Topic

My clutch pedal has no resistance and I think the slave cylinder has let go! Not a good way to start the new year! Ordered new one and will try to fix it Friday (when the new part arrives). Any advice?

Bleeding isn't fun. I found that a pressure bleeder did the trick.

Slave cylinder had "let go" so a new one was sourced from MG Mania with a fitting kit. Bought a pressure bleed kit from EuroCarParts and sorted it all out this afternoon. All is well and the TF lives to drive another day!

TaffD wrote:

Bought a pressure bleed kit from EuroCarParts and sorted it all out this afternoon

Well done!

I'm in the market for a pressure bleed kit. Which one did you buy and did it come with suitable caps for both the clutch and the brake master cylinders?

Sorry for the delayed reply. The make is Streetwise, and its described on the box as Clutch and Brake Bleeder Kit. It comes with three caps of different sizes, used the smallest for the clutch reservoir not tried any on the Brake to be honest. Hope that helps.

Changed the seals on the clutch just last weekend. I tried with a vacuum system to bleed it from the slave nipple, but it was sucking the air through the threads of the nipple instead the fluid. Some teflon tape helped make a better seal and I could bleed quickly. Still, I bought the Hilka pressure bleed kit from Amazon and it seems to screw perfectly on the clutch master cylinder bottle. Didn't have the time to try it yet. Wanted to make sure I have truly bled the system and I think the pressure bleeding system remains the best.

Now kind of evaluating if the I want to install the MGMania slave brace. The bending of the slave mounting bracket is kind of scary... Anyone else notice it?

Not as scary as the movement on the brake servo, mind you that is a lot more obvious than the slave cylinder.
My car was built in 1998 & has done more than 125,000 miles, although I’ve been conscious of the problem, such as it is, since I started to look at the MG horror channel on YouTube, you would think the roads would be lined with our cars suffering from failed mounts by some of the fuss. I’ve never been moved to buy or make one, although I can understand why folk would be inclined to do so.
Nor have I seen any reports of improvements by fitting one.
If you go for it please report back with your before & after impressions.
M

I have also seen the way my slave cylinder bracket deflects. But I doubt that this will lead to failure, but it certainly effects the amount of travel available in the clutch pedal and the clutch reconnects with only a small amount of foot movement. I don't recall this being an issue before I changed the clutch last year, so it occurs to me that the new assembly has a heavier spring rate than the original one, so the bracket deflects more.
A reinforcement mod is on my to-do list (before the summer I hope).

I did the bleeding all on my own. Had a piece of wood to push the clutch pedal with my 1 hand and operating the nipple with the other. LHD...might be easier this way than on a RHD car i fear.

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-G781B met Tapatalk

The clutch on my ZS was basically the same using hydraulics and a poor quality slave bracket - it eventually failed, as did the one on my god sons car did.

The main problem is that the clutch release arm progressively gets stiffer as corrosion builds up between the steel arm and alluminium gearbox housing. This puts pressure on the slave cylinder which causes undue pressure on the mounting bracket until either the slave cylinder or the bracket fails.

With a great many cars it’s not uncommon for cracks to occur in firewalls due to flex.
I’ve not heard of it as being a problem on the F/TF but I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.
Some models of Holden Commodores had such a bad problem with firewall flex around the master cylinders that the police specified double thickness firewalls for their cars!

I have a 1996 MGF and at 70,000 miles I replaced the clutch Master cylinder and Slave cylinder ( Clutch arm is free) at the same time I fitted a Lotus Slave cylinder stiffening bracket, also a Mike Satur bell crank. I noticed an improvement in the clutch feel & operation, easier selecting gears & reverse with minimum crunching. new fluid as well,