Hi guys, I've got a clutch pedal/master cylinder question for you. First the
background:
The last time I pressed my clutch pedal it made a really loud cracking noise,
the clutch stuck to the floor of the car and the car stalled.

After pushing the car home and taking a look at the pedals, the clutch spring
looks fine. the pin that connects the clutch master cylinder to the clutch
pedal snapped clean off though:



A better look at the broken pin:



When I put the pin back into the slot in the pedal and try to press the clutch
in, the rod of the master cylinder (white in the photo) doesn't budge. I
grabbed it with a pair of channel locks and tried to depress the master cylinder but it wouldn't give.

Any ideas before I take the photo above to a mechanic on monday? I'm kind
of reliant on this car. Thanks all

 

The clutch master or slave might have locked up.

 

Thanks tech. Is there any reason why the master cylinder would randomly lock
up on me other than old age? Is this anywhere near common in your experience?
I braked really heavily for a red light about 5 seconds before the master cylinder
locked up on me.

I checked the brake fluid today, the level was fine but the fluid was a bit cloudy.
I'm looking at the master cylinder replacement steps on vadis, it looks
like a manageable job for my driveway

One last thing i might try before tearing everything apart is to manually press
the clutch position sensor in and turn the car on, then try pushing the master
cylinder in

 

I have not seen this issue as of yet. Also the braking should not have an affect in it.
Also there is no power assist for the clutch.
If the fluid was cloudy that might have affected the master cylinder.

 

How old is the clutch? I bet the pressure plate let go.

 

Thanks tech and gdog.

gdog: I've put 16k miles on the clutch since I got the car, most of those on the highway
(cross-country trips). No idea how long it's been on there but the clutch still grabs
well, though it was starting to slip a little.

So i put the key in this afternoon and started 'er up. I can shift the gears smoothly even
though the master cylinder isn't pushed in. You were right tech, the master cylinder still
won't budge. Looks like a tow to teh mechanic is in order, I'll post to the thread when
I learn more

 

Got a call from the techs today. It turns out that the clutch master arm connects to the pin,
which is part of the clutch pedal. So the clutch pedal assy and clutch master both had to be
replaced.

With new brake fluid everything's working fine, but all in all that was a pretty expensive fix for
a random breakdown. I learned my lesson about checking brake fluid regularly

Thanks again for your help guys

 

Glad all is fine now.