Td5 clutch

Hi guys, just changed the clutch, flywheel, thrust bearing, spigot bearing and fork referb kit on my td5 today. Got it all to bits and back together no problem
Well apart from needing a new front pipe and also changed a leaky fuel pressure regulator whilst the box was out. When I jumped in after all this there was no clutch and I couldn't select any gears strange I thought, pumped the pedal a few times and just about went in, so presumed bleeding was needed so tried bleeding it then no pedal at all. Next opened slave cylinder and nothing there for a few seconds then a little drip (not much) and had a bit clutch but really struggles to go into all gears especially reverse. All gears a fine when it's not running. It's like it's just not quite pushing the clutch far enough to work but really don't understand why this is I don't even know why it should need bled to be honest. Used valeo full clutch and flywheel and then little parts from island 4x4. Any help appreciated.

it will probably bleed up but a new slave would be best ,its obviously sucked some air in when pressure from push rod was released

Sounds good to me. just couldn't understand how the air could have got in. The last one i did was perfect straight away so was going through all the motions of "have i missed something here" lol. Got another 2 or 3 guys wanting there's done soon so was kind of wanting to know what the he'll was going on, didn't think it was the clutch etc. Thanks

QUOTE=jamesmartin;1806621]it will probably bleed up but a new slave would be best ,its obviously sucked some air in when pressure from push rod was released[/QUOTE]

^^^ +1 ...if the slave cylinder is old simply removing it can disturb the piston seals within and then even bleeding the sh*t out of it wont help much...IMO put a new one then bleed it well and it'll be just fine

the piston has a rubber seal... after hundreds of movements there will be a wear within the cylinder body along the piston's "travel" , when u remove the cylinder the pushrod makes room for the piston to move forward a bit under pressure and then the rubber meats the unworn part of the body and it's disjointed... after that it will never work as it should... that's my explanation

its not a bad one

It's a fair explanation like. I'll get one priced and ordered up. It's been an expensive fix this although can't complain think I've only ever changed a front bearing/hub on it or and some pads in nearly 3 years lol

sierrafery said:

the piston has a rubber seal... after hundreds of movements there will be a wear within the cylinder body along the piston's "travel" , when u remove the cylinder the pushrod makes room for the piston to move forward a bit under pressure and then the rubber meats the unworn part of the body and it's disjointed... after that it will never work as it should... that's my explanation

Click to expand...

...if u cut an old slave cylinder in two u can feel the wear with your finger and u'll also see that the rubber is not "straight" anymore ... when it's tired it works as long as it's not disturbed or as long as it's not too worn....i was curious enough to cut one after my hair turned grey bleeding it without effect

you can feel it without cutting it in two but i admire those that want to know why

jamesmartin said:

you can feel it without cutting it in two but i admire those that want to know why

Click to expand...

... i know that now but then i was too nervous...lucky me that the gearbox was already fitted

without jokes now ... this could happen within the master cylinder too when u remove the slave and release the pressure... and always a new cylinder(master or slave) puts stress on the old one... that's why the real thing is to replace them both if they are old enough... or at least be aware that if u replaced just one of them the old one might not last too long after that.

it does ,and why its noticed as with brakes when bleeding as pedal moves further than normal

Just an update guys. Changed the slave cylinder today, bled it through and the clutch is now perfect. Cheers for the advice