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Date: 21 Sep 2004 21:16:40 GMT From: Dave Hinz <DaveHinznospamcop.net> Subject: Re: How hard is it to replace a slave cylinder on an 87' saab 900S?
On Tue, 21 Sep 2004 19:18:56 GMT, LC <goalie22nospamail.com> wrote: > Not sure exactly... it's an ebay mobile. It's currently sitting about 500 > miles from me. He says that the clutch is fine until it gets warm, and then > you have to pump it up to get it to function.. He was told by a local saab > mechanic that it was the slave cylinder. To me, that sounds like air bubbles, anyone else agree? I'd go for it. I'm thinking you _might_ be able to get it fixed by just bleeding the clutch properly; unless it's pissing fluid all over (ask) that may be the only thing wrong. Find out if it's leaking there or just working badly when it's warm. If it's not leaking, then do this: Take along (stay with me here, I'm serious) a roll of duct tape, a turkey baster, 6 feet of clear tubing to fit over the end of the baster, two pints of DOT-4 brake fluid, and the right size wrench for the clutch bleeder nipple (13mm? Anyone know this? I can check tonight). Take a look here: http://68.78.86.35:/dave/saab/99turbo/reanimation/ Click on "removing the engine" There's a collection of thumbnail images there. The one with the best view of the clutch slave cyl. is number 030.html, click on it for a bigger shot. image 032 is pretty good too. Anyway, the best way to bleed the clutch on these cars has nothing to do with the clutch pedal and pumping, because there is a long vertical tube that's of more volume than the volume of the master cyl...so you can't get it all out that way, period. Open the hood. Tape the baster to the upper (used to be rear) edge of the hood (after removing the bulb. It's a funnel now.) Hose from baster onto bleeder nipple, fluid in baster. Try to get the bubble out of the clear tubing before you push it through the system, no reason to make this worse. Let gravity pull the fluid down through the baster, through the clear tube, into the slave cyl, up the piping, and into the reservoir. Watch the pretty bubbles, and try not to let the funnel/tube empty or you'll get new bubbles in there. When it's done bubbling (you may have to siphon some fluid out of the reservoir during all this), close the bleeder nipple, and remove your funnel/hose. Don't get the DOT-4 on the paint. If the clutch is leaking hydraulic fluid and the slave really is bad, then this won't help much if at all. But, there's at least a reasonable chance that the "doesn't work when hot" is actually air space in the fluid. Worst case you'll know that's not it. If it works when it's cold, you can at least get going, and you can get a long way on the freeway without shifting. > I dunno.. it's a decent car for cheap, and I need something for my > sis-in-law. If you're comfortable with the above, you should be fine. I don't know if I'd drive a couple days with a suspect clutch, but I wouldn't have a problem doing it for, say, a 1/2 day cross-state trip if that's the sort of thing we're talking about. I'm open to anyone saying "that's not an air problem, Dave", but it's at least reasonable, likely, and easy to fix. Dave Hinz
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