My bloody clutch has gone!

My one was leaking through a crack in the plastic molded cylinder.

Same with boilers these days. Some are full of plastic components that either split, crack or go porous with pinholes. Great business for the manufacturers supplying replacement parts for the substandard originals. Don't fit Worcester Botch or Viessmann folks!
 
If you are leaking fluid you will see where its coming from (between the engine and gearbox if its the slave cylinder). If you are not losing fluid, it will be an internal seal on the master cylinder. My one was leaking through a crack in the plastic molded cylinder.

Thanks, I see. So failed internal seals - most likely master.

I just assumed there would be internal seals in either master or slave that could fail and would be hard to tell which if no outward signs/leaks.
 
With hydraulic clutches where the master or slave (sorry Himmy) has failed internally (ie. no outward signs of leaks or damage - how do you diagnose wether it's the master or slave that's at fault?

Or do you change the cheapest/easiest to reach part and hope for the best?

In my case, the pipe linking the two, has a quick release, self-sealing union, in the middle - each cylinder, comes with it's pipe and pre-filled. Just a matter of swapping the failed bit, no need to bleed. To diagnose it, you part the union, then press the pedal - if it goes down, it's the master, if not it's the slave. That assumes there is oil in the master.

My master went whilst away on holiday, called breakdown out and the dopey sod was clueless. Kept pumping more and more fluid in at the slave bleed nipple, flooded the carpet. I eventually convinced him I knew more than he, and got taken in, but the stupidity continued...

It just needed two nuts undone to release the master, pull the masters pipe through the double firewall a little, then push a roll-pin out, leaving pipe in place. Instead, he insidted on spending a full day, two of them, struggling to feed the new pipe, complete with MC, through the double firewall. I could have done it on my own, in 45minutes.
 
In my case, the pipe linking the two, has a quick release, self-sealing union, in the middle - each cylinder, comes with it's pipe and pre-filled. Just a matter of swapping the failed bit, no need to bleed. To diagnose it, you part the union, then press the pedal - if it goes down, it's the master, if not it's the slave. That assumes there is oil in the master.

My master went whilst away on holiday, called breakdown out and the dopey sod was clueless. Kept pumping more and more fluid in at the slave bleed nipple, flooded the carpet. I eventually convinced him I knew more than he, and got taken in, but the stupidity continued...

It just needed two nuts undone to release the master, pull the masters pipe through the double firewall a little, then push a roll-pin out, leaving pipe in place. Instead, he insidted on spending a full day, two of them, struggling to feed the new pipe, complete with MC, through the double firewall. I could have done it on my own, in 45minutes.

Yes, nightmare when things go wrong away from home and you're at the mercy of garages that you know nothing about. As for knowing more than mechanics, see my CV boot replacement post elsewhere on here. Mechanic who botched it is one man band with decades in trade. Yet successfully installing a CV boot that stayed grease-tight proved beyond him. Did a perfect job myself to rectify his attempt - and it's the first time I've ever changed one. :giggle:
 
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