Desperate clutch help 2.0 ztt cdti

gibbo64 · 23rd May 2013, 17:46

Ok here we go, after only having a small budget to buy a car which was needed to be reliable for my father who i care for, take the kida and the dogs out in i had a stressful few weeks trying to accommodate everything i needed.

All of a sudden a mg zt t cdti tourer came up in my price range and it took me back to when i first seen one on the forecourt of the rover garage locally in bright sparkling blue which i loved the looks of and the sound.

I have bought a 54 plate less than a week ago unfortunately for me from a private sale and drove it well over 100 miles home with no problems at all, now i have a clutch peddle thats flat on the floor unless i pull it up with my foot, pump it a few times until it stiffens up so i can change gear again, all gear are engaging fine and pull is good. I know the master was done not so long ago before i bought it and had it into a garage today to get it bled to see if this would solve it. ( hoping and praying!) Garage could not do it so did not charge, went to local rover specialist and they say fluid leaked from master so will need total new clutch, cost £1000.

On way home passed bmw specialist so popped in and they recommend a good pressurized bleed will do the job fine at £45 + vat.

Could really do with help from you guys who have prob had the same problem to advise me which is telling the truth? I do not have money to frow around being a full time carer. Have i bought into a very expensive repair?

If the worst happens and it is at the expensive end please could someone advise the parts i will need as i am not mechanically minded but will haggle a good price. Many thanks for your time. Mark

rashi_g_h · 23rd May 2013, 18:40

Hi Gibbo.

Probably your master or slave cylinder is leaking.
If its the master you are in lick because it can be changed.
If it is the Slave then the gearbox will have to be opened so lots of labor but if you intend to keep the car you can get a new clutch and fly wheel (if necessary) in one go.

What you can try and do is to fill the master cylinder (situated on the top behind clutch pedal in the passenger compartment) with brake fluid and bleed the system.
its a two men job because the rubber tube to bleed the system is in the engine bay.

you will require a syringe with a pice of tube attached to it because it is quite hard to access to the Master cylinder.

Fill it up, pump it and bleed it. there will be some black gunk coming if it was not done before. keep topping the master cylinder and make sure you get rid of any air in the system. clutch pedal will go back up.

Look for any fluid leak under the car to determine if its the master or slave cylinder.
If it is a slow leak it will allow you to do about 1000 miles or more between filling the fluids in the master cylinder. This will gain you some time in saving some money to properly fix the fault.

Trophy Blue Tourer · 24th May 2013, 08:42

Make sure you have removed the rubber "condom" seal from the master cylinder before you top it up!!

If you don't and you pour fluid in there on top of it you will never be able to bleed it!!

Don't be surprised if you stick a finger in and find fluid in there as that's possibly (probably) what the garage has done !! it will sit on TOP of the condom!!

If you get it bled and there was a condom in there trim off the lower section keep about the top 5/6 mm and use that bit as a seal for the cap!! - this will increase the fluid capacity of the master cylinder and enable you to go longer between top ups

If the bleed does give you back the clutch operation then you will find the feel of the pedal will give you some warning that the fluid is getting low again and you can just top up the M/C as it will "self bleed" in a couple of strokes of the pedal due to the angle of the cylinder !!

I did this for 30 months on my car until the slave finally went !! probably circa 30k miles!! I ended up being able to do the top up at the side of the road in 5 ins or so!! syringe and a length of washer tubing are the easy way!!

As other have said though once (or if) the slave has gone (goes) then g/box out is required!

HTH?

Andy

23rd May 2013, 17:46	#1
gibbo64 Regular poster Zt-t+ Cdti 135 Join Date: May 2013 Location: Barrow In Furness Posts: 35 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Desperate clutch help 2.0 ztt cdti Ok here we go, after only having a small budget to buy a car which was needed to be reliable for my father who i care for, take the kida and the dogs out in i had a stressful few weeks trying to accommodate everything i needed. All of a sudden a mg zt t cdti tourer came up in my price range and it took me back to when i first seen one on the forecourt of the rover garage locally in bright sparkling blue which i loved the looks of and the sound. I have bought a 54 plate less than a week ago unfortunately for me from a private sale and drove it well over 100 miles home with no problems at all, now i have a clutch peddle thats flat on the floor unless i pull it up with my foot, pump it a few times until it stiffens up so i can change gear again, all gear are engaging fine and pull is good. I know the master was done not so long ago before i bought it and had it into a garage today to get it bled to see if this would solve it. ( hoping and praying!) Garage could not do it so did not charge, went to local rover specialist and they say fluid leaked from master so will need total new clutch, cost £1000. On way home passed bmw specialist so popped in and they recommend a good pressurized bleed will do the job fine at £45 + vat. Could really do with help from you guys who have prob had the same problem to advise me which is telling the truth? I do not have money to frow around being a full time carer. Have i bought into a very expensive repair? If the worst happens and it is at the expensive end please could someone advise the parts i will need as i am not mechanically minded but will haggle a good price. Many thanks for your time. Mark

23rd May 2013, 18:40	#2
rashi_g_h Loves to post Rover 75 Tourer Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Hatfield Posts: 438 Thanks: 85 Thanked 30 Times in 26 Posts	Hi Gibbo. Probably your master or slave cylinder is leaking. If its the master you are in lick because it can be changed. If it is the Slave then the gearbox will have to be opened so lots of labor but if you intend to keep the car you can get a new clutch and fly wheel (if necessary) in one go. What you can try and do is to fill the master cylinder (situated on the top behind clutch pedal in the passenger compartment) with brake fluid and bleed the system. its a two men job because the rubber tube to bleed the system is in the engine bay. you will require a syringe with a pice of tube attached to it because it is quite hard to access to the Master cylinder. Fill it up, pump it and bleed it. there will be some black gunk coming if it was not done before. keep topping the master cylinder and make sure you get rid of any air in the system. clutch pedal will go back up. Look for any fluid leak under the car to determine if its the master or slave cylinder. If it is a slow leak it will allow you to do about 1000 miles or more between filling the fluids in the master cylinder. This will gain you some time in saving some money to properly fix the fault.

24th May 2013, 08:42	#3
Trophy Blue Tourer Gets stuck in MG ZT-T Trophy Blue CDTI Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Milton Keynes Posts: 883 Thanks: 11 Thanked 25 Times in 18 Posts	Make sure you have removed the rubber "condom" seal from the master cylinder before you top it up!! If you don't and you pour fluid in there on top of it you will never be able to bleed it!! Don't be surprised if you stick a finger in and find fluid in there as that's possibly (probably) what the garage has done !! it will sit on TOP of the condom!! If you get it bled and there was a condom in there trim off the lower section keep about the top 5/6 mm and use that bit as a seal for the cap!! - this will increase the fluid capacity of the master cylinder and enable you to go longer between top ups If the bleed does give you back the clutch operation then you will find the feel of the pedal will give you some warning that the fluid is getting low again and you can just top up the M/C as it will "self bleed" in a couple of strokes of the pedal due to the angle of the cylinder !! I did this for 30 months on my car until the slave finally went !! probably circa 30k miles!! I ended up being able to do the top up at the side of the road in 5 ins or so!! syringe and a length of washer tubing are the easy way!! As other have said though once (or if) the slave has gone (goes) then g/box out is required! HTH? Andy