190e 2.6 five speed clutch hard line leak
 

Last week pedal went to floor a few times randomly, so I thought maybe it was time for a master or slave cylinder to be replaced.

While bleeding the system it turns out the hardline from the master that connects to a hydraulic hose has rusted out where it is exposed outside of the car and is leaking.

Question- I've replaced brake lines in the car and found them to be the same size as the ones in my '59 vw. Is the clutch line the same size?

Having extra spanking new brake lines in the barn for the vw, which is away for the winter, is it possible to use a brake line for this application, or is the clutch line a different size/diameter??

Due to engine movement, a hard line is NOT a good idea.

You need to get a new OE line that has a molded rubber line that allows for movement.

It looks as if the hardline screws onto the soft line, much line the hardline on brakes screws onto the softline to the wheel.

Just spoke to Phil
It is two piece - BUT
the hardline is NLA, the softline is available.

Now to see if application of PB blaster and patience can get the hardline off without destroying the softline connection..... and then see if the VW brake line fits.

You can bend and flare a new hard line from scratch pretty easily.

That looks like what I'll end up doing.
Buying a double flare tool to do one line is kind of a pain for one hardline.

Hardline all good now- but bleeding shows other issues.

Pressure bleeder on brake fluid reservoir, fluid pours out thru slave out bleeder valve. No clutch though once pressure is removed though.

Try to reverse bleed from right front brake thu slave back to reservoir is no go. Bleeder line pops off slave after a few stokes on the brake pedal- no matter what the position of the clutch pedal.

After laying on the ground staring up at the slave, feeling for the mounting bolts and later reading some threads here, I'm leaning top calling Phil in the am and ordering up a new master and slave for my indie to install.

The only good part is the car is facing out of the driveway, and the garage is less than a quarter mile down the street. Time for a 1st gear drive.

you're lucky to have a W201/M103 combo with a manual transmission anyway

Indie shop took a look, and figured trying to bleed would be the place to start- no good, the system is sucking air somewhere. New master and slave cylinder going in, and they are going to change the line from the reservoir to the master and take a look a the hardline flares I did.

Nice thing about a lift- for the first time sice I got the car I could examine the underside all at once. A new exhaust system is now on my christmas gift list.

The clutch is a bit*ch to bleed. It's best to reverse bleed from the slave cylinder on the transmission.

FYI: for anyone else in the same boat. The hard line is not exotic by any means. The box stores sell lengths of it and will have the one you need. The one I bought was an inch or two too long, a couple S bends and problem solved. No need to order something special for the line.

All the local FLAPS had was line, and no correct flare fittings. I reused the ones I had and ordered a couple from NAPA to have extras in case I needed to make another line.

The reverse bleed was a complete failure- but I'm pretty sure it was indicating component issues, as something was blocking the line.
Pulled the slave enough to look at the shaft, which was dry. I'm betting internal master cylinder failure.

Bleeding
 

One helpfull thing about the reverse bleed (which is the procedure proscibed in the manual.), is to take two very small hose clamps and lightly tighten them over the hose on the bleed screws if you have issues with them popping off.

It's not a bad idea to bleed the brakes all around and replace the brake fluid while your down there.