Clutch slave rod popped out. Help!

[rynaqui]

Following my recent SMF conversion (same size as stock DMF with same clutch - Sachs Organic). The circlip in the slave cylinder popped out for the second time in under 900 miles of driving. I've rebuilt the slave and now reverse is very hard to engage, driving home was fine.

This happened after launching the car at high rpm..has this happened to anyone before? What is the correct procedure for bleeding the clutch? The clutch slave is new + we also had the slave pipe removed whilst the box was out. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I made it home yesterday but the gears instantly went hard again when I came to a stop. Didn't drive it again yet to see what's going on as we are having a storm right now. As before, reverse is the hardest to engage even when the engine is off it is a chore.

[UrS4boy]

Following my recent SMF conversion (same size as stock DMF with same clutch - Sachs Organic)

Umm...you can't use the DMF clutch on a SMF because of the difference in thickness of the flywheel and clutch combination. IF you did really re-use the DMFW clutch on the SMFW, the required throw needed to push in the throw-out bearing to disengage the clutch is too long for the OE slave to handle. Hence you are pushing the rod out of the slave.

[rynaqui]

Umm...you can't use the DMF clutch on a SMF because of the difference in thickness of the flywheel and clutch combination. IF you did really re-use the DMFW clutch on the SMFW, the required throw needed to push in the throw-out bearing to disengage the clutch is too long for the OE slave to handle. Hence you are pushing the rod out of the slave.

The SMF was provided by Will @ VRS and is the same size as the original DMF, sorry for not clearing that up before.

[UrS4boy]

The SMF was provided by Will @ VRS and is the same size as the original DMF, sorry for not clearing that up before.

Did you compare the total thickness of the two flywheels and clutch combinations?

BTW: If you are running a single mass flywheel, you shouldn't be running the unsprung DMFW clutch disk.

[rynaqui]

Did you compare the total thickness of the two flywheels and clutch combinations?

BTW: If you are running a single mass flywheel, you shouldn't be running the unsprung DMFW clutch disk.

We double checked before we put everything together and they were the same. The clutch kit and flywheel were provided by Will @ VRS and seemed to work great on the road, done about 900 miles and the circlip gave way again. Just want to know if there's anything I should look out for or possible reason why this has happened or if the clutch is not being bled correctly..

[diesel des]

Isn't there something about binning the belhousing spacer plate when going to smfw on an s2?

[rynaqui]

Yes but in this case everything is the same size..just wondering if there is something I have to look out for when bleeding the clutch as something is amiss.

[Error404]

What pressure plate & disc are you using?
There is a good chance you have damaged something with the launch and now the slave isn't able to fully disengage the clutch.
I can't remember the specifics of the S2 slave of the top of my head, but the pushrod isn't normally retained in the slave, it sits in a cup on the end of the slave piston to allow some articulation. So if the pushrod pops out it normally means you need a longer pushrod to fully disengage the clutch.... or something is damaged.

[martinws]

In the past i did the same but what i noticed when fixing it was that there is a little plastic cap on the end of the rod that gives a smooth engagement to the fork. This was broken so making the rod 5mm shorter. Worth a look.

[Error404]

Yes they tend to split in half on the OE slave

[rynaqui]

What pressure plate & disc are you using?
There is a good chance you have damaged something with the launch and now the slave isn't able to fully disengage the clutch.
I can't remember the specifics of the S2 slave of the top of my head, but the pushrod isn't normally retained in the slave, it sits in a cup on the end of the slave piston to allow some articulation. So if the pushrod pops out it normally means you need a longer pushrod to fully disengage the clutch.... or something is damaged.

Hi Alex,

This happened before with the first installation, we put another slave in now and it works fine..for now. The clutch kit is a Sachs Organic. I might try and weld the rod to make it slightly longer if this is a possibility?

I'll have to drive again but I'm wary of the same thing happening once more.

[Error404]

Check the plastic cap on the end of the rod as Martin suggested. I would get a new push-rod machined rather than try and cut & weld it. Would only take a few minutes

[rynaqui]

Check the plastic cap on the end of the rod as Martin suggested. I would get a new push-rod machined rather than try and cut & weld it. Would only take a few minutes

Checked and it was intact. Would it be possible to fab up a new rod slightly longer, say 5mm?

[Error404]

yeah easy, take your existing rod to a machine shop they will make you one in a few minutes
I'm still not quite sure what the issue is here since everything should be exactly the same in relation to the position of clutch cover, throw-out bearing, gearbox and slave as an SMF car.

[rynaqui]

yeah easy, take your existing rod to a machine shop they will make you one in a few minutes
I'm still not quite sure what the issue is here since everything should be exactly the same in relation to the position of clutch cover, throw-out bearing, gearbox and slave as an SMF car.

Sounds good.

Went out for a drive and everything seems ok. Only problem is selecting reverse seems impossible most of the time. It just won't go into gear, even turned off it is difficult, also recently lost reverse lock-out. Could this be the cause?