand. I’d recommend getting an inexpensive vacuum bleeder from harbor freight or Amazon for this job.

First step is to remove the slave cylinder from the bell housing so you can tilt it down. This makes the bleed port the highest point on the cylinder so no air gets trapped. It’s held in with two ( I think 13mm) nuts.

Next step is to hook up the vacuum bleeder and bleed the system by about 1 oz at a time. Be very diligent about re filling the reservoir up top. There’s a baffle/dam in there that actually fully separates the brake side from the clutch side. So you really only have the back 3rd of the reservoir of volume to bleed each time. While bleeding, tap on the side of the cylinder and hard lines with a small wrench or screwdriver. This will help free trapped air from the many pockets in the system and also knock bubbles from the inner walls.

Once you start pulling clean, clear and air free fluid you can remove the vacuum bleeder and cap the bleed valve.

Final step is a trick someone suggested to me here on the forum and it works great, you just have to be careful. With the slave cylinder still out of the transmission, slowly actuate the cylinder by hand. Again, be careful because you can blow out the seals. Try to keep the plunger as straight as possible and slowly actuate it. This process is going to push any remaining air back up to the reservoir and out of the system. Once that is done you can reinstall the cylinder and test everything out.

Make sure the slave cylinder is properly seated in the fork as well. If it’s resting to the right of the ball socket it will likely blow the seals. Unfortunately I’m not aware of any videos for this process. If I still had my 6 spd, I’d throw one together.

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[fdFifty]

I almost 100% something around the fork is dried out. I am thinking my best course of action is to remove the slave enough to where I can spray grease into the hole and lubricate those parts.

I’d be extra careful with that because you don’t want any of that spray to find it’s way to any of the friction material in there.

 

[fourseasons1621]

There is no reason a hydraulic clutch should be introduced to air if there is not a leak somewhere. it is sealed like a brake system. That would be like saying you need to bleed your brakes every oil change. If you remove the slave you may be able to use a spray lithium grease down the fork. Take extreme caution not to get and on the clutch disk itself.

 

[fdFifty]

There is no reason a hydraulic clutch should be introduced to air if there is not a leak somewhere. it is sealed like a brake system. That would be like saying you need to bleed your brakes every oil change. If you remove the slave you may be able to use a spray lithium grease down the fork. Take extreme caution not to get and on the clutch disk itself.

I 100 percent agree with you there.

Unfortunately, The hydraulic components on these are not of brake system quality or robustness. Theres a simple barb fitting right at the reservoir that’s known to leak and the quick connect fittings at the cylinders don’t inspire a ton of confidence either. There’s also a theory that heat from the adjacent catalytic converter is either cooking the seals on some of the components, degrading the fluid itself, or some combo of both.

Based on the video it sounds a lot like the issue I had. Could definitely just be the fork so it’s probably worth eliminating that as a variable before fussing with the bleed process.

I know it sounds insane but there’s some valving in the system and the air moving through will make a surprising amount of noise. I too thought it had to be mechanical linkage but it turned out to be air in the lines in my case.

 

[Countryswiss]

Well upon reinstalling my slave cylinder I went inside and pressed the clutch and heard aloud pop. Brake fluid started pouring out of my slave cylinder. I guess I blew it up. This is not going well at all.

 

[AKLespaul]

Well upon reinstalling my slave cylinder I went inside and pressed the clutch and heard aloud pop. Brake fluid started pouring out of my slave cylinder. I guess I blew it up. This is not going well at all.

Get a Dorman if you can or I have a spare OEM if you need it. Pay for shipping and you got it.

 

[fourseasons1621]

QUADRATEC has it in stock 40$ probably see it in 2-3 days. that sucks man sorry to hear that

 

[Countryswiss]

Thanks. No idea what I did wrong though. Was there another step? I just unbolted it then bolted it back in

 

[roaniecowpony]

Likely was about to let loose anyway. Not your doing, I'd bet.

Did you check to see if the quick connect fittings didn't just pop loose?

 

[Countryswiss]

Likely was about to let loose anyway. Not your doing, I'd bet.

Did you check to see if the quick connect fittings didn't just pop loose?

I didnt undo any quick connects. I unbolted the cylinder and there was enough slack in the hydraulic line to just leave it on. Then when I put it back the clutch had a ton of resistance so I pressed down and it popped.

 

[fdFifty]

@Countryswiss That’s a huge bummer. As said above it was probably about to go anyway and wasn’t anything you did wrong. Could have not been seated on the fork all the way if the pedal had a lot of resistance. Sometimes I used a borescope to make sure it was seated in the ball socket on the fork before bolting it down. But it usually just wanted to go there on its own.

Did you go through the bleed procedure or just take it off to apply some grease?

Some dealerships will commonly have this part in stock. May be worth calling a parts department if you have one close to you. Hopefully you can track down a replacement and get it swapped out quickly.

 

[Countryswiss]

@Countryswiss That’s a huge bummer. As said above it was probably about to go anyway and wasn’t anything you did wrong. Could have not been seated on the fork all the way if the pedal had a lot of resistance. Sometimes I used a borescope to make sure it was seated in the ball socket on the fork before bolting it down. But it usually just wanted to go there on its own.

Did you go through the bleed procedure or just take it off to apply some grease?

Some dealerships will commonly have this part in stock. May be worth calling a parts department if you have one close to you. Hopefully you can track down a replacement and get it swapped out quickly.

I hadn’t bled it yet. I was starting with the easiest possible solution which was just adding grease.

 

[Countryswiss]

Get a Dorman if you can or I have a spare OEM if you need it. Pay for shipping and you got it.

Thank you. I’ll keep that offer in mind

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