OK - I got it! I got some bolts off the same thread and 15mm longer and used one of those so I wouldn't damage my original bolt and it came right off (nice Grade A steel from Grainger, not even a dent in the head). The bolt on the right is the original... Back to work!

 

Congrats on the job so far.

 

OK, now back to the original problem....

I've got everything put back together and the car runs great! The problem is now the clutch is completely dead. The pedal has no resistance at all and it's about impossible to get the car in gear.

I know that this is typical of air in the lines, but I'm not sure what to do about it. Here's the recap:
1) I replaced the master cylinder with a new one.
2) I removed the slave cylinder and cleaned it up, but the replacement one that I bought didn't fit.
3) I cleaned up the reservoir and filled it with fresh brake fluid.
4) I attempted to bleed the lines, but here's what happened.
4a) I filled a baby jar about halfway with brake fluid and submerged a line in it. The other end of the line I connected to the bleed valve on the slave cylinder.
4b) With the bleed valve closed, my wife pushed the clutch pedal to the floor and held it there. I opened the valve (saw some air bubbles the first three or four times) then closed it. She then raised and lowered the pedal and I repeated the open/close process again.
4c) We repeated this for awhile until I gave up because the reservoir didn't go down at all. Then I checked and felt no resistance on the pedal, so I gave up.

I've checked all around and all the connections are made and on one of the times where the pedal was going up, I left the valve open and it sucked fluid out of the baby jar, so it appeared to be working but there appears to beno fluid in the lines. Should I let the slave cylinder suck fluid out of the jar until resistance builds?

I'm supposed to go back to work tomorrow so I really should fix this tonight... Argh.

 

.

Possible causes:

- Still some air in the system.
- Release fork failure.
- Defective new parts.
- Internal clutch problem.
- Etc.

I wonder if the end of the release fork is visible. If it is, observe while your wife (or whoever can volunteer) press on the pedal. If it doesn't move, the problem is probably in the hydraulic line & cylinders. If it moves, the problem could be internal.

I would get some more fluid and repeatbleeding procedure. BTW, is there a visible leak? The car once run out of the fluid, so there still could be a leak where it is sucking the air, but the level in the reservoir isn't dropping.....

.....Tech, help


JPN

 

This is mostly for JPN because you said you were interested in learning about the car. Here is a sampling of pictures that show what was required to change the timing belt without taking the engine out of the car although I sometimes wish I had (luckily I had done it before so I'd already drilled that hole).

1) The most disassembled I've ever had my car.


2) Engine Mount bolt that requires removing the front (roll) engine mount and jacking up the engine.


3) Front Mount Removed and engine jacked up.


4) Jacking safely so as not to ruin oil pan.


5) What the engine looks like from the top all jacked up (imagine a lot of creaking when doing this). Compare this to the first picture above.


6) This troublesome bolt requires a hole to be drilled in the wheel well! The mount for the strut assembly is too high to jack the engine up and the crossmember prohibits going low enough (although I did consider removing the crossmember).


7) The bolt peeking through the hole as it's being pulled out. (Why do these engine mount bolts have to be sooo long?)


JPN, I hope you enjoyed that little gallery.

 

My wife was too. This was the first time she's helped me work on the car. It was a bit anti-climatic for nothing to happen.

I can see the fork and it is not moving at all, so I don't think there's any fluid getting to the slave cylinder. I've looked all over (especially at the connections I took apart, but also all along the lines) and I can't see any leaks anywhere. I think the basic problem is that the master cylinder isn't drawing fluid in. Is there a release valve or something that I'm missing? It seems so basic.

 

Try bleeding it like you would brakes. Pump it up about 5-10 times then hold it down and open the valve.
Repeat many times and see if it comes up.

 

Thanks Tech. I'll try to bea little more patient. It's been a long weekend and I just wanted to have dinner and watch Bourne Ultimatum. Felt good to relax for a little bit of my 4-day "vacation."


***EDIT*** I got it and feel pretty sheepish now. The hose between the reservoir and the master cylinder was kinked. It was just a bit too long and when I tightened down the bolts holding the reservoir it pulled it in closer and bent the hose. I just pulled it off and cut a bit of it off and voila it's working properly now! Got my wife to help out again (even though it's midnight here) and now I've got a jar of murky old brake fluid now. It appears to be flowing clear again now though, so it's off to work in the Eclipse tomorrow.

Oh yeah, now there's a squeak down near the clutch fork. I'll see if it sticks around after driving on it, but I might need to add some grease in there.

Thanks allfor all your help!!!

 

Glad you can get to work now.

Yes I did enjoy the little gallery, thanks. The long bolt is probably a part of Mitsubishi technology[8D].

Your story reminded me of the importance of scheduled maintenance.

A good way to start the New Year!!


JPN

 

You love touting the maintenance schedule... Glad you enjoyed the gallery.

Anyway, I had it all put back together and thought it was fine. But when I started down the road to work today, a whistling sound started coming from the front and the check engine light came on. It sounded like a belt was either slipping or rubbing on something. It appeared to be running ok and the power steering and a/c seemed fine. So I have a feeling it was the alternator belt (it's the only thing on that belt). By the time I got home I couldn't hear the sound any more though. I'm wondering if after it warmed up it started gripping better. Argh. Frustrating.

Now, I'm driving the Volvo to work.

 

It may have been due to Duralast brand's belt that caused the noise. I don't know who makes the OEM belts, though. Or I wonder if there was a vacuum line that was loose?

Does the Eclipse have auto belt tensioner like the 850 does? I remember my '88 Accord didn't have an auto tensioner and I had to put quite a bit of tension on the alternator belt.

Honda's probably one of the worst cars to work on, not sure about Mitsubishi since I never worked on them. Toyota's probably one of the easiest.


JPN

 

Hi JPN,

I just posted an update here: https://volvoforums.com/m_88375/tm.htm

I figured I was sufficiently off-topic for this off-topic thread that I should start a new off-topic thread... Also, I think my new question is more generic to cars in general.

Yes, the Eclipse has an auto tensioner. It has the plunger type. So I put a pin in to hold down the plunger (after plunging the plunger in a vice) and then pull on the pulley while setting the plunger in place. I am a bit nervous that I did this myself, but I was using a torque wrench over the top of the engine to pull the pulley up and then reaching through the wheel well to set the plunger in place and tighten it down. When it was all done, the timing marks lined up very well. Oh wait, you were talking about the alternator belt. That is not an auto tensioner. I have to crank a bolt to tighten up the tension.

 

sorry..i didnt read the whole thread...is this for a 4g63 or 420a?

 

420a

 

ok..i have built a stroked, boosted 420a, but ive worked on my 4g63 more recently, so that is fresher in my mind. i thought that the 420a used a pin-type tensioner, which controls a pivoting arm idler pulley? the 4g63 is a dual tensioner engine, with the pin type, but also a spring loaded idler pulley, so it was a pain to get everything tightened, and perfectly in time. when i built the 420a, it was on an engine stand, so it was much easier to deal with...do you have a repair manual? i believe that it has a step by step of how to release the pin and check the tension.

 

That's right, it has a pin (the Haynes manual called it a plunger) type tensioner. I do have the Haynes manual and I've read a lot on dsmtalk.com, 2gnt.com and vfaq.com. I'm sure I got the tensioner in there right (slowly clamping it down in a vice and then putting a pin through the hole to hold it until putting it in position and releasing the pin). Now I'm just wondering if I might be off by one tooth on the crankshaft. I can see the marks on the camshaft sprockets and they are still set properly. Do you know what the result of being off by one tooth on the crankshaft would be? Noticeably rough all the time? Occassionally rough or still mostly smooth but lower performance? The engine seems to be rough every 5-10 seconds.