2003 td5 90 clutch issues

[Blade74]

My 2003 td5 90 got parked in the garage last night as usual.
I got in it this morning and the clutch felt different. The pressure point is a lot closer to the floor and the first half of the travel feels like there's no resistance.
I drove to my morning job which is about 15 mins away from home and decided to lift the bonnet and check the fluid.
Taa daa. No brake fluid in the clutch cylinder.
I had a quick look at the slave cylinder and It looks clean like it hasn't leaked.
It also looks fairly new as I only bought the car about 4-5 months ago with 38000kms on it. But it did look like it had been replaced at some stage in the cars life as it was really shiny and new looking.

I also noticed that the slave cylinder is very close to the catalytic converter.
Does it tend to boil the fluid?
Surely if its a sealed system the fluid can't just evaporate?

I am going to check the garage floor when I get home to see if thereby fluid on the ground.

When I put the new fluid in I'm assuming its going to need bleeding.
Is there any tricks to this or is it as normal?

Cheers
Blade

[goingbush]

visually check your clutch pedal.

its not uncommon for the master cylinder to leak and the fluid drips inside the pedal box and seeps down the pedal and drips onto the drivers floor, you might have noticed a wet spot on the floor, its not water , its fluid. you might also notice the paint on the pedal is all crinkled (like paint stripper) from fluid leaking over time , to be sure if it tastes sort of bitter sweet its clutch fluid.

they are a bugger to bleed.

also they seem to last longer with Toyota Dot3 brake fluid. have had no probs since I started using it.

[nedflanders]

If its going to leak at the slave it will come out of the bell housing, the fluid can't go anywhere except into the bell housing or pedal box. If it looks new chances are the previous owner changed it and now the master is leaking.

[Blade74]

Just had a quick look and there isn't any puddle in my car footwell.
It's definitely gone somewhere.
I must admit I haven't checked the fluid level since I bought it a few months ago so it may be leaking slowly at the slave...

[nedflanders]

Check for dampness at the bell housing, brake fluid has a distinctive smell.

[goingbush]

<snip>
I must admit I haven't checked the fluid level since I bought it a few months ago so it may be leaking slowly at the slave...

cant blame you for that, The master cyl is is such a bugger of a place, almost impossible to get my mauler around the lid.

at least if the M/c isn't leaking the problem is going to be in the slave & the slave cylinder is so easy to swap out, compared to the Master.

if you can get another m/c lid and insert a schraeder valve into it will also make bleeding easy.

[Fraz]

As stated the slaves only leak into the bell housing. As I was on a long trip I kept topping up until I got to some parts. Put that much fluid through it, the 'leak' appeared right over in the centre of the bell housing. There is a little rectangle where it meets the back of the engine

[Blade74]

I filled the master with brake fluid and its come back to almost normal feel.
I drove about 20kms with lots of clutch pressing and checked it and it hasn't really gone down.
Must be a slow leak.
It looks like I get a few small drops under the bell housing when I stop so I reckon it's the slave.
I ordered a new Landrover skave cylinder for $94 and will poplar changing this week.
My mate is a mechanic and has a proper bleeder so ill get him to help.
Will also check the forum and see if there's a guide to bleeding the clutch.

Is it worth wrapping the slave cylinder with heat tape? It's so close to the exhaust.

[nedflanders]

Don't worry about exhaust heat, never had a problem, bleeding the clutch is very easy compared with brakes (even worse with ABS :( ) the old 2 man method is probably the easiest, just watch the pushrod when you withdraw the slave cylinder.

[Blade74]

Ok so I took off the inspection plate for the master and it definitely wasn't leaking.
I lubed the pivoting points with synthetic spray grease while it was off.
I pulled out the slave and there was a definite leak in it.
The piston seal was scored and leaking.
Swapped it out and bleed it as per the normal method with a mate.
Took about 5 fills of the master and is now all good.
Will keep an eye on it over the next week but all looks good.

Thanks guys.

[Blade74]

Ok so now the clutch slave has been replaced and I have a bit of a clutch shutter in first gear.
Noticed a lot more when it's cold and seem to maybe go away.

Could that be from brake fluid leaked all over the clutch plates and now all gummed up?

[Blade74]

Just an update to this older post.
The clutch shudder did go away.
It must have been a gummy build up of brake fluid when it leaked.