1981 240D 4 speed manual trans. Its a Diesel. It has a new clutch and associated components. I keep losing my clutch pedal. I bled it per the manual and it works great for about 2-3 days, then it starts acting flaky. After the 2-3 days if I am travelling at 50-60 mph and come to a stop I have difficulty getting it in and out of gear. But if I pump the pedal a few times it acts normal for awhile. Sometimes I cannot get it into gear or out of gear but then all of a sudden it starts acting normally again. Anyone else have this problem and what was the solution.

you must therefore have a slight leak somewhere. Do you see or smell fluid in the car? If so its the master cylinder, if not that then it is probably the clutch slave cyl. You say new components but were they installed tight?
I don't know what travelling at some speed would have to do with it.

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Due to the unlikelihood of air entering this system (only two fittings), I'd bet it's a bad master cylinder.

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1976 240D
1987 560SL
2007 E320 Bluetec
1998 C280 (now son’s car)
1982 240D Manual - Sold

Pull the driver side carpet down thats up by the pedals and feel the hydraulic line that goes up to the master cyl, and see if its wet. thats the nasty one to replace Then check the slave for leaks. Or else you still have air in the system, I would think. How did the book say to bleed the sys?

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

leak. yes sounds like bad clutch master cyl.
not really easy to change and a pita to bleed.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I remember having something like that happen. After a stretch on the freeway I would have to pump up the clutch to get it working. Rebuilding the slave fixed it. Besides the slave is cheeper/easier to work on.

Or you may just need a good bleeding, hydraulic clutches are bled differently than brakes.

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5 speed '91 190E 2.6 320,000 mi. (new car, fast, smooth as silk six, couldn't find any more Peugeots)
5 speed '85 Peugeot 505 2.5l Turbo Diesel 266,000 mi. (old car, fast for a diesel, had 2 others)
5 speed '01 Jetta V6 (new wifes car, pretty quick)
5 speed '85 Peugeot 505 2.2l Turbo Gas 197,000 mi. (wifes car, faster, sadly gone just short of 200k )
5 speed '83 Yamaha 750 Maxim 14,000 mi. (fastest)
0 speed 4' x 8' 1800 lb Harbor Freight utility trailer (only as fast as what's pulling it)

Howdy,

I had a leaking slave cylinder that caused similar symptoms. The leak was pretty small and since it was leaking into the clutch housing the leaked fluid didn't just obviously drip out. Slave cylinders go bad more so than master cylinders because they are at the bottom of the hydraulic line and that's where the water accumulates.

PITA to replace (and bleed) but once done, I've never experienced any more probs. This was on AN '84 190D 2.2.

Sholin

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What else, '73 MB 280 SEL (Lt Blue)
Daily driver: '84 190D 2.2 5 spd.

"that's where the water accumulates."

Good point. Thats why its not a bad idea to flush the brake system every 2 or 3 years. Water would not be flushed out if it had already settled in the cluch slave tho.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

I had the same trouble a couple of weeks ago. I had to pull the clutch pedal up with my toes and then kick it down hard to make it work. Pressing it slowly would cause it to fall to the floor. Replacing the clutch m/c fixed it, and I don't think it's too much of a pita. It can easily be done without mess. Just drain the system first since you have to crawl under the car anyway to bleed the system later. After draining you can already connect the drain from the clutch to the right front caliper-drain and leave the screws open. I didn't spill a drop inside the car. And after bleeding a clutch-system for the first time I'm sure I will always bleed my brakes like this. No mess at all!

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'99 S420, 155k
'91 VW Vanagon GL, 150k
'85 VW Vanagon GL, 120k
'82 VW Westy, aircooled, 165k

In my experience with 123 clutch hydraulics, if everything is in good shape, you can do a quick two man bleed job and then let it set overnight. Enough bubbles will then work their way out of the system that it will work normally.

Make sure the reservoir level is above the clutch nipple.

From the original problem description, there is a possibility that a pressure plate finger is broken and moving around, occasionally preventing the clutch from releasing. I had this happen on my first 240D many years ago. By the time I got to the point of pulling the transmission to inspect I had a brand new hydraulic system in place and knew of nothing else to do but inspect the clutch itself.

Good luck,

I purchased a vacuum one man bleed kit. It works great in getting the air out of the system without letting air back in. I have no leaks upon inspection. I think I will replace the slave first and see what happens.

I got the master and slave cylinder with shipping for under 100 bucks so I decided to replace both of them at the same time and bleed the system only once. The slave cylinder had a really worn out pin compared to the new one and the master cylinder with the hoses disconnected slapped to the floor and did not want to come back up. The new one with the hoses uninstalled went to the floor but came back up. Once the system was bled, it worked like a champ and I am back on the road enjoying the Benz.