Clutch Master and Slave Renewal

javelinadave

Administrator
Staff member
Well you get into your truck, mash down on the clutch and it goes to the floor or you can't shift gears. Your clutch master or slave has probably given up the ghost and here is how to swap them out. I encourage you to do both at the same time because one usually fails right after the other.

Here are the factory manual instructions on how to change the master. On a RHD truck it is very straight forward. On a LHD truck you can either take off the left wing (I wouldn't do that) or you can way loosen the brake master cylinder and slide it inwards and wiggle out the clutch master.

How to swap out the master cylinder

If you never want to change the master out again I would recommend getting this kit from SDO. Yes it is pricey but I subscribe to the "buy once cry once" theory.

https://www.seriesdefender.com/mechanical/clutch-master-cylinder.html

The slave cylinder is easy on an R380 because nothing is in the way but a PITA on an LT77 with a 4 cylinder engine. It is much easier if you remove the exhaust down pipe.

How to swap out the slave cylinder

You are almost done. You still need to bleed the hydraulic line. I use the same DOT 3 or 4 brake fluid that I use in the brake system.

How to bleed the clutch system

Lastly you need to adjust the clutch pedal.

Adjusting the clutch pedal

All and all it isn't a bad job. The R380 is easy to bleed but the LT77 can be a bit problematic. A quick google or YouTube search will yield many different techniques.

Lastly I would only go with a factory slave cylinder. You will want the transmission serial number available for an R380 when you order it.

 
Last edited:

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
Well, you win the tech article contest.

Question: What do you mean by all the way to the floor? Is the clutch not supposed to be able to be pushed to the floor? Or do you mean that you have to take it all the way to the floor to be able to disengage?

My clutch system is new, but I and those who have driven it, think that you kind of have to push it pretty far to disengage.
 

javelinadave

Administrator
Staff member
All the way to the floor and it does nothing. You may need to adjust your pedal using the suggested link above.
 

Atpick

Active member
thanks for the links Dave! Drove the truck up in the Belmont hills today in hot weather and NOW for some reason the truck all of the sudden barely will go in reverse. I have to "jam" it to get it to go into reverse. All the other gears seem to work just fine. I'll let ya'll know how easy this was soon enough. Should I start with adjusting the pedal position as it did feel a bit mushy or just move on to replacing the master cylinder?
 

javelinadave

Administrator
Staff member
Andy, you motivated me to make this writeup. Adjusting it is free so it is worth a try and hopefully it helps. If not you have an easy plan "B" with your RHD truck with an R380 trans.
 

1of40

Well-known member
thanks for the links Dave! Drove the truck up in the Belmont hills today in hot weather and NOW for some reason the truck all of the sudden barely will go in reverse. I have to "jam" it to get it to go into reverse. All the other gears seem to work just fine. I'll let ya'll know how easy this was soon enough. Should I start with adjusting the pedal position as it did feel a bit mushy or just move on to replacing the master cylinder?



Just a thought. Does your fluid line run too close to the exhaust pipe? If so, the fluid may have overheated. On my 110 I wrapped a heat shield material around my line where it runs by the downpipe. I have about a three finger space but recall others discussing this when I was researching misc crap back when I was doing my tdi install.
 
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