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, Sun, 14 Oct 2007 19:51:53
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Hi Doug,
Let's do some trouble shooting. Are you having to add clutch/brake fluid on a routine basis? If NOT it's most likely the Master Cylinder, they are notorious for allowing the fluid to slip past the plunger seal as you push in the pedal. Ever had a bicycle air pump apart because it didn't pump air anymore, only to find that the rubber or leather disk in the middle was worn out and would not keep contact with the sides of the tube? That's what is happening with a worn out master.
Are you adding fluid? It can leak in one of three places, the master, the slave, or the flexible portion of the metal line between the master and slave. It's down somewhat near the oil dipstick tube, look for a metal line with a crimp on it going to the woven looking black flexible tube, and then has another crimp and goes back to metal again to end up at the slave. Is the fabric wet? are either of the crimped ends wet? get an old white T-shirt (or a white cloth of most any kind) and wipe the flexible portion of the line. If it's *really* wet and slippery that may be the issue, most rare of the three but it does happen. IF it has been leaking for some time the area around the flex portion of the line will be oily too.
Again, if you are adding fluid it's going somewhere! This reservoir is a joint usage one, both for the clutch and the brake. If your brakes are puking fluid out you would notice that the fastest of all of the leaks, nowhere to hid the leak on brakes.
So you are adding fluid, the flexible line seems pretty dry, so it's either the master or the slave. The slave is near the radiator (called the back of the engine for purists - the front is where the belts are and is against the firewall!) and if you followed the clutch line before it ends in one of two threaded holes in the slave, one for the clutch line, and one adjacent to is is the bleed fitting. There is a "hollow" between the slave and the clutch proper that can hold a fair amount of clutch fluid before it finally overflows and presents itself as the leak. The master is also similar in that it can leak at the pedal area and soak the carpet, and if you have floor mats... it can be some time before you find that fluid has been leaking right at your.... feet!
So, pull back the floor mat, and using a piece of newspaper, press the newspaper into the carpet starting about where you heel rests when you are driving, and continue working your way up under the pedal. If there clutch fluid there it was leach into the paper and cause it to get clear and oily looking.
The slave is a little more work, you need to remove the shroud that covers the pressure plate to see if the hiding place is getting full. Sometimes the leak will run onto the skid or bash plate, and then overflow from there in the cross brace and out a hole in the middle and seem too far away to be the slave... and onces it's dirty, really dirty, it's sometimes hard to ID the slick you find to the fresh clean liquid in the bottle. But you should be able to tell my spell and feel on your fingers, rub them around and then try some other fluid, bet you figure it out.
The Master is the easiest to put a rebuild kit in. If you are not 4 foot 10 inches... you could remove the seat. the drivers seat on the 87 can sometimes be a pain with the inverted "T" for height adjustment. the 87 doesn't have the knee bolster so you can do it sitting the ground between the open door and the door opening. The kit cost is less that $10 on http://www.eEuroparts.com (last time I purchased them). If this was the issue you will be able to tell right away.
If this doesn't do the trick, it's clutch slave time. If you have an original Saab branded slave, you can rebuild them for about the same cost as the master. If you have an after market slave... most are made of aluminum and the surfaces of the tubes that ride inside each other wear and have a surface like smooth concrete, this wears the three O rings out fairly quickly. You can remove the slave with out taking the pressure plate off, but it is tricky. It is sometimes a good practice to replace other items when you are "in there" because the labor to get in there is the same...
Let us know what you find?
, Sun, 14 Oct 2007 22:48:59, Sun, 14 Oct 2007 19:51:53
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