What have you used as a source for the manual clutch hydraulic line? I'm going to try Phil shortly, and I wonder what other people have done for a line replacement - are these metric lines generally available in the local auto stores?

I am having periodic difficulties with the clutch releasing. This usually happens when the car has been on the road a while. The first time it happened was when the brake fluid got lower than the clutch line level in the reservoir. I have had master cylinder issues and just got that replaced - found out the M/C was leaking into the booster. Good feeling to take care of that.

So, I decided that the clutch slave must be leaking, since the clutch problem first showed up when the fluid level was too low to supply the clutch system from the reservoir. In taking off the clutch slave cylinder, the hydraulic line seized to the fastener and I twisted it and broke off the end.

Now looking for a replacement hydraulic line. Got the whole line out of the car and found it is a two-piece deal, with a flexible hose in the middle. Makes sense, the flex hose absorbs the engine movement relative to the chassis.

I have two alternatives -

1) Replace the whole two-piece system with OEM equivalent parts.

2) Saw off even the remaining tube end, flare it, and use a union to connect in another piece of line. This presumes I can find something to fit in the way of a union and fittings.

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Also, the result when I got the slave cylinder off was no visible sign of a leak. However, the pushrod was quite worn. Comparing it to the new slave cylinder, at least 1/8 to 1/4 inch of the rod is worn away! This may help my clutch issue a bit. Did you apply any grease to the end of the slave cylinder push rod? I would expect you have to be careful with grease in the clutch area.

Any experience on all this?

Ken300D

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles