Clutch Master Cylinder on the way?

[greg.harvey]

Hi all,

I have a 'Big Valve' +2S 130/5 and the clutch has started to do weird things. You're drving along and all is fine. Stop at the lights and touch your foot on the clutch pedal and it disappears to the floor without any resistance. Eek! There is no clutch! Then release it and try again and the clutch is back again, like nothing happened. Most odd. My dad reckons the master cylinder is sticking/giving up the ghost. I'm not so sure, as it doesn't do this directly after being pressed, but seemingly at random!

Any ideas folks?

Thanks,

G

[rgh0]

Sounds like the check valve at the end of the Master cylinder that seals off the reservoir when you depress the pedal is worn and starting to not seal or has some contamination preventing it seating properly.

You probably need to pull it out clean it and inspect and rebuild if needed

regards
Rohan

[lotusanglia1965]

I second that. I've even fitted new(probably old stock) master cylinders before-only to find the check-valve is stuck.while you're in there,would be worth flushing/changing the brake fluid too,amazing how much crud comes out after only two or three years!
Martin

[alaric]

Hah! So that's why mine doesn't work! It's not been an issue yet as the car is still being rebuilt, but that's given me a pointer. Thanks.

Sean.

[steveww]

You should change the brake fluid every 2 years as standard, same for the clutch fluid as well. Put it on your winter service list.

[greg.harvey]

HELP!!
This appears to have gotten worse. I took the car out this evening for a spin, ahead of showing it to someone tomorrow, and I barely have a clutch. It's driveable but the biting point is right at the end of the pedal's travel and refuses to come back (before it would do this maybe 1 in 3 gear changes - now it's permanent).

Ok, so obviously this needs looking at and I don't have time. So, how much would it cost for a Lotus specialist to sort it out, assuming it is the check valve? What's the part cost and how many hours labour are we talking here? Since I'm selling the car, I need to work out an appropriate discount!

Thanks.

[Robbie693]

Easier to just change the master cylinder - Paul Matty stocks them for 35 quid:

http://www.paulmattysportscars.co.uk/content/products/Assets/Pt%202%20Elan,%20Plus%202%20&%20Europa.pdf

At a guess, it's probably 4-5 hours labour, which at ?45/hr isn't cheap. It's fairly straight forward to do it yourself. If you can find time.

I'd recommend changing the slave cylinder at the same time, if they are the same age then probably on the way out too...