Hello!

Recently, I began having trouble with the clutch on my 1979 Euro 300D. After starting up to head to work last week I found the clutch wouldn't disengage, and I couldn't get the car into gear. The clutch pedal has always had a low engagement point since I've owned the car, but I've been too preoccupied taking care of other issues to fix what hadn't broken yet.

I was unable to find any evidence of leaks on either the clutch or slave master cylinders. I ended up ordering both to be sure. After hooking everything back up I couldn't get a drop of fluid out of the slave. After further investigation, I found that there was no fluid leaving the new Master Cylinder.

Here's what I know. Fluid flows freely to the Master Cylinder. While the Master is on the bench, fluid flows through it as well. However, when it is hooked up in the car I get nothing, regardless of pedal position. I did find however, that when I remove the clutch pushrod, I start to get a trickle.

Is this normal? For what it's worth, I pulled apart both the new and old Master Cylinders and they are identical internally and externally. The new one did not come with a new pushrod, so I've re-used the existing one. Is it maybe the wrong length? If so why did it work with the old Master?