Why did I break my clutch master cylinder rod in half? - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards

1bdbrd · 07-27-2009, 04:25 AM

So I am in the middle of doing my t56 swap and ran into a big problem. Got the transmission bolted up and connected the slave to the fork. Got in the car and pushed the pedal. It was kind of stiff but I thought that was ok given that the clutch is a Spec stg 3 and it was stiff in my last car. Anyway as I pushed it, I heard a pop and the pedal started moving easier. I kept working with it and it kept getting easier to push. That's when I noticed that the rod going into the master cylinder had broken in half and also noticed fluid had leaked out of the master.

Now, when I installed the hydraulics I noticed that the rod looked like it was hanging out of the master cylinder further than I remembered it but wasn't completely sure. I also am hoping that I got the holes drilled right for the master cylinder to bolt to the firewall/pedals. And lastly I am pretty sure I got the slave attached to the fork at the transmission properly.

So I am going to order a new hydraulic setup from GM and install it but I want to make sure that I don't cause this problem over again. Any other ideas on what happened? Could I have maybe installed the clutch disc backwards and caused this?

Car is in sig of course and I used the complete 4th gen pedal setup (including gas pedal) for the install. I know the clutch, pedals, and hydraulics worked because I installed them in my old car (94 z28) and drove around on them for about 20 miles and they worked fine.

Please someone help me!

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novadk13 · 09-21-2009, 10:31 PM

My shaft broke too, Im not 100% sure why but glad it did it on jack stands

But the only thing I can think of is either the shaft is way off angle from where its suppose to be, or its too long and binds up? Im running a 3rd gen pedal with 4th gen hydraulics and was wondering if the rod mod where you remove an inch would fix the potential problem?

1bdbrd · 09-24-2009, 08:33 PM

I guess I need to update this thread so in case this comes up in future searches..

The reason this broke was because of the clutch fork getting stuck on the bellhousing. It somehow slipped off the throwout bearing while we were tightening the transmission down. As soon as we free the fork and installed all new hydraulics, it worked just fine.

Badass355ciz28 · 09-24-2009, 09:26 PM

common issue if the clutch fork isnt installed correctly.had this happen to a friends 383 twin turboed camaro after installing the hydraulics and transmission.....

novadk13 · 10-07-2009, 10:23 PM

Still not sure why mine broke from the break looks like therre's a bend in it like its biding up, glad you sorted yours out hopefully get mine fixed