ok so I'm working on my friend's 04 Ralliart. for a little while now it has been tough to shift while driving. like it wouldnt go in and out of gears like it should. so I took it to a shop around this time last year and they replaced the slave cylinder. helped a little but not for long. kept having the same problem. well a little over a week ago she was out driving and started losing pressure in the clutch pedal. also it became more difficult to shift between gears and she was lucky to get the car home. when I got to check it out I noticed that the CMC looked very bad. also it was not getting fluid from the reservoir. then shortly after that it would not shift out of gear at all, wether it was running or not. so to shorten this whole story up a bit, I replaced the CMC and cleaned the reservoir very well. it pulled the fluid from the reservoir no problem and we were able to bleed the clutch, it would shift in and out of gear smoothly, and everything seemed fine... until we started the car. once we started it, it would not shift in gear at all. also noticed that the service engine light came on. the slave cylinder seems to be working ok, but it is somewhat squeeky. I have read through some of the older postings on the site and have come across some things that sound similar but I wanted to get opinions on what everything thought it could be. please help. thanks.

 

Hello, welcome to the site.

Is it that the car is stationary with the engine running and still will not allow the gears to shift ?

Was the clutch pedal very high ie at the top of its stroke rather than near the floor when the gears were last engaging ?

 

Yes, the car is stationary.
No the clutch pedal was not very high. It had almost no pressure in it at all the last time it was driven and it would allow for the gears to be changed. It was pretty much on the floor before it would engage.

 

Sounds like it still needs bleeding to me.

 

Hmm we bled it pretty good. I mean there is alot of pressure in the pedal now and the last time I opened the bleeder valve on the slave it was shooting out alot of fluid and didn't seem like any air was sputtering out with it. But I will definitely try it and see if it changes anything.

 

Some guys have had this problem and turns out its a clutch disc spring being lodged inbetween the disc and pressure plate? I'd have to double check... There is also a adjustment at the pedal but I don't think it would help since it was disengaging fine from the previous spot.. Welcome to site hope you find the answer! O and also the brake reservoir needs to stay near the top or it won't feed fluid to the CMC but if the pedal feels like it used to before the problem I'd say it's something else.. Here is the link to the guy who had this problem https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/04...s-way-out.html

 

1- Check everything for leaks. Start at the slave then follow the line until you reach the CMC.
2- Squeeze the rubber boot on the slave rod. Check for leaks.
3- Does the pedal feel really soft until you reach some point where you feel pressure? There is a spring which brings the pedal up, so you might not be pushing far enough against the CMC if the pedal adjustment is wrong.
4- Have someone push down the clutch while you look at the slave. It should travel enough to push the pressure plate.
5- I love making lists like that. It gives me an idea for trouble-shooting check-lists!

Good luck!