Bleeding the clutch isn't a "huge pain" and if you do replace the master cylinder you'll have to bleed the system anyway. Bleeding the system should be your first diagnostic. Clutch hydraulic fluid is rearely changed and It is possible that you fluid may have been contiminated and bleeding the system will fix it. Not likely, but as this would be the cheapest solution by far - try bleeding the system with a bicycle pump and a bicycle inner tube (you'll need to buy some sort of clamp to do this as well - if it doesn't work you're out 79 cents for the clamp and an inner tube you've cut up.

If the bottom of the bell housing is wet - or if there's a wet spot underneath the bellhousing, or if the fluid level is dropping your hydraulic system is leaking - most likely from the slave cylinder which is inside the transmission bell housing. New slaves are ~$120 and you can do the job yourself. You'll want a heated garage and about two days of free time to do the job from start to finish. This is what I did - though I took more time than that to diagnose the problem.

If these doesn't seem to be any fluid leaking consider yourself lucky and replace or rebuild the master cylinder. It is located on the engine side of the speedometer and is easy to remove (especially when compared to the work involved in dropping the transmission). A rebuild kit costs at most $20 for OEM SAAB, a new master would be a lot more. If you decide to rebuild the master you'll need to buy a tool to remove a circular spring that holds the piston inside the chamber.

Occasionally the added pressure from a new master cylinder will cause the slave to fail (just so you're not surprised).

Oh one other note. If your slave is leaking my first guess would be that the rubber seal in between the slave and the transmission has failed, Make sure if the transmission is coming off that this rubber seal is replaced - I had to drop the tranny a second time to fix that mistake.

nt moore



posted by 128.101.24...

• clutch slave or master ? Help please, 91Aero.jr, Fri, 30 Nov 2001 14:12:59
  • sounds familiar, nt moore, Sat, 1 Dec 2001 14:06:14 <-- Viewing This Message
  • Re: clutch slave or master ? Help please, Peter Charak, Sat, 1 Dec 2001 12:08:43
  • Re: clutch slave or master ? Help please, dave, Fri, 30 Nov 2001 15:35:28
  • Please don't take this as criticism but ...., Cannonball, Fri, 30 Nov 2001 14:50:24
    • Re: Please don't take this as criticism but ...., 91Aero.jr, Fri, 30 Nov 2001 17:26:48
  • Classic clutch master cylinder symptoms, Gene N , Fri, 30 Nov 2001 14:42:17

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