Siezed clutch?

[rossybrown]

Hi all,

I'm after some clutch related advice please.

I tried bleeding the clutch on my mk3 spit (not on the road for 20 years) last weekend and determinded that the clutch master cylinder was seized.

Fitted a new one today and bled the clutch but the pedal is now completely solid. Am i thereofre to assume the clutch is seized through lack of use? If so any tips for freeing it up? Or could the slave cylinder be the issue?

Thanks is advance,

Ross

[Clive]

Sounds like the clutch slave cylinder is seized too. Not really a surprise! And then you will probably find the clutch is seized. It May break free by carefully jacking the car up, starting in gear and running.  Depress clutch pedal and keep jabbing the accelerator to free it. Be careful, you don't want the back whells on the floor at all, or tofall off the jacks.
Alternatively a long driveway and do the same, but actually moving. Bit scarier in some ways. Otherwise gearbox out etc.
Have fun, it all sounds so easy to start with......and later you start mumbling about wishing you had never seen the car. Then a sunny day and its all smiles!
Clive

[rossybrown]

Thanks Clive, just for my clarity are you saying the reason the pedal is solid and has no travel is probably a seized slave cylinder?

Once sorted the pedal will travel and then i may have to deal with a seized clutch?

Ross

[heraldcoupe]

After a few years of being idle, any hydraulic system should be treated with suspicion. After 20 years you can be certain that every hydraulic seal and pipe is going to be in need of replacement. Even those which at first appear sound will inevitably fail as soon as they are returned to use.
If the clutch itself is seized (again highly likely) then that can nearly always be unseized by running the engine up to temperature, then re-starting the car in gear with the back end elevated, thend operating the clutch a few times. Of course the hydraulics need to be working before you get this far....
Cheers,
Bill.

[Clive]

Yep, slave seized