I got the engine and tranny in and when I first touched the pedal it almost fell to the floor. I pumped it a couple hundred times and now I have some resistance but still not enough. I can shift through all gears without the clutch being pushed in which tells me theres still air in the line. Also I have to use both hands to get the car in reverse. The thing is that I havent started the car yet and I cant really do that for a while. I know that normally when my car is off I can shift without the clutch pedal being in. I hope this is all it is.

 

Its a 96 Lt1 and T56 by the way.

 

did you do anything with the slave or master cylinder?

Otherwise, make sure the clutch fork is engaged correctly.. that took me a bit of fiddling but you don't have to pull the trans. I'd try that first.

 

I say just give it a few hundred miles to break in more. Mine was like that until after about 2-300miles. Then it stiffened up and the clutch grabbed right before i let the clutch fully out. As to when i first installed it. When i first drove it after the install it grabbed down near the floor as i let it out. Now its normal again.

 

I made sure the clutch fork was on the throwout bearing. The car was formally a 3.4L v6 but I know for a fact that the slaves are the same. The masters are a different part numer but i dont see where one would have more pressure that the other. I heard there is some kinda of tool to hook to the reservoir of the fluid and suck the air out. I might try that.

 

No the slave and master are not designed to be bled.. that's why I asked if you've tinkered/replaced them. They are bought as a singular unit from gm.. they come filled and bled. People frequently buy aftermarket slave cylinders and keep the gm master and I know those aftermarket slaves can be problematic (I thought that might be your problem.. guess not).

So, if either is leaking then replace the whole unit with a gm piece. I also fail to see how the v6 could have a different part number for the master since, as I said, they are a singular part.. that's the only way they're available from GM.

Are you sure the v6 uses the same slave/master? Are you sure yours isn't leaking? There should be no reason to attempt bleeding it.

 

Youre sure theres fluid in there, sounds like theres a hole in the line, and if it came off the clutch release fork and you pumped the pedal that much, you messed up the slave cylinder. You should never have to bleed the system, I dont even think there is a way, when you buy a new one from GM its all self contained, with fluid in it already.

 

You can somewhat bleed the system and this will probably fix your problem. I had basically the same problem when I did a clutch install.


Remove the cap from the clutch master cylinder.

Remove the slave cylinder from the transmission.

Hold the slave cylinder as high up next to the tranny as you can with the slave cylinder rod point up.

Now move the rod in and out several times while keeping the slave unit as high as possible.

This will move any air in the system back up the line to the master cylinder.


Hope this helps as it did mine. Someone on this board told me how to do it..

 

Im sure its not leaking. I was having clutch problems about a year ago and I replaced The slave and master assy. as the prebled unit from GM. I disconnected the line from the slave for the tranny install but Im sure its not leaking because there is no fluid anywhere and its only like a year old. I work at NAPA and the part numbers are different for the master assy by themselves between a 95 v6 and a 96 LT1. Not sure what the difference is though. I talked to a mechanic and he said that there is like a suction gun you can hook up to a nozzle or something on the clutch fluid reservoir and it will suck the air out. Not quite sure where it hooks up at. Anybody have any ideas about why its so hard ot go into reverse. I hope this tranny isnt F'd up.

 

It takes a little force to go into reverse with the car off.. it's part of the lockout mechanism.. shouldn't be too hard though. I dunno where you'd hook up a suction gun.. the unit is not designed to be bled so there's no nipple or anything... maybe disconnecting the line was not such a good idea... you shouldn't have to disconnect the slave to remove/install the trans - just hang it on something with some stiff wire. You could try pumping the slave as someone else stated.. that may do it.