can't depress clutch

[aggie80]

The clutch on my 79 240D won't go down. The car has been sitting for over a year and I am trying to get it back in working order.

Is it the clutch slave cylinder? I hate to replace it when it might be the master cylinder....

[Jim Anderson]

That happened to me once, the rubber hose between the master and slave got clogged cause some rubber slipped out from around the crimp, real weird. I just cleared it out with a drill bit.

Try disconnecting the line between the master and slave and press the clutch, that at least tell you which one is bad.

[csnow]

I vote for the slave.
Water collects at the lowest point (the Slave), and rust seizes things up. It seems unlikely that the master would seize.

Also, (statistically) across the years with various cars, I have had far more slaves fail than masters, like 1 Master to 5-6 Slaves.

1) Open the bleeder. If the pedal moves and fluid squirts out, it's the slave.
2) If the pedal does not move, slave may be too clogged to bleed- disconnect the hose at the Slave.
3) If the pedal moves now, and fluid squirts out, it's the Slave.
4) If there is no dripping, or only a little dripping, but the pedal still does not move, hose may be clogged like the problem Jim had (very unusual case)- remove hose at Master.
5) If the pedal still does not move, I lose my bet, and I'm a humbled diagnostician.


Best of luck