Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Clutch is locking up occasionally; won't depress, then works 5-sec. later. Clutch fluid is really dirty; attempt to flush it failed as slave cylinder bleed nipple is broken off (explains why fluid was so dirty in the first place.) How difficult is removing the slave cylinder? This is Vancouver...it's raining like hell out there...car's in the garage but I'm a tad hung-over and don't want to crawl under the damn thing right now. I figure it doesn't rain in G.B. so you guys do this kind of task all the time. Any handy advice?

Cheers

Doesn't rain in GB-you should try living in Glossop,by the sounds of it it will probably be seized in its mounting,maybe time for a new one......

John

Have had success getting a broken bleed nipple out with one of those reverse threaded taps used for getting broken bolts/studs out
Tim

"How difficult is removing the slave cylinder?"

James,

As I recall, the slave cylinder is held in the bell housing by a circlip that goes around the slave. Once you remove the pipe, the push rod, and the circlip, you should be able to knock it out with a hammer if it is corroded in.

NOTE The circlip can be a right pain to get off / on. Circlip plier are a great help here.

Ping what was that flying passed by ear!

Probably not what you want to hear but by the time you've got the slave cylinder out and removed the bleed nipple you could have fitted a complete new cylinder. Of course if the fluid has never been changed there could be a problem with the master cylinder as well

P*ss*ng it down in England with a chilly wind and icy roads overnight. Typical "repairing Lotus outside" weather.

This explains why the first step in my winter rebuild project was, "Insulate garage and finish interior walls"

i ignored this advice, don't make my mistake: just replace the whole clutch slave cylinder when you get it off. Do the master too.

the poor condition of your brake fluid means that the whole system has been stressed and you're gonna have to do it all in the really near future. I did just the slave, then sure enough, a month later, I had to do the master.

At the very least, replace the rubber seals on both cylinders with one of the "repair" kits. The problem is that your bores are probably pretty pitted and that fix will only last so long. then the leaks start again, and impossble to get good responsiveness.

It's a pain to get too, and the others are right, getting the circlip off it going to be really hard (like an extra hour of work) without a circlip pliers.

just trying to be helpful. Jeff