Was pulling the car out of the garage a few days ago. Pushed in clutch, started car, put shifter in reverse and let out on clutch. Normal let out on clutch, pulled out of garage slowly, but then pushed in on clutch and nothing happened. Still headed right for my other car! Yanked it out of gear. By pushing the clutch pedal clear to floor, the clutch does slightly disengage so I could pull the car back into the garage. Any suggestions on where to start to diagnose / fix the clutch? Thanks in advance.
Agreed with Barry, Check fluid level first, then master cylinder, then slave cylinder. Happened to me once in my FD RX7, except I was on the road driving.
Odds are it is the slave cylinder....though on a couple of occasions, I have seen slave and master cylinder go out on 2001-02 Vipers whose clutch fluid was not regularly changed.
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These throw-out/slave clutch cylinders are sensitive on these Tremec setups (I've had issues on my Z06 T56). As Steve mentioned, the fluid not being taken care of can lead to wear and tear and the slave is a common failure point. These cylinders tend to dirty up system fluid more quickly and the abrasiveness of dirty fluid will do damage. I highly recommend annual or bi-annual flushing/bleeding. I typically do it the lazy way and drain and fill the reservoir through the year to keep fresh fluid through the system. Takes a few minutes with a good syringe. If you drain the reservoir and refill, pump the clutch a bunch of times and check it, you'll see how dirty it gets as it cycles in with older fluid. I do this until it stops getting dirty, plus some. Wrong? Maybe, but the Vette scene has been doing this for years with many happy users, because proper bleeding under the car can be a pain without a bleed line installed. Hope it all works out! Glad you didn't hit anything!
My '01 GTS had (has) similar issues. The clutch would go to the floor, it was dripping by the trans so I knew it was the slave cylinder. I would fill the reservoir and it would work ok but occasionally lose the pedal. Driving with the foot resting on the clutch pedal a bit would get the pedal back. I had the slave replaced, but it still gets soft sometimes though no fluid leaks. I bled it really well so I don't think it's air. Maybe I need a new M/C too... time to bring it to Tator's.