My clutch pedal went to the floor.

I agree with George that you probably need to either rebuild or replace the master and slave. But, from the sound of it, you haven't paid much attention to the hydraulics in a while.

First, is there fluid in the clutch reservoir? When you look at the three reservoirs from the driver's side, the one furthest to the front of the car is the clutch. The other two are the brakes. The clutch uses brake fluid, the same as your brakes.

If the lose of the clutch was sudden, not gradual, you might want to check the hose that runs between the metal tube from the master, down the passenger's side of the engine near the transmission tunnel, to the slave. If you're missing clutch fluid from the reservoir, you might have a failed hose there.

You might try bleeding the clutch system out with fresh fluid. Since it is brake fluid, it becomes contaminated with/absorbs water, just like the brakes, and needs to be bled every year or two, just like the brakes. If this has not been done in a long time, you might try bleeding it and seeing if that restores your clutch.

Otherwise, consider replacing the master and slave. They are not expensive and are readily available from sources such as SNG Barratt. While you are at it, change that hose as well. It's a bit of a PITA to do, but well worth it if the hose is original.

After you do the other work, be sure to follow the manual instructions on setting the free-play on the rod on the slave. It must be set properly, or you will have a problem with the clutch grabbing too high or too low.

Best of luck and let us know what you find.

Steve Weinstein, JTC-NJ
'70 XKE FHC; '69 XKE OTS

p.s. Once place to look to see if you have a problem with the Master is under the carpet inside the driver's side, below the clutch pedal. If you have brake fluid there, you've blown the seal on the master and will need to rebuild or replace it. Do the slave at the same time. It's worth it.

It depends on the condition of the bore of the cylinders. If they are good or clean up easy put in kits. If not either buy new or have yours lined. George Camp

David,

If you're really lucky, the problem may be solved by adjusting the push rod between the slave cylinder and the the clutch fork. At the second level of luck, your problem may well be as simple as rebuilding or replacing the hydraulics or the clutch plate.

However I had a similar problem with my '72 e-type. The failure was preceded by chattering when I let the clutch out. I blamed this on poor technique and tried to improve my footwork. Then one day I took my foot off the pedal, it returned to the full out position, but nothing happened. The problem turned out to be the throw out bearing which on the 72 is a ring of carbon. It had completely disintegrated and coated the entire bell housing with carbon powder. This problem was caused by a previous owner's failure to replace the small return spring on the hydraulic assembly which pulls the throw out bearing back completely disengaging the clutch. Cleaning up the mess in the bell housing is a nasty job.

The spring is visible through a covered inspection port in the passenger footwell. When you pull back the mats and remove the cover you can see the slave cylinder and the spring should be right there, too. If it is not, and the inside of the plate is covered with black soot you have located the problem. When I went to work on mine I ended up doing a complete restoration of the car. It will be lot more fun to drive when I have it all back together.

There are after market conversion throw out bearing kits available that provide a more modern solution to the throw out bearing, but if you don't replace the spring when you do the job, it will just happen again.

Good luck,

Bob Anderson
89 XJ40 VDP
72 E-Type 2+2

Thanks for the responce. I take it's a hydrolic system. Have you ever rebuilt the cylinders yourself. If so is it very difficult and is it worth the effort or should I just replace them?

Thanks
David
'70 e-type sII ots
dydymv.com

Replace/rebuild clutch master and slave. Good luck/ George Camp