[DarkHorse]

Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 10:00 pm

Well... the proximity of the clutch lines to the extractors (read "touching") has proven to be somewhat more critical than I had hoped - seems the clutch fluid gets too hot to be effective after about 20mins at freeway speed, and the pedal goes to the floor. Not such an issue since my next 1000km/12hr of driving will involve very little gear changing, but a problem going forward (or backwards )

Anyhoo - can anyone tell me how worried I should be about repeatedly overheating the fluid? I know it's not good for it but is it going to cause catastrophic failure before I make it back to Sydney? At the moment if I pull over for half an hour and let it cool down it feels fine again.

Then - can anyone give a quick idiots guide to flushing/changing/bleeding the clutch fluid? I'm carrying plenty of brake fluid, but at a quick roadside glance I couldn't see any bleed screws or drain plugs etc in the system. Would I be better going for DOT4 fluid than DOT3?

Thanks in advance!

When I get home I think I'll see if a brake shop can make me up some new lines to get that splitter fitting and the lines themselves away from the headers, and also get a (maybe braided?) longer line for the bellhousing.

[Fatzook]

We worked out that mine is doing the same thing. Changed the fluid, and it still did it on the way back from the coast yesterday.

I'm going to try a silicon heat wrap for the clutch line and see if that helps.

[christover1]

Mine don't have that issue.

Wrap should work, and clearance of course

[tanshi]

i had to redrill the slave on the j20 into sierra mod to move the line away from the exaust.

might be an option to look as aswell

[droverdave]

well you cant do too much on the road other than get good at clutchless shifting if it gets real bad.

but this is the drama i had a few years ago on my corolla

You can see how close this is to the extractors (it looks closer than it was, i dont think extractors were on properly in this pic)

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u166 ... enfail.jpg

original bradied clutch line

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u166 ... chline.jpg

Went and got myself a banjo fitting.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u166 ... hslave.jpg

[DarkHorse]

Clutch behaved itself quite well today... had a few moments but it stayed operable pretty much the whole drive.

It feels pretty wooden now (hours after getting back) so I'd say the fluid is pretty shot. Will drop into an ABS tomorrow and discuss some options.

Thanks for the responses chaps.

[DarkHorse]

This is the fitting in question:


From what I can work out the hard line runs from the master cylinder down to that fitting, then out the bottom of it, looping straight back up and then crossing over to the other side. So my question is what is that fitting and what does it do? Back-flow valve or something? Is there any reason it has to sit exactly where it is? The clamp on the firewall would suggest that it's deliberately located there, but is there actually any reason it couldn't be moved? Does it have to be orientated the way it is or could it sit horizontally?

What I'm getting at, and what I'd like to do, is run the hard lines more or less horizontally away from the master cylinder and go straight across the firewall to the other side... with this fitting in line if neccessary, and do away with what is a very intricate and seemingly unnecessary plumbing set-up.

In the meantime I'll replace the fluid and see how that goes for the short-term.

[droverdave]

I think that fitting is just a place for the hardline and the soft line to join together.

[DarkHorse]

Nope, hard line in, hard line out. Will try to get some more photos...

[Rusho]

Just put an auto in it

[atari4x4]

Rusho wrote:

Just put an auto in it

[royce]

Clutch hydraulics aren't anything special, its probably just a union to make assembly easier, I would pull it from its bracket and pull the line clear of the heat

[fordem]

If we're looking at what I think we're looking at, Suzuki calls it a "Valve assembly, clutch throttle" and I've never figured out what it actually does - it's not just a union.

It's only on the SV series vehicles - the V6 Vitara (SV620) has it, the 2.0 (SV420) doesn't - looking at the parts catalog, the early SV620 doesn't have it, the later ones do, and both early & late use the same clutch master & slave (as does the SV420), which suggests that it'll work without it - IF - you want to give that a try - but I'd go with Royce, remove the bracket and pull it clear of the header..

[DarkHorse]

Here's the underside - hard line just loops straight back up and then across the firewall:


Here's a better look at how it was:

royce wrote:

Clutch hydraulics aren't anything special, its probably just a union to make assembly easier, I would pull it from its bracket and pull the line clear of the heat

Exactly what I did tonight:



(photo is a little misleading, it's a good 200mm above the headers now...)

Seems better from a quick drive across town, but won't really know until I get a freeway stretch again. Going to get the lines remade anyway, it's pretty untidy at present. I also have speedo cable and a breather to worry about:


This is the soft line on the passenger side tagged out of the way:

[DarkHorse]

fordem wrote:

If we're looking at what I think we're looking at, Suzuki calls it a "Valve assembly, clutch throttle" and I've never figured out what it actually does - it's not just a union.

It's only on the SV series vehicles - the V6 Vitara (SV620) has it, the 2.0 (SV420) doesn't - looking at the parts catalog, the early SV620 doesn't have it, the later ones do, and both early & late use the same clutch master & slave (as does the SV420), which suggests that it'll work without it - IF - you want to give that a try - but I'd go with Royce, remove the bracket and pull it clear of the header..

OK, thanks for that... Clutch throttle valve huh? Flow regulation?

I reckon now that I've got it into some free-ish space it won't be a huge issue to get some lines made up or the current ones shortened to neaten it all up.

Cheers all.

[DarkHorse]

atari4x4 wrote:

Rusho wrote:

Just put an auto in it

Get outta my thread...

[Scrawny]

DarkHorse wrote:

fordem wrote:

If we're looking at what I think we're looking at, Suzuki calls it a "Valve assembly, clutch throttle" and I've never figured out what it actually does - it's not just a union.

It's only on the SV series vehicles - the V6 Vitara (SV620) has it, the 2.0 (SV420) doesn't - looking at the parts catalog, the early SV620 doesn't have it, the later ones do, and both early & late use the same clutch master & slave (as does the SV420), which suggests that it'll work without it - IF - you want to give that a try - but I'd go with Royce, remove the bracket and pull it clear of the header..

OK, thanks for that... Clutch throttle valve huh? Flow regulation?

It must be to stop the clutch being 'dumped'. I'm sure Subaru used them on some of their cars

[Rusho]

DarkHorse wrote:

atari4x4 wrote:

Rusho wrote:

Just put an auto in it

Get outta my thread...

Got that auto in yet

[DarkHorse]

Lines getting tidied today. Will post pics when I pick it up.

Putting an auto in it would be like trading the Daytona for a Vespa.