700 mile trip tomorrow

[Helirich]

I?ve got some business in North Carolina this week, so I leave tomorrow. My wife and several friends say Im nuts to take a 40 year old car. I?m sure you guys are more sympathetic, but do you guys take trips like this? The only part I?m really worried about is parking it at the hotel. Am I nuts? Wait, don?t answer that. Am I nuts for making this trip?



Side note, any members close to Greenville in case I need rescue?

[WHO1DMC]

I personally have done over 800 miles round trip. I have met owners that have done over a few thousand. I would say pack a few tools and a extra alternator belt. I always do. There not a common thing you find in the wild these days.







Dave B.

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[82DMC12]

I did a trip like that, Kansas City to KY Bourbon Country this spring. Only problem I had was chattering wipers that ended up loosening my wiper arm, and then my AC was freezing up periodically because the low pressure switch was set too low.

I brought a metric wrench set, metric socket set, various screw drivers, copper crush washers, some electrical repair bits, and a multimeter. Also an alternator belt.

It was a great shakedown drive after finishing my frame off a year ago. Got the AC tuned perfectly now.

Good luck!

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[jangell]

Four of us in the north east did a 2500 round-trip to Illinois for DCS last year. None of our cars had any real problems. Mind you, one was newly restored, one of us is a mechanic, and I?d overhauled my entire suspension in the weeks before, but it all went quite well.

? Joe

[r00b]

When I was in the air force I would drive my car home to California from Colorado. Round trip was over 2500 miles, I did that several times. I never had any serious issues. I also drove it to Ohio a couple times. That was around 2800 miles round trip.

[Nioreh]

I've done a 3000 mile road trip in mine with no issues.

[Helirich]

When I first got her running I made several trips like that. Now I only drive the car about a thousand miles a year. Fingers crossed.

[SS Spoiler]

163,000 miles and counting.....

[JBaker4981]

Send it. I have no idea where you are coming from but I am a half mile off of I-40 between Nashville and Knoxville if you encounter any issues.

[Jonathan]

If you drive your car regularly, get the engine hot, cooling system tested and all the other features being used, there's really no difference between driving around some afternoon and putting on 100 miles than there is 700. If the car was going to rattle and fail somehow, it would be just as likely to do it going to your local cruise night as it would driving across the state. Your nerves and comfort level though? Yea, that can feel worse. But the car really doesn't care. Parking it at a hotel? lol, yea, that's the part I would be most worried about too!!

[Helirich]

Ok, I made it, but I got trouble. Hoping someone knows what is going on.

I left in the morning early. The trip was almost entirely on the interstate. Everything was fine for 600 miles. I got off I95 to get gas and drive the last 40 miles. There is something wrong with my transmission. (Stick) It won?t go into first gear. If I try, it grinds terrible. At first I thought it was the clutch, but I found that I could shift into second and start with the clutch as normal. I?m not saying it goes into second easy, but it will go. It appears to be difficult to shift into any gear. If I start in second and I time my up shift good, I can shift up through all the gears. I think I?m just timing the shift perfect so it jumps into the next gear easy. But I can?t downshift to save my life and have to slow down completely and start again in second.

To top it off, while I was limping it the last 10 miles, I heard and felt a big clunk. I honestly don?t know if I might have hit something like a bottle or if something fell off the front of the car and bounced under. It totally freaked me out and I was expecting a rod out the side of the engine. But it drove fine from there to my client?s house. (Except for the shifting) I took a Quick Look under the car and didn?t see anything amiss.

It appears that maybe the shifter has the most trouble in the forward shifts. Meaning first, third and overdrive. Second and fourth seem better. This would lead me to believe the shifter is somehow not adjusted right.

Anybody had symptoms like this? I?m worried about driving home. I guess I can start in second and up shift to overdrive. I did most the whole trip in overdrive at like 80 mph.

[82DMC12]

Sorry to hear about the trouble! It's not likely there is a spontaneous inner transmission problem. I'm curious to see if the stick feels normal when the car cools down and you select each gear, in turn, with the engine OFF. If you can easily choose all six gears in any order while the engine is off, then the linkage or crossgate is still good (enough).

This almost sounds like the expanding plastic clutch line problem.... I assume you have an upgraded line installed?

It could also be a clutch fluid leak. Not sure what tools you have but you could check the inside of the firewall to see if there's any fluid leaking into the interior, or around the fittings at the master cylinder if you can get the access covers off. If the clutch slave is leaking slightly, it might not be retracting far enough each time you press the clutch pedal in, giving unpredictable grinding results. You'd probably have to be under the car to see this. When mine had a slight leak, I had trouble getting out of gear at a stop light, and if I did get out, maybe I couldn't get into gear without turning the car off, shifting, then starting with the clutch in and hurriedly driving off. From under the car, I could see the clutch fork retracting but then slowly returning to the original position the longer the clutch pedal was held down.

Any chance you can get the car in for a quick look on a lift on a slow day at a shop? They can also check to see if anything is loose underneath or if was just road debris you heard.

Good luck, any further info you can give would help us help you!

[WHO1DMC]

I also had similar problems when my clutch hydraulics stopped working. I had a leaky slave but the master quit working before that did and the peddle whent really light. I made it home from a trip by timing the gears and starting the car in first. Now you say you heard a clunk, hopefully it isn't the pivot bolt but I wouldn't think you could get any gears if that happened.

Anyone know if it?s possible to get into gear if you lose the pivot bolt?


Hope you get home safe!

Dave B.

[82DMC12]

I have had the unfortunate experience of losing my pivot bolt twice over 25 years, both situations resulted in the transmission being completely stuck in whatever gear it was in when the bolt unscrewed and disappeared. The shifter is also super floppy and won't stay in a neutral position.

Both times this happened it resulted in needing a tow truck.

Needless to say I finally learned my lesson and have bulletproofed that area!

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[WHO1DMC]

I have had the unfortunate experience of losing my pivot bolt twice over 25 years, both situations resulted in the transmission being completely stuck in whatever gear it was in when the bolt unscrewed and disappeared. The shifter is also super floppy and won't stay in a neutral position.

Both times this happened it resulted in needing a tow truck.

Needless to say I finally learned my lesson and have bulletproofed that area!

Sent from my Pixel 6a using TapatalkOK. Exactly what I was thinking would happen than.
I do have a extra incase.



Thanks
Dave B.

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[Helirich]

What pivot bolt are we talking about?

[WHO1DMC]

What pivot bolt are we talking about?#17.





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[Helirich]

Sorry to hear about the trouble! It's not likely there is a spontaneous inner transmission problem. I'm curious to see if the stick feels normal when the car cools down and you select each gear, in turn, with the engine OFF. If you can easily choose all six gears in any order while the engine is off, then the linkage or crossgate is still good (enough).

This almost sounds like the expanding plastic clutch line problem.... I assume you have an upgraded line installed?

It could also be a clutch fluid leak. Not sure what tools you have but you could check the inside of the firewall to see if there's any fluid leaking into the interior, or around the fittings at the master cylinder if you can get the access covers off. If the clutch slave is leaking slightly, it might not be retracting far enough each time you press the clutch pedal in, giving unpredictable grinding results. You'd probably have to be under the car to see this. When mine had a slight leak, I had trouble getting out of gear at a stop light, and if I did get out, maybe I couldn't get into gear without turning the car off, shifting, then starting with the clutch in and hurriedly driving off. From under the car, I could see the clutch fork retracting but then slowly returning to the original position the longer the clutch pedal was held down.

Any chance you can get the car in for a quick look on a lift on a slow day at a shop? They can also check to see if anything is loose underneath or if was just road debris you heard.

Good luck, any further info you can give would help us help you!

I?m not sure about the clutch line. I did check the clutch resivour and it was full. I?ve got some tools, but my client has All kinds of tools in his hanger. I plan to pull it in there and put it up on Jack stands. I was tired and pissed off when I got here. Tomorrow will be a better day, I hope. I?m giving this guy flight instruction. He can only take a few hours with breaks in between. So I should have time to check it out.

Edit, I did install both a new master and slave on the clutch. That was a few years ago.

[Helirich]

#17.





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I see. I will be checking it tomorrow.
Thankyou
.

[Rich]

It appears that maybe the shifter has the most trouble in the forward shifts. Meaning first, third and overdrive. Second and fourth seem better. This would lead me to believe the shifter is somehow not adjusted right.

Anybody had symptoms like this? I?m worried about driving home. I guess I can start in second and up shift to overdrive. I did most the whole trip in overdrive at like 80 mph.

You surely have at least a linkage problem.

The shifter pivot bolt is a known issue. Here?s one decent thread about it. (https://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?19163-Shift-linkage-pivot-bolt&highlight=Pivot+bolt) One of the posts shows the factory service bulletin for one of the issues with it.

It has to be there and it has to be secure in its threads, not wobbly.

For proper access you may need more than jackstands since the access is only from below, similar to the fuel accumulator.

As part of the fix you will eventually want to check or replace all 4 pairs of plastic shift linkage bushings. They aren?t critical to getting into gear, just good for tighter fore-aft shifter feel.

[dn010]

I've broken a pivot bolt once and also lost hydraulics once or twice at certain points in time. Lost hydraulics you can still slam-shift to get home but without the pivot bolt you're stuck in whatever gear it left you in when it broke, as stated. So it doesn't sound like the bolt. Maybe the clunk was a transmission mount coming loose. My original mounts were all sorts of cracked which could have led to failure if not fixed and the change in position once it's gone could cause harder shifting.

[82DMC12]

I've broken a pivot bolt once and also lost hydraulics once or twice at certain points in time. Lost hydraulics you can still slam-shift to get home but without the pivot bolt you're stuck in whatever gear it left you in when it broke, as stated. So it doesn't sound like the bolt. Maybe the clunk was a transmission mount coming loose. My original mounts were cracked which could have led to failure if not fixed and the change in position once it's gone could cause harder shifting.Good theory. Broken transmission mount would cause all the symptoms stated.

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[Rich]

Good theory. Broken transmission mount would cause all the symptoms stated.

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Good call.

I now like this theory better than the pivot bolt theory.

It explains the big thunk. And it explains 2nd/4th working better than 1st or any numbered gears if the transmission is now lower and a but further from the shift pivot. The grinding is probably from now having only partial gear engagement in one or more gears so try to avoid that until repairs are done.

Look under the car again. See if the forward end of the transmission is still where it belongs relative to the body tub or frame.

[Helirich]

Good call.

I now like this theory better than the pivot bolt theory.

It explains the big thunk. And it explains 2nd/4th working better than 1st or any numbered gears if the transmission is now lower and a but further from the shift pivot. The grinding is probably from now having only partial gear engagement in one or more gears so try to avoid that until repairs are done.

Look under the car again. See if the forward end of the transmission is still where it belongs relative to the body tub or frame.

So this morning I went out to the car and shifted through the gears with the engine not running. It was fine. Started the car and tried again. No way would it go in any gear. I pumped the clutch about 10 times and tried second. It went right in. So I tried first and it went right in. I pulled the car in his hanger because it was air conditioned. We had to go flying.

This afternoon, I came back and bled the clutch. It was a PITA and I think I did a bad job, but when I was done the clutch worked. We took it to dinner and it was fine. I?m hoping that?s it. I?m still wondering about the clunk. I did look under the car today and didn?t see anything, but I can?t say I could see much. I didn?t get it up on Jack stands.

If it was just the clutch, why did it go in second when it wouldn?t go in first? Just a thought. I use to have a Jaguar that had sincros on 2,3 and 4, but not on first. Is that the way a D is?

Anyways, thanks to all that threw out ideas. It feels good to have people helping me from afar.

[82DMC12]

Good news I think. Glad to hear you're up and running!

All but reverse is synchronized.

Possibly an issue with the 1st gear / 2nd gear roll pin... Would be great to get it on a lift when you get home. Keep us updated!

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[dn010]

You said the fluid level was not going down but check under the dash by the steering column to see if your clutch master is leaking into the car where the rod connects to the pedal. Even if replaced, crazier things have happened.

[Helirich]

You said the fluid level was not going down but check under the dash by the steering column to see if your clutch master is leaking into the car where the rod connects to the pedal. Even if replaced, crazier things have happened.

I completely forgot to check that. I will tomorrow. I?m really scared about the tranny mount. I can?t even remember what it looks like. I know I?ve never replaced it or the engine mounts. I keep telling myself I must have hit something, but it sure didn?t sound like that.

[Helirich]

Good news I think. Glad to hear you're up and running!

All but reverse is synchronized.

Possibly an issue with the 1st gear / 2nd gear roll pin... Would be great to get it on a lift when you get home. Keep us updated!

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That?s strange. I just don?t follow why it would go in second. I?m pretty uneducated on transmissions. Could the synchro on the first gear have gone bad? Could it some how get loose in the tranny and be banged against the inside of the housing making a loud clunk?

[82DMC12]

That?s strange. I just don?t follow why it would go in second. I?m pretty uneducated on transmissions. Could the synchro on the first gear have gone bad? Could it some how get loose in the tranny and be banged against the inside of the housing making a loud clunk?Yeah the synchro could be bad , but I just don't think it's an internal trans problem. If bleeding the clutch helped, I have to assume the main problem is a clutch leak somewhere.

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[dn010]

If a gear was loose your transmission would chew up a bunch of parts with what would need to come loose in order for gears to move around. Check out the mounts and for subtle hydraulic leaks tomorrow. You drove it around and went to dinner with it so it doesn?t sound catastrophic at this point.

[ssdelorean]

.... <<snip>>

Anyways, thanks to all that threw out ideas. It feels good to have people helping me from afar.

Likewise. Thank you all. I love how this community helps each other out.


Regarding your earlier hotel parking question. I like to park on an end where only 1 other car could be beside me. Also park in a well lit higher trafficked area so no one will have secluded/hidden access where they could do harm for a long length of time.

[Helirich]

This trip the client invited me to stay at his house, so I got to park the car in his hanger. That was great. He has tons of tools, but no lift. He?s set up for working on planes/helicopters.

[DMC-Ron]

Last summer I had a similar issue. The clutch did not fully disengage, and as the car got warmer the symptoms got worse. Eventually, the car would not go into reverse, or first. The pedal didn't feel out of the ordinary and it shifted fine through all the gears with the engine off. If I started off in second it shifted OK through the forward gears once it was moving. I checked my clutch reservoir with a conductivity tester and it showed a high moisture content. I decided to flush in new fluid and bleed the clutch slave.
And yes, bleeding the clutch was a PITA. But, putting new fluid in and getting the air bled out totally fixed the issue.

I hope bleeding the clutch has worked for you as well.

Ron

[Helirich]

Well it made it 600 miles back and failed again 10 miles from my home. Same symptoms. It?s a lot nicer happening close to home. I?ll look at it tomorrow. I?m going to bleed it till I get clean new fluid. I?m thinking of a remote bleeder system. Any reviews?

[WHO1DMC]

Well it made it 600 miles back and failed again 10 miles from my home. Same symptoms. It?s a lot nicer happening close to home. I?ll look at it tomorrow. I?m going to bleed it till I get clean new fluid. I?m thinking of a remote bleeder system. Any reviews?This is what I used when I replaced the master and slave on my car. I used the reverse method and needed to do it once.

They cost a little over $50 Amazon.




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[DMC-Ron]

I've had good results with a pressure bleeder. In fact, I ended up with two units. I have a Schwaben unit that I've had for years. Then about 5 years ago I purchased a Motive Products unit on Amazon. The Motive unit is still available:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002KM5L0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Why two? The idea was I would keep the Schwaben unit dry, not contaminate it with brake fluid. That way I could use it as a coolant pressure tester and anything else that would require low pressure testing. In the end, I found that I could bleed brake/clutch systems just fine by simply filling the reservoir to the brim and making sure I didn't let it go low as I was bleeding. The pressure bleeder tank ends up serving as just an air pressure tank. Easier to do several refills of the reservoir than to try and clean the pressure bleeder tank (brake fluid is nasty stuff) after each use.

I end up favoring the Schwaben unit. It has a nicer gauge, pump is smoother, and has a convenient pressure adjust/release button. As you can see from the photo I have kludged together various adaptors.

The Motive product unit worked just fine as well.
Ron

70746

[Helirich]

I've had good results with a pressure bleeder. In fact, I ended up with two units. I have a Schwaben unit that I've had for years. Then about 5 years ago I purchased a Motive Products unit on Amazon. The Motive unit is still available:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002KM5L0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Why two? The idea was I would keep the Schwaben unit dry, not contaminate it with brake fluid. That way I could use it as a coolant pressure tester and anything else that would require low pressure testing. In the end, I found that I could bleed brake/clutch systems just fine by simply filling the reservoir to the brim and making sure I didn't let it go low as I was bleeding. The pressure bleeder tank ends up serving as just an air pressure tank. Easier to do several refills of the reservoir than to try and clean the pressure bleeder tank (brake fluid is nasty stuff) after each use.

I end up favoring the Schwaben unit. It has a nicer gauge, pump is smoother, and has a convenient pressure adjust/release button. As you can see from the photo I have kludged together various adaptors.

The Motive product unit worked just fine as well.
Ron

70746

That?s pretty fancy. I was referring to the remote bleeder that Delorean industries sells. There maybe others. It?s just an extension of the bleeder valve so you can get to it easily. I can barely get my hand to the stock one after I remove the spark plug wire holder.

[82DMC12]

I have the DeLorean Industries version. It's high quality as expected and the hardware and mounting system is thoughtful and well done. I recommend it.

The hose is long enough to bleed from above or below, your preference.

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[dn010]

If I still had the original engine in my car, I would have gotten the remote bleeder years ago. Regardless of installing the remote bleeder or not, you still need to figure out how air is getting into the system otherwise this will be an ongoing problem although it may take a long time to repeat itself since you're not going that distance on a daily basis.

I have both reverse bleeders and pressure bleeders, used both on brake systems before and the best I found to work was the pressure bleeder.

[dmcman73]

If I still had the original engine in my car, I would have gotten the remote bleeder years ago. Regardless of installing the remote bleeder or not, you still need to figure out how air is getting into the system otherwise this will be an ongoing problem although it may take a long time to repeat itself since you're not going that distance on a daily basis.

I have both reverse bleeders and pressure bleeders, used both on brake systems before and the best I found to work was the pressure bleeder.

If it was air, it would not wait 600 miles before showing symptoms each time he drives the car, my guess is that he has a high water content in his fluid from absorption that after driving for a while, the water is reaching a boiling point causing his issues. Once the car cools down, it's OK to drive again until it heats up to the point of boiling the moisture in the fluid again.

[dn010]

The problem is the car is not okay to drive again when it cools down; the issue persists with the engine cold per post #24.

My money is still on a small leak somewhere. I wouldn't suspect air getting in there all in one big burst. I'd think a bubble is getting in slowly with each press of the clutch pedal. After 300 miles of driving and enough air has built up, he has trouble shifting. He parks it for the night. He then can't get it into any gear upon starting the car the next morning to test it out, until he pumped the pedal 10 times which would compressing the air, and then it shifts as usual. He then decides to bleed it and it's fine. Drives it another 300 miles and it acts up.

Either way, with enough bleeding he'll have new fluid but I'd still be concerned about it happening again if it was my situation.

[dmcman73]

The problem is the car is not okay to drive again when it cools down; the issue persists with the engine cold per post #24.

My money is still on a small leak somewhere. I wouldn't suspect air getting in there all in one big burst. I'd think a bubble is getting in slowly with each press of the clutch pedal. After 300 miles of driving and enough air has built up, he has trouble shifting. He parks it for the night. He then can't get it into any gear upon starting the car the next morning to test it out, until he pumped the pedal 10 times which would compressing the air, and then it shifts as usual. He then decides to bleed it and it's fine. Drives it another 300 miles and it acts up.

Either way, with enough bleeding he'll have new fluid but I'd still be concerned about it happening again if it was my situation.

Ah, I had missed that part in post 24 that you pointed out.

One thing he should look at is the line going from the remote fluid reservoir to the master cylinder, if it's old or it's the original one then they tend to start "sweating" brake fluid and can draw in air microscopically. Easy enough to check once the inspection plate is removed, if the hose looks wet, that could be one source of the issue.

[Helirich]

If it was air, it would not wait 600 miles before showing symptoms each time he drives the car, my guess is that he has a high water content in his fluid from absorption that after driving for a while, the water is reaching a boiling point causing his issues. Once the car cools down, it's OK to drive again until it heats up to the point of boiling the moisture in the fluid again.

This might be the case because the fluid that came out during bleeding is so grungy looking. When I was on the highway, I basically never shifted. It?s just in overdrive for 200 miles. On both trips, I was driving really fast. A guy would pass me and I would just keep him in sight and follow. I figured he would get the ticket. The guy yesterday was really flying and I would say I averaged 92 mph for over a 100 miles. Some times I had to break triple digits to keep up. The engine water temp stayed normal. Do you suppose the clutch housing was getting hot? I wasn?t going as fast on the trip up, but still was over 80 most of the time. Still, I?ve never heard of water in the fluid boiling.


Ah, I had missed that part in post 24 that you pointed out.

One thing he should look at is the line going from the remote fluid reservoir to the master cylinder, if it's old or it's the original one then they tend to start "sweating" brake fluid and can draw in air microscopically. Easy enough to check once the inspection plate is removed, if the hose looks wet, that could be one source of the issue.

I need to look at that line, but I seem to remember checking it before and it was a new style line. I kind of think dn010 is correct because it?s the most likly. It doesn?t seem to leak a drop out, but air going in is hard detect.

[dmcman73]

This might be the case because the fluid that came out during bleeding is so grungy looking. When I was on the highway, I basically never shifted. It?s just in overdrive for 200 miles. On both trips, I was driving really fast. A guy would pass me and I would just keep him in sight and follow. I figured he would get the ticket. The guy yesterday was really flying and I would say I averaged 92 mph for over a 100 miles. Some times I had to break triple digits to keep up. The engine water temp stayed normal. Do you suppose the clutch housing was getting hot? I wasn?t going as fast on the trip up, but still was over 80 most of the time. Still, I?ve never heard of water in the fluid boiling.



I need to look at that line, but I seem to remember checking it before and it was a new style line. I kind of think dn010 is correct because it?s the most likly. It doesn?t seem to leak a drop out, but air going in is hard detect.

Brake fluid is very hydroscopic and can absorb moisture. When enough moisture is absorbed by the brake fluid in a brake system or clutch, the boiling point of the brake fluid drops. As soon as there is enough heat to bring the moisture to boil, it creates vapor bubbles in the line from the water which will cause the loss of brakes or in this case, clutch. There are a lot of components in that area to cause the clutch fluid to heat up, cross over exhaust pipe, the slave cylinder transferring heat to the fluid, etc; it's not based on speed. That fluid gets hot enough that it used to cause the original vinyl line to expand and cause a loss of clutch movement hence the reason all manual owners upgraded the clutch like to a stainless steel braded one.

If your fluid was grungy coming out, flush the system completely, hopefully it hasn't caused any damage to the cylinder walls in either the master, slave or both.

[David T]

Brake fluid is very hydroscopic and can absorb moisture. When enough moisture is absorbed by the brake fluid in a brake system or clutch, the boiling point of the brake fluid drops. As soon as there is enough heat to bring the moisture to boil, it creates vapor bubbles in the line from the water which will cause the loss of brakes or in this case, clutch. There are a lot of components in that area to cause the clutch fluid to heat up, cross over exhaust pipe, the slave cylinder transferring heat to the fluid, etc; it's not based on speed. That fluid gets hot enough that it used to cause the original vinyl line to expand and cause a loss of clutch movement hence the reason all manual owners upgraded the clutch like to a stainless steel braded one.

If your fluid was grungy coming out, flush the system completely, hopefully it hasn't caused any damage to the cylinder walls in either the master, slave or both.

Just to add a bit more to this very good explanation about brake fluid, as the fluid absorbs moisture it also turns acidic and attacks the iron components in the system especially the bores of the cylinders. Once they get corroded and pitted (rough), as the seals pass over the pits and corrosion they get torn and then leak. To prevent this you should flush and bleed the brakes and clutch at least every other year. Especially if you do not use the car often. By using the car often you heat the fluid up and drive out the moisture from the fluid so it will last longer but even so it should be flushed regularly. Some fluid and a little labor is easier and a lot less expensive than replacing parts.

[Helirich]

Brake fluid is very hydroscopic and can absorb moisture. When enough moisture is absorbed by the brake fluid in a brake system or clutch, the boiling point of the brake fluid drops. As soon as there is enough heat to bring the moisture to boil, it creates vapor bubbles in the line from the water which will cause the loss of brakes or in this case, clutch. There are a lot of components in that area to cause the clutch fluid to heat up, cross over exhaust pipe, the slave cylinder transferring heat to the fluid, etc; it's not based on speed. That fluid gets hot enough that it used to cause the original vinyl line to expand and cause a loss of clutch movement hence the reason all manual owners upgraded the clutch like to a stainless steel braded one.

If your fluid was grungy coming out, flush the system completely, hopefully it hasn't caused any damage to the cylinder walls in either the master, slave or both.

Mine doesn?t have the cross over pipe anymore and I?m pretty sure it has the stainless lines, but I still think the housing could get hot.

[Helirich]

I finally got to work on the car. I had some trouble getting the remote bleeder, so I just used a vacuum one I bought last time. I?m not really recommending one, but it?s all I had. The problem with it is air leaks at the threads of the bleed nipple.

Anyways, here is the first jar of fluid that came out.

70780

I dumped it in a bottle and sucked out another.

70781

You can see how the color is kind of green on the first jar. Not sure if water does that or heat. It sure doesn?t look good. The clutch is working good now. I still feel like the clutch doesn?t completely disengage until the very last of the stroke. Is that the way the rest of you guys find your clutch? I?m thinking of changing the linkage.

[David T]

I don't like vacuum bleeders just because of what you found out, the threads will leak air. One "trick" that can work is to remove the bleeder and put some grease on the threads and put it back in. Try a "One man Bleeder" which is just some tubing and a check valve.

[dmcman73]

I finally got to work on the car. I had some trouble getting the remote bleeder, so I just used a vacuum one I bought last time. I?m not really recommending one, but it?s all I had. The problem with it is air leaks at the threads of the bleed nipple.

Anyways, here is the first jar of fluid that came out.

70780

I dumped it in a bottle and sucked out another.

70781

You can see how the color is kind of green on the first jar. Not sure if water does that or heat. It sure doesn?t look good. The clutch is working good now. I still feel like the clutch doesn?t completely disengage until the very last of the stroke. Is that the way the rest of you guys find your clutch? I?m thinking of changing the linkage.

Fully disengaged clutch is at the very bottom stroke, but it should start to disengage as you start pressing the clutch pedal.

That fluid color is from the moisture mixing with the fluid and creating an acidic fluid, mixed with heat and you have green to black fluid. Change your brake and clutch fluid every 2 to three years.