Car wont shift into gear when cold

[dn010]

Usually a problem with the clutch hydraulics either happens all the time or when hot, not cold.

I disagree. If there is air in the line and you're struggling to shift when you first get in the car and turn it on ("cold"), shifting gets better by the time things appear "hot" because you've compressed the air from repeatedly pressing the pedal and this lasts until you turn off the car and walk away, and the air has a chance to deform. I just went through this same crap, hence the instructions above. The power bleeder was the only way I could get the air out of the system which is odd because a decade ago, I had zero problem bleeding the system just using a hose off the slave bleed screw going into a bottle of brake fluid. But the parts back then were probably not made in china either!

[MacStainless]

A year or two ago, I replaced most of my clutch hydraulics. For the master, I removed nearly all the fluid from the reservoir using a reverse brake bleeder kit which is basically just a hand pump connected to a container with a hose from the container that goes to the brake nipple, only I sunk the hose into the reservoir and pumped all the fluid out into the container. Link: https://www.amazon.com/ZJERYL-GULL-H.../dp/B0BLGTBX7B

Once that was done, I removed the hose from the reservoir at the clutch MC and let the fluid that was left in the hose soak into a rag. Removed the line from the clutch MC to the slave and used a flexible funnel under the clutch MC to direct fluid into a pan under the car. Link: https://www.amazon.com/Cenforge-Flex.../dp/B0D12JMTGS

From there, I opened the slave cylinder nipple and use the above mentioned brake bleeder kit to pull any fluid through. Used the funnel again to direct fluid from the union on the trans down into the pan and then used rags to soak up anything that came from the slave cylinder connection.

There are some google images and youtube videos of the slave cylinder:
https://support.delorean.com/kb/a68/...ydraulics.aspx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbWm2t0YqC8 (not my video)

Before I had the 3.0, I found it easiest to remove the slave from below. I remember moving the mixture unit out of the way to access the bleeder once. I had a hard time with the latest clutch slave and MC as far as bleeding the air for whatever reason, the solution was to use a power bleeder (also on Amazon) by taking the hose off the master cylinder cap adapter and putting it on a gear oil cap, the ones that have the spout you need to cut open. The hose fits nicely and the cap screws right on to the reservoir.

If you replace the line between the reservoir and clutch master cylinder, that is a pain in the ass job using the hose you have to heat up to get it to fit on (DMCH).

This is incredibly helpful. Thank you. I think my hangup on doing this type of job comes down to 2 concerns of mine:

1. I'm 99% sure I'm on OG parts (cyls, lines, etc) so it's probably a wise time to replace them while this job is getting done. But even if I don't...

2. The procedure seems a bit more involved than it should be (welcome to life with a DMC, right??) so while I'm sure getting the system emptied is likely somewhat easy, it's getting it buttoned up and filled with new fluid that's a bit of a concern. Doesn't help that the slave cyl is in such a hard-to-reach spot.


I guess I need to consider more about how I want to go about it. If anyone else has more walkthroughs / in-depth info to show how it's done, it's always appreciated.

Thanks.

[dn010]

If you're running original parts, I would be considering leaving the job for Rob to handle. 40 years on them won't make replacement easy unless the car sat in a climate controlled garage the entire time.

Things to consider: If you do have the original clutch slave and master, it is probably better to sleeve them than to get "new" parts. Unfortunately this means downtime while waiting for the sleeve job to happen. Seems they really cheap out on metal these days, nothing really lasts and corrodes quickly, but I'm not saying anything new. You will definitely want to get rid of the plastic clutch line. If you have a stainless line now, that indicates someone has already been in there. Get rid of the steel clutch slave pipe and go with stainless (106773).

If you're still considering it on your own:

Once you drain the fluid, removing the clutch master is a matter of unbolting the two bolts holding it to the body and disconnecting the linkage to the pedal. It should come right out and the new one goes right in, two bolts and the linkage hooked back up. You have to transfer the nipple for the reservoir hose from the old to the new before it goes back in but that is straightforward.

The clutch slave cylinder is the worst for obvious reasons. Once the metal clutch pipe is removed, it is also two bolts holding it in place. Once those are removed you pretty much push the slave cylinder up and out of the way but as usual a pain in the ass with the heater hose, mixture unit and everything else in the way. The rod from the clutch fork will rotate with it once you clear everything. Perfect time to replace the dust boot that goes over the fork. installing the new slave, you push the piston of the slave against the rod on the clutch fork to push the piston in and then rotate the slave cylinder down into place. Again this is all much easier without all the crap up top (mixture unit, or taking the intake off really makes it easier but that is opening a new can of worms).

The plastic clutch line is just a matter of removing the old (cut the connection off one end to make it easier) and pushing the new between the frame and body. I don't recall having to lift the body up at all but it has been 20 years.

This is easy to say from someone who has done it multiple times, hard to visualize if you never have and you might get in over your head quickly.

This is incredibly helpful. Thank you. I think my hangup on doing this type of job comes down to 2 concerns of mine:

1. I'm 99% sure I'm on OG parts (cyls, lines, etc) so it's probably a wise time to replace them while this job is getting done. But even if I don't...

2. The procedure seems a bit more involved than it should be (welcome to life with a DMC, right??) so while I'm sure getting the system emptied is likely somewhat easy, it's getting it buttoned up and filled with new fluid that's a bit of a concern. Doesn't help that the slave cyl is in such a hard-to-reach spot.


I guess I need to consider more about how I want to go about it. If anyone else has more walkthroughs / in-depth info to show how it's done, it's always appreciated.

Thanks.