355 Lost my clutch (manual 5.2)

Today on the first real spring trip the clutch was lost all of a sudden when changing gear. The pedal had no resistance pressure at all and I stopped immediately in neutral. Looked then under the car and from the rectangular mesh under the clutch cover it was pouring a lot of hydraulic oil out on the ground. Anyone have the same experience and an idea of what can be wrong and cure?

 

You need a new slave cylinder. The function of the slave is to disengage the clutch via hydraulic pressure.

 

Here is a thread with some pictures for reference of what is going on:

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/bradan-f355-clutch-repair.314608/

 

Thanks for input. Yes maybe it is the slave cylinder as a lot of fluid came out. Could it be maybe the tripple sealing instead?...or both?

Also, where is the bleeder nipple for the clutch system located in the car? (Manual)

As the fluid reservoir is the same as for the brakes, is there a risk that it gets air into the brake system when the clutch breaks down?

 

That quantity fluid (enough to drip out of the bottom of the pumpkin) is only really going to be coming from the clutch slave. You may also have leaky triple seals, but that is usually more of a seepage. Anyway, it’s good practice to change the triple seals while you’re doing the clutch.

bottom right hand side of the pumpkin. You see the tube coming down, if you follow the tube back you see where it screws into the top of the gearbox housing.

Although the reservoir is one unit, it is baffled inside so that you don’t lose fluid to the brakes.

 

Thank you for inputs. I will change all seals I think. Maybe clutch as well when doing job in that area. Inspect it tomorrow. Disassembeld the rear bumper and exhaust today as a start

 

Hill Engineering makes a nice replacement unit. I purchased one from Ricambi and ended up getting viton triple seals as well. Not a bad job, but bleeding the slave can be stubborn. The clutch master piston will go in and not want to return out (pedal stays down) so you must reach in and manually pull it back out. Many people will power bleed it to prevent this from happening.

 

Hi, found out today that the slave cylinder has a major crack including a broken sealing ring.
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What affordable tool to use for power bleeding?

 

Also, what it the thickness of a new clutch plate? Mine is 8mm.

 

8mm is plenty thick.
Use Motive bleeder for clutch bleeding.

 

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ok, just to be super clear. 8mm over both disc.

 

I have used several different pressure/vac bleeders over the years. All have good and bad points. Recently I bought the Capri bleeder that uses air to create the suction. I have used it several times to flush brake fluid. I like it, very well made.

https://www.amazon.com/Capri-Tools-Vacuum-Brake-Bleeder/dp/B00OM751EC

 

The bearing is indeed toast.

The 'cut' in the green seal however is correct, and the new Hill Engineering version you'll (hopefully) get soon will have the same 45-degree cut seal.

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Amazing your bearing has lasted this long.

 

just curious what the production date is for your bearing?

for example, this one is October 1998 (each dot in the clock represents a month, the number represents the year). I read somewhere that Ferrari beefed up the casting at some point and it would be interesting to know if they still fail after the modifications.

Best of luck with the repair.

Bob.
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My bearing has the date code 1 plus three dots. Does it mean 1991 or 2001? The gearbox was manufactured 1996 and early 355:s had another bearing type, so it might have been replaced once already by a previous owner. The car has 97.000 km. (60.000 ms)

Anyhow, I just ordered a new one from Hill Engineering plus all sealing and a clutch disc.

Interesting to read that this is a common failure. I was a bit afraid that the pressure in the clutch system was too high due to bad return flow or something, but that I don't really want to believe.
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Maybe it is. The car has 97.000 kms / 60.000 miles

 

Ok, I thought that sealing was broken too. So this is a common failure? I hope the new one from HE will last better I just ordered.

 

^^^^Common failure and the Hill Engineering is extremely well made; you will not be disappointed. Good idea to replace the triple seals. I used the viton seals, which were very easy to install. My old seals were hard and in need of replacing:
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Interesting. That would be March 2001, so that would kill the theory that the later bearings had better durability than the early ones. Thanks for sharing.

 

When doing work in this area one can check other parts as well. I checked the play in the gearbox axle. (Outer axle) What is a resonable play? I have a degree or two.

 

I've got a 1990 car that been upgraded to the later 355 style unit (from Ferrari) and that failed in the exact same way :-( Got a hills one in there now.

BTW 348 is the easiest car ever to bleed the clutch on - you can do it even with the car on the floor...




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Just get yourself one of these bleeding tubes (or make yourself one) which is basically is a small silicone tube with a seal at one end and a slit cut in it with a sharp blade which makes a one way valve.

Wouldn't use anything else now and use it for bleeding brakes clutch etc. Works 1st time - each and every time

In the pic above I was doing a fluid change - as you can see I needed it and just had a control sample on the right to make sure it came through clean as new.


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Great, I will use the same process. Don't you need to pump the clutch pedal to fill the system?I'm concerned that the level in the filler tank gets too low so air might get into the brake system as it's the same tank.