I am going to have to tell the world!!!!! (even though I know most of you already know this)

I have spent the past 3 months fighting with my clutch bleeding it and even replacing the master cylinders. I had thought that maybe the slave was bad, but I just paid nearly 100$ for it 8months ago. It was less than a year old. I just kept drving the car and fighting with it, checking fittings and looking for leaks. It got to the point that the the clutch would drag when I had my foot right to the floor and has caused me to fry my clutch.

It All turned out to be the slave was shot and sucking in air. I replaced it with a 10 year old slave from a parts car and it works perfect again. I did not even have to do a big clutch bleeding dance. I just gravity blead it while I hooked up the brackets. I closed the bleeder screw and jumped in the car. To my amazment the pedal was firm again. I drove it and the shifting was once again smooth as silk. Aside from my now clutch chatter, which I hope goes away now that I am no longer draging the clutch.

YAAAAAAAA FOR ME. Sorry I just had to share my joy.

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David hotrodfiero@shaw.ca
85GT 2.9 4spd

www.david.westcoastfieros.com

I have been telling everyone to avoid the aftermarket junk slaves for a few years now.....ALL aftermarket slaves (Wagner, Raybestos, etc.) are made by the same manufacturer and are inherently flawed (as you found out).

The ONLY way to go is a brand new GM/AC Delco slave. They actually cost about the same as most aftermarket ones (~$100 through gmpartsdirect.com) and will fully bleed in a matter of minutes.

Even though the used one you installed is working OK I would suggest buying a new GM slave as soon as you can.....even if you don't install it right away it's a good idea to have it handy if/when that used one lets go.

WORD.

Only a couple of places actually make the aftermarket slave cylinders. Everybody else (NAPA, AutoZone, Pep Boys, etc. etc.) buys from these places and just repackages them in their own labeled boxes.

In other words....they ALL suck. Buy a Delco.

gee, I just threw out my 1 year old delco slave that failed.

I replaced it with a raybestos like I do with my customers. It should last just fine like theirs do.

flame suit on!

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1988GT T-Tops, 5spd, Loaded

I have been using the AutoZone slave for a while now. It has never let me down. It is made of cast iron, not a steel tube like the original. It is the best aftermarket one I have seen, and it was only $70.

Bash it if you will, but I know from first-hand experience it works.

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The slave I just bought from an independent parts place came in a Bendix box. Looks just like the original equipment, steel tube. Worked fab.

Use a RPV(2lb)...I tried it, it has been great. Want more info, look at this thread!
Sandy https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/018816.html

Maybe I shouldn't have made a blanket statement, but of course, *some* aftermarket slaves will function just fine....not all of them are junk. The issue is the high percentage of "junk" ones as compared to the AC Delco units. More aftermarket (those cast iron things) fail as compared to the Delco ones. I went through 3 of those slaves in a 6 month period before buying a Delco.

If you bought a Raybestos or Wagner slave and it works just fine then great! Consider yourself one of the minority.....more times than not they are bad out of the box or will fail soon after installation.

I will still recommend AC Delco slaves to people.....it's just not worth the gamble to me (as well as the aggravation of continuosly bleeding the clutch).