My 348 Clutch pedal is still limp - need some ferrari viagra

After replacing the triple seals on the output shaft ($48 which were leaking), opening the flywheel and replacing the Kluber grease ($52 which had turned to soup from the leaking gear oil), replacing the two seals in the throwout bearing ($16 which were also leaking), having a machine shop fabricate the tool to remove the pumpkin nut ($70), and by the grace of Enzo my clutch was not damaged and well within tollerance to avoid replacement......

Turns out the limp pedal was a totally different problem....... Inside of the clutch slave cylinder is a 5" long return spring which assists the plunger return to the neutral position which had snapped in half causing the plunger to stick...... and result in the dead pedal.

Unfortunately I don't have the time to spend searching for a replacement spring (which might cost $10) and two new seals (another $10) to rebuild the otherwise perfectly good slave cylinder....... Now I must part with $375 for the complete assembly.

The good news is Ricambia has the part and I shall be back on the road and for under $500 I have a totally renewed clutch assembly from pedal to output shaft. Plus I learned a little more about the mastery behind the dancing horse

 

Good to hear you found the problem. Do you mean clutch master cylinder?? There isnt a return spring in the clutch slave cylinder/slave body.

 

some say slave,
some say master,
and ricambia says clutch pump.
It is the 6" long devise attached to the clutch pedal on the firewall that for several weeks now has kept me from scarring small children and old ladies as I pass by them in my fine red stallion ........at 7,200 rpm's that is.

 

I like to call them master cylinders.
Hopefully you will be on the road soon. I was off the road for nearly 3 months when my clutch failed. I feel your pain.

 

On my recent clutch work I pushed the fluid in through the rear with excellent results.
If I did it this way originally I would have saved a couple hours of frustration..
I agree with the others that there may be another issue.

 

I can tell you that the 348 clutch is a big time PAIN IN THE ASS to bleed. The bleed nipple is in a convenient place, but as Brian said, the way the lines are routed make the problem.

What I did was to attatch a long clear bleed tube to the end of the nipple. This way you can push the air bubbles out further. I noticed when I was bleeding mine that, before I was able to close the nipple some air would go back up. So by attaching the clear tube I could see when the air stopped coming out and could close the nipple before it had a chance to go back in. I was also able to hold the tube up at an angle so that the air that did come out didn't run back up into the clutch line.

You just have to keep at it, and use a person inside the car to push on the pedel while you are working the bleed nipple at the back. It is frustrating but just keep at it.

The other thing is, did you get that spring you are missing yet? If not, I would wait to bleed it until you have the spring in there.

 

Jeff ... where is the master clutch bleed nipple in your diagram?

 

The diagram that I attached way back in post #8 in this thread is Tav 34 from the parts manual . In that diagram, hose #35 runs from the fluid tank to the clutch master cylinder (which is shown in Tav 25). There is no bleed nipple for the clutch up there at the front of the car. The only nipple is at the back, on the left side of the clutch housing.

Are you having a problem?

 

Here ya go Sameer. Only clutch bleed nipple.
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Okay, I have used the bleed nipple near the bell housing to bleed the clutch. This worked fine for me in the past.

I remember rifledriver's post in another thread stating that it is good to also bleed the master cylinder. I wanted to know how to do this. Thanks

 

Start with the clutch master first, and then go to the back. You will have to pull up the carpet in the front a little to get to the master, but it is not too bad. I tried all the crazy crap mentioned in this thread and none of it was useful except Rifledrivers suggestion to bleed the clutch master first. If you are getting a good clean squirt from it you do not need to jack up the car or anything else. From my experience, Scott

 

I am a total noob here - I need more detailed instructions for bleeding the master.

 

If you replace the brake/clutch master cylinder then you have to bleed it 1st.

There should be a pipe up there that you can crack to let air out. Once you do that, then you bleed it down the back.

Are you replacing the master clyinder mate?

 

No PAP.

No issues with the master cylinder. Just wanted to see if there was any air locked in the master cylinder. The slave seems to be perfect.

 

Shoot, my pedal went limp tonight, and yes I do have fluid leaking out of the grill under the housing. Was just approaching a corner, pushed in the clutch to downshift, pedal felt suspiciously soft, and could not engage the gear. No clutch pedal pressure at all. Limped the car home in first gear, got it in the garage and noticed the fluid leaking out of the grill under the housing. I searched other threads, this was the closest to my symptoms but since. What would the leaking fluid indicate?

 

Just had the wife pump the clutch a little while I was looking at the grill under the housing and it definately made it leak faster, and you can hear the fluid sloshing as she pumped it. I suspect this means the tripple seals need replacing?

 

That or the slave cylinder.

 

The triple seals are for keeping the transmission fluid from leaking out around the output shaft.

It sounds like your clutch slave cylinder / bearing has burst open, which seems to be a fairly common occurence. You need one of the Hill Engineering replacements.

 

Yep, im with you on that one!

The Hill ones are the best!
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Miltonian, PAP, thanks for the info. I'll search to see if someone has a write up on the procedure to replace.