Question-------------------------
Followup To
What do you mean "pry the clutch arm with a pry bar so as to force the slave cylinder piston back into its bore"? How do I force the piston back in the bore? Will this damage anything? I guess what will happen is to force the fluid back to the reservoir? I'll try and follow the instructions this weekend and let you know if successful. Thanks for the tip, I hope it works.
John
Question -
I am having problems when I shift in my Jaguar. The gears grind and when I depress the clutch, it feels soft and not firm like other e types. I double clutch shift to neutral then into the next gear. I have bleed the clutch several times, but the problem reoccurs. The slave cylinder is new, so I am suspecting the clutch master cylinder which is still original. The car has 110,000 miles and is fully restored. Do you think the master cylinder should be replaced and what is involved in replacing the part? I am planning on having the work done by a Jaguar specialist as I feel it is more than I can handle. Any advice?
Answer -
Hi John,
If the clutch feels softer than other E types you have checked it may be the problem. However, the clutch is difficult to bleed, as there is no residual check valve in the system and the line is large so air being bled downward will rise in the line before you get the next pump up. The master cylinder may be at fault but try this first.
First be sure the master cylinder reservoir is NOT full. About half full is correct for this test. From under the car pry the clutch arm with a pry bar so as to force the slave cylinder piston back into its bore. Do this with the bleeder valve closed. This makes the slave cylinder like a master, forcing the fluid up into the master cylinder reservoir and taking any air in the line up with it. Then pump the clutch pedal up with slow motions until you have a firm pedal again. You may have to do this twice. Do this before you consider buying a new master.
There are other things that can cause a pedal to feel soft and make the gears clash shifting. They are all inside and it is a large job to go into a clutch on an E-type. The clutch disk may be warped, a pressure plate can release more on one side than the other and the syncros in the gearbox may be worn out.
The syncros are little cone shaped brass clutchs that engage a gear before it is actually engaged by a sliding hub. Fortuneatly, the 67 has the later gearbox where they can be replaced. The earlier box had the syncros made onto each gear and even when you replaced the gear and syncro together, they still clashed gears. Jaguar sets the flat rate hours just to remove and replace a clutch in an E-type at 16 hours. Much more if it is syncros in the box. A standard E-type can be done in a bout 6 hours but a 2+2 will take close to the factory time as a welded in cross member under the trans prevents the short cut.
Try the "reverse" bleeding as I call it. This is something you do not need a lot of equipment or Jag know-how to do. Just be sure to use jack stands or a lift if available. don't get under the car with just a floor jack.
I hope this helps,
HMF
AnswerYes John, you want to force the fluid up into the reservoir. Just make sure the reservoir is not already full or you will overflow it and get fluid all over. It is also a good idea to loosen the reservoir cap to allow air to excape fast. Some mechanics wrape shop rags around the reservoir incase they misjudge the amount of fluid inside.
The reason you are doing this is that it is hard to bleed air in a system down but it is easy to bleed air up.
HMF
